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D2 softball: Hazleton Area outslugs Williamsport to win gold in 6A

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D2 baseball: Northwest upsets Old Forge to win 2A championship

SCRANTON &#8212; After two years of heartbreak, Pittston Area&#8217;s players were all smiles following their latest district title clash with Abington Heights on Wednesday.&#8220;We&#8217;ve been waiting for this the past couple years and we needed to get payback,&#8221; Pittston Area junior second baseman Lexi Felinski said.The Patriots took advantage of several Abington Heights errors in the first two innings to build a comfortable lead and coast to a 13-2 win in the District 2 Class 5A softball championship game for the first district title in the program&#8217;s history.Pittston Area will play District 1 fourth seed West Chester Henderson on Monday in the first round if the PIAA 5A state tournament at a site and time to be announced.Pittston Area broke through for two runs in the top of the first inning when Felinski was hit by a pitch and scored on a throwing error, and Alexa McHugh scored on a groundout by Madisyn Antal.Abington Heights loaded the bases in the bottom of the inning, but Pittston Area pitcher Nina Cencetti, who scattered seven hits over five innings, induced a popout to get out of the early jam.&#8220;After pitching against them last year, I came into this game trusting my defense 100 percent,&#8221; Cencetti said. &#8220;Even if it looks like a really hard hit, I trusted that they were going to make the out and that&#8217;s exactly what happened.&#8220;It&#8217;s really nice to get the win after two silvers.&#8221;The Patriots turned two Abington Heights miscues into a six-run second inning to take command of the game.Morgan Mesaris struck out, but advanced to first on a passed ball. The next batter, Kahler Kivler, advanced to second on a throwing error after laying down a sacrifice bunt.&#8220;We had a really bad second inning,&#8221; Abington Heights coach John Kelly said. &#8220;It started out with a strikeout and passed ball, then a bunt back to the pitcher. We should have had two outs and they had two runners on base. Give them credit, they had the opportunities and they took advantage.&#8221;Gabby Para, Cencetti and Antal each drove in a run during the inning and Shayla Williams had the big blow with a two-run double to the gap in left-center field.&#8220;We all work as a team and do our job,&#8221; Williams said. &#8220;We got onto their pitching much faster than we have in the past and that was a big step for us.&#8221;Abington Heights scratched across a run in the bottom of the third when Catherine Anne Kupinski walked and scored on a fielder&#8217;s choice.Bailey Loyack&#8217;s RBI single scored Williams, who doubled, to give Pittston Area a 9-1 lead after 5 1/2 innings.Abington Heights&#8217; Caroline Kelly, who had two hits, drove in Bailey White, who also had two hits, in the bottom of the fifth.Felinski doubled and scored on a fielder&#8217;s choice in the top of the sixth and the Patriots added three more runs in the seventh on a two-run double by McHugh and RBI single from Cencetti.Pittston Area coach Vito Quaglia believed the title was the culmination of three years of hard work.&#8220;The first time we were playing for a championship, three years ago, the program was turning around and I think we were nervous,&#8221; he said. &#8220;Last year, we were a little bit more comfortable. And, this time, I thought some of the kids who have been through it three times played very loose.&#8221;DISTRICT 2 CLASS 5A CHAMPIONSHIPPittston Area 13, Abington Heights 2Pittston Area`AB`R`H`BIPara cf`5`2`3`1Felinski 2b`5`4`3`0McHugh 1b-p`5`3`2`2Cencetti p-1b`5`1`2`2Antal 3b`5`0`0`2Williams lf`4`1`2`2Mesaris dp`2`1`0`0Kivler rf`4`1`0`0Loyack c`4`0`1`1Gable ph`2`0`0`0George ss`0`0`0`0Totals`41`13`13`10Abington Hts`AB`R`H`BIHamm 3b`4`0`0`0Solan ss-p`4`0`1`0Kupinski 1b`4`1`0`0Kozar c`4`0`0`0White cf`4`1`2`0McGinley p`3`0`0`0Bartkowski dp-ss`4`0`0`0Kelly rf`3`0`2`1Tully 2b`3`0`2`0Mecca rf`1`0`0`0Kobrynich lf`0`0`0`0Fiorillo lf`0`0`0`0Totals`35`1`7`1Pittston Area`260`011`3 &#8212; 13Abington Heights`001`010`0 &#8212; 22B &#8212; Para, Felinski, McHugh, Williams (2), KellyPittston Area`IP`H`R`ER`BB`SOCencetti W`5.0`7`2`1`4`1McHugh `2.0`0`0`0`2`4Abington`IP`H`R`ER`BB`SOMcGinley L`6.0`9`10`2`2`6Solan `1.0`4`3`3`0`0<style>
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<div class="neCaption">Pittston Area&#8217;s Kaehler Kivler lays down a bunt to advance teammate Morgan Mesaris to second base on Wednesday. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/web1_PA-AH-Girls-Districts-TL-2.jpg</photo0><caption0>Pittston Area&#8217;s Kaehler Kivler lays down a bunt to advance teammate Morgan Mesaris to second base on Wednesday. </caption0><photoCredit0>Tony Callaio | For Times Leader </photoCredit0></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/web1_PA-AH-Girls-Districts-TL-1.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Pittston Area&#8217;s third baseman Madisyn Antal backhands a ball to prevent it from going down the line against Abington Heights in Wednesday&#8217;s District 2 Class 5A championship. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo1>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/web1_PA-AH-Girls-Districts-TL-1.jpg</photo1><caption1>Pittston Area&#8217;s third baseman Madisyn Antal backhands a ball to prevent it from going down the line against Abington Heights in Wednesday&#8217;s District 2 Class 5A championship. </caption1><photoCredit1>Tony Callaio | For Times Leader </photoCredit1></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/web1_PA-AH-Girls-Districts-TL-3.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Pittston Area coach Vito Quaglia gets a hug from Alexa McHugh after he presented her a District 2 softball gold medal after downing Abington Heights in the Class 5A title game on Wednesday at the University of Scranton. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo2>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/web1_PA-AH-Girls-Districts-TL-3.jpg</photo2><caption2>Pittston Area coach Vito Quaglia gets a hug from Alexa McHugh after he presented her a District 2 softball gold medal after downing Abington Heights in the Class 5A title game on Wednesday at the University of Scranton. </caption2><photoCredit2>Tony Callaio | For Times Leader </photoCredit2></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta>By Robert Tomkavagertomkavage@www.timesleader.com</bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta>Reach Robert Tomkavage at 570-704-3941 or on Twitter @rtomkavage.</shirttailMeta></div>

D2 softball: Pittston Area claims first district championship