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PIAA Baseball: Northwest Area can’t pull off another postseason comeback

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PIAA softball: Nanticoke Area prevails in extra innings

<p>EDWARDSVILLE &#8212; Hazleton Area&#8217;s Erika Book pitched like she had to be somewhere Monday night.</p><p>She actually did &#8212; the school&#8217;s senior awards ceremonies.</p><p>Aside from some seventh-inning trouble, Book shut down Garnet Valley on one hit through the first six innings as Hazleton Area posted a 4-2 win in a PIAA Class 6A softball matinee at Wilkes University.</p><p>District 2 champion Hazleton Area (22-1) will play in the quarterfinals on Thursday. The Cougars&#8217; opponent will be either D1 champion Central Buck South or D1 fifth seed Neshaminy. Those teams were rained out Monday and will play Tuesday.</p><p>Monday&#8217;s game started at 2 p.m. to allow Book and the other seniors enough time to get cleaned up and over to the high school for the awards.</p><p>&#8220;I do have one (award). I don&#8217;t know what it is,&#8221; Book said. &#8220;It&#8217;s a surprise, so we&#8217;ll get to see.&#8221;</p><p>Book limited Garnet Valley to one hit &#8212; a single to left by Lindsey Hunt in the third &#8212; through the six innings. Moreover, the Jaguars weren&#8217;t squaring anything up as they hit only one other ball out of the infield and recorded half their outs via grounders.</p><p>Quite a difference than in the D2/4 6A subregional championship where Book gave up nine hits and five earned runs.</p><p>&#8220;I came out with vengeance to say the least,&#8221; Book said. &#8220;I definitely wanted to redeem myself. I hate letting these girls down because they pick me up so many times. So coming out here and not playing my best is not an option.&#8221;</p><p>Book ran into some issues in the seventh with Hazleton Area up 4-0. Garnett Valley&#8217;s Kelly McLaughlin opened with a double, Hