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Local sports: Pittston Area wins District 16 10-11 Softball Championship

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<p>OLD FORGE &#8212; Tripp Park got timely hits when it needed. And Nanticoke Area made one costly throwing error in extra innings.</p><p>Fortunately, for the local girls, there&#8217;s light at the end of the tunnel. They&#8217;re still alive in the Section 5 Major softball tournament, but this time, there&#8217;s no room for error.</p><p>Tripp Park (West Scranton) scored two in the bottom of the sixth inning and plated the winning run one frame later on a throw that went past the third-base bag in a 3-2 victory over Nanticoke Area at Old Forge.</p><p>The win forces a deciding game Saturday night for the Section 5 title and the chance to move into the state bracket next week.</p><p>&#8220;We told the girls that we are still in the tournament, and we have to come to play tomorrow,&#8221; Nanticoke Area manager Colleen Baird said. &#8220;We were hitting the ball, but we were just hitting it right to them. We couldn&#8217;t find the gaps today, and they did.&#8221;</p><p>Nanticoke had the momentum, was just three outs away with a two-run lead and had a dominating pitcher in Kasidy Slusser stepping into the circle.</p><p>Tripp Park, which had just one hit in the first five innings, started to string singles together. Two consecutive hits by Maddie Maloney and Mia Butka put two on with only one out, and each moved into scoring position on Gianna Russo&#8217;s fly to left.</p><p>An error on Abbi Kellogg&#8217;s slow roller through the infield grass scored one, and five pitches later, McKenna Huyser beat out an infield single to score the game-tying run.</p><p>&#8220;We have a group of girls that truly believe they are the best team on the field,&#8221; Tripp Park manager Rob Butka said. &#8220;We lost 4-0 the other night to them, but we felt it was a lot closer than that. The last game, a few things went their way. (Friday night), one thing went our way. We each won two innings. Going into the top of the sixth, we had the top of the order coming up. If we were going to do it, we had the best part of our lineup to do it.&#8221;</p><p>After setting down Nanticoke in the top of the seventh, Tripp Park needed just two batters to clinch the victory.</p><p>A few fielding errors gave Tripp Park the edge.</p><p>&#8220;We go over fielding every day at practice, but we just weren&#8217;t there at the right moment,&#8221; Baird said. &#8220;We were confident heading into the sixth inning, but give them credit because they started to hit the ball.&#8221;</p><p>Nanticoke had its chances.</p><p>The District 16 champ had two on and no outs in the first inning, but a double play cut down one runner at home. The team also had bases loaded in the fifth, yet, only got one to cross home as Amanda Cheslaw scored on a wild pitch.</p><p>Nanticoke tacked on its first run in the second. Rachel Goss&#8217; one-out single coupled with Myla Vnuk&#8217;s double put runners in scoring position. Goss scored on Riley Baird&#8217;s Texas Leaguer to left for the early, 1-0 lead.</p><p>The D16 champ left six stranded on base &#8211; five of those in scoring position.</p><p>Slusser threw well in the loss. She allowed just a Rylie Amorine single through five innings, and issued only two free passes. Tripp Park&#8217;s Mia Butka, in her first action since an injury four weeks ago, also tossed a four-hitter with one strikeout.</p><p>&#8220;We knew she (Slusser) was real good. We turned our pitching machine to 70 during our batting practice. As fast as the machine would pitch, we were confident and hitting the ball,&#8221; Rob Butka said. &#8220;Right out of the gate, each girl made good contact. I knew from that point on we would be all right.