Class Reunion Notices

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Hot, sunny weekend expected for the Wyoming Valley

Hazleton Area was hoping to meet a familiar foe to get some revenge. When a program has been a constant participant in the PIAA state softball playoffs, it can do that.Tunkhannock couldn&#8217;t. The last time a group of Tigers made it to the states prior to this year was 1999. If any of the current players were alive at that time, they would have been in diapers.Yet, here they are as the final Wyoming Valley Conference teams still playing Wednesday and seeking to play again next week.Shortly after Monday&#8217;s 7-1 win against Coatesville, Hazleton Area coach Heather Natt admitted her team wanted another crack at District 1 champion Avon Grove, which eliminated the Cougars in last year&#8217;s Class 4A state playoffs. Council Rock North ruined those plans by dumping Avon Grove 9-5.So now with all those teams in Class 6A under the new six-classification format, Hazleton Area will just focus on another opponent in its 14th state appearance in the school&#8217;s 25-year history and rely on those state veterans to help out the newcomers in the lineup.&#8220;It&#8217;s a big help,&#8221; Natt said. &#8220;It&#8217;s their senior years and playing hot. They expect them to play just as hard. They know it&#8217;s one and done. All the underclassmen want it badly so they&#8217;re playing hard.&#8221;Tunkhannock made it to the Class 4A quarterfinals through outstanding pitching, timely albeit limited hitting and with an experienced lineup although it&#8217;s dotted with sophomores.&#8220;They were excited, but to be honest with you I thought they played pretty loose,&#8221; Tunkhannock coach Bob Hegedty said after a 7-0 win against Shikellamy. &#8220;They didn&#8217;t seem like they had a lot of tension or nervousness or anything like that. They played pretty loose, got some good hits and did a good job scoring runs.&#8221;Hazleton Area vs. Council Rock NorthPIAA 6A Quarterfinal6 p.m. ThursdayParkland H.S.While District 2 champion Hazleton Area (20-3) has pretty much cruised through the postseason, District 1 fifth seed Council Rock North (18-6) has teetered on extinction.CR North had to battle through the elimination bracket of the D1 tournament to make states. First came a 4-3 win over Council Rock South. Then the Indians were down to their final out against North Penn before rallying for three runs and a 5-4 victory.The North Penn win put CR North into the state finals for the first time since 2000 when the school was known as just Council Rock before it split into two high schools in 2002.The shocker came Monday when CR North built a 9-0 lead and held on for a 9-5 win against D1 champion Avon Grove, the team which eliminated Hazleton Area in the PIAA 4A state semifinals in 2016. Bryant University recruit Sabrina Crane had a two-run homer. Winning pitcher Jenna Khantzian had three RBI.CR North lost in the District 1 quarterfinal 8-2 to Coatesville, the team which Hazleton Area defeated 7-1 in its first-round state game.Hazleton Area&#8217;s Erika Book picked up her third postseason win against Coatesville, but she gave up nine hits. She surrendered just four total in the previous two games. She has struck out four in 19 playoff innings. Hitting, as usual, hasn&#8217;t been a problem. The Cougars are batting .395 in the playoffs.The winner moves to the semifinals on Monday against the winner of the game between D1 third seed Spring-Ford and D11 champion Bethlehem Liberty. Those teams play at 4 p.m. at Parkland.Tunkhannock vs. Eastern YorkPIAA 4A Quarterfinal4 p.m. ThursdayPatriots Park, AllentownIf the game comes down to the wire, District 3 runner-up Eastern York (17-6) should be prepared. The Golden Knights have been in more than their share of stomach-churning games.The bumpy road started in the D3 playoffs as Eastern York survived Bishop McDevitt 5-4 via a walk-off double. The 2-1 win over James Buchanan ended on a throwing error in the eighth inning. The 3-2 loss to Kennard-Dale in the title game concluded with a squeeze bunt in the eighth.Eastern York, though, clinched its first-ever state berth by making it to the D3 championship. There, it found more of the same as it needed three RBI from Morgan Winter to edge D12 champion Bonner-Prendergast 4-3.Tunkhannock won its first District 2 title since 1999 &#8212; and only its second ever &#8212; through outstanding pitching. The duo of Hope Jones and Kendra Schultz haven&#8217;t allowed a run in four playoff games. Jones has pitched 20.1 innings with 24 strikeouts and had surrendered eight hits. Schultz has been dominant in 6.2 innings of relief, giving up a lone hit and fanning seven.While Tunkhannock has received production throughout the batting order, the Tigers are hitting only .250 since the start of the D2 playoffs. The offense, though, had seven hits in a 7-0 quarterfinal win against D4 champion Shikellamy.The winner plays in the semifinals on Monday against the winner of the game between D11 champion Bangor and D1 champion Upper Perkiomen. Those teams play at 1:30 p.m. at Lyons Park in Fleetwood.<ins>For other sports stories, <a href="https://www.timesleader.com/category/sports" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">click here</a>.</ins><style>
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<div class="neCaption">Hazleton Area is making its 14th state appearance in the school&#8217;s 25-year history. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/web1_TTL060217Hazleton-Softball3_CMYK.jpg</photo0><caption0>Hazleton Area is making its 14th state appearance in the school&#8217;s 25-year history. </caption0><photoCredit0>Aimee Dilger | Times Leader </photoCredit0></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta>By John Erzarjerzar@www.timesleader.com</bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><factboxMeta>IF YOU GOPIAA Softball<address>(At Parkland H.S.)</address>Hazleton Area vs. Council Rock North, 6 p.m.(At Patriots Park, Allentown)Tunkhannock vs. Eastern York, 4 p.m.</factboxMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta>Reach John Erzar at 570-991-6394 or on Twitter @TLJohnErzar</shirttailMeta></div>

Hazleton Area, Tunkhannock still in PIAA softball hunt