&#8221;</p><p><strong>Tripp Park 3, Nanticoke Area 2</strong></p><p><strong> 7 inns.</strong></p><p><strong>Nanticoke Area `AB`R`H`BI</strong></p><p>Nice 1b `1`0`0`0</p><p>Sofchak lf `3`0`0`0</p><p>Cheslaw ph `1`1`1`0</p><p>Slusser p `2`0`0`0</p><p>Keener c `3`0`0`0</p><p>Mendrzycki cf `3`0`0`0</p><p>Goss ss `2`1`1`0</p><p>Montgomery ph `1`0`0`0</p><p>Vnuk 3b `2`0`1`0</p><p>Baird 2b `2`0`1`1</p><p>Ormes ph `1`0`0`0</p><p>Biehl rf `2`0`0`0</p><p>Ottensman ph `1`0`0`0</p><p><strong>Totals `24`2`4`1</strong></p><p><strong>2B &#8212; </strong> Vnuk</p><p><strong>Tripp Park `AB`R`H`BI</strong></p><p>Maloney ss `3`1`1`0</p><p>Butka p `3`1`1`0</p><p>Russo 1b `3`0`0`0</p><p>Kellogg 2b `2`0`0`0</p><p>Huyser 3b `3`0`1`1</p><p>Kranson cf `2`0`0`0</p><p>Donovan ph `1`0`0`0</p><p>Zelinski rf `1`1`0`0</p><p>Summa ph `1`0`0`0</p><p>Dougher c `1`0`0`0</p><p>Pabst ph `1`0`0`0</p><p>Amorine lf `1`0`1`0</p><p>Kochis ph `1`0`0`0</p><p><strong>Totals `23`3`4`1</strong></p><p><strong>Nanticoke Area `010 `010 `0 &#8211; 2</strong></p><p><strong>Tripp Park `000 `002 `1 &#8211; 3</strong></p><p><strong>Nanticoke Area `IP `H`R`ER`BB`SO</strong></p><p>Slusser (L) `7`4`3`0`2`3</p><p><strong>Tripp Park `IP`H`R`ER`BB`SO</strong></p><p>Butka (W) `7`4`2`2`2`1</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">Nanticoke&#8217;s Rachel Goss slides under the tag at third against Scranton&#8217;s Tripp Park at Old Forge Little League. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/web1_Nanticoke-ScrantonGSB1CMYK.jpg</photo0><caption0>Nanticoke&#8217;s Rachel Goss slides under the tag at third against Scranton&#8217;s Tripp Park at Old Forge Little League. </caption0><photoCredit0>Tony Callaio | For Times Leader </photoCredit0></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/web1_Nanticoke-ScrantonGSB2CMYK.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Nanticoke pitcher Kasidy Slusser went seven innings, giving up four hits and striking out three batters. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo1>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/web1_Nanticoke-ScrantonGSB2CMYK.jpg</photo1><caption1>Nanticoke pitcher Kasidy Slusser went seven innings, giving up four hits and striking out three batters. </caption1><photoCredit1>Tony Callaio | For Times Leader </photoCredit1></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/web1_Nanticoke-ScrantonGSB3CMYK.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Nanticoke&#8217;s Olivia Nice stretches for the toss getting Tripp Park batter Mia Butka out at first. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo2>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/web1_Nanticoke-ScrantonGSB3CMYK.jpg</photo2><caption2>Nanticoke&#8217;s Olivia Nice stretches for the toss getting Tripp Park batter Mia Butka out at first. </caption2><photoCredit2>Tony Callaio | For Times Leader </photoCredit2></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/web1_Nanticoke-ScrantonGSB4CMYK.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Nanticoke&#8217;s Amanda Cheslaw (10) is safe at home as the ball was bobbled by Tripp Park&#8217;s McKenna Huyser. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo3>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/web1_Nanticoke-ScrantonGSB4CMYK.jpg</photo3><caption3>Nanticoke&#8217;s Amanda Cheslaw (10) is safe at home as the ball was bobbled by Tripp Park&#8217;s McKenna Huyser. </caption3><photoCredit3>Tony Callaio | For Times Leader </photoCredit3></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><subheadMeta>Nanticoke still alive in Section 5 Major Softball tourney</subheadMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Tom Fox</p><p>For Times Leader</p></bylineMeta></div>

Nanticoke falls to Tripp Park in Section 5 Major Softball Tournament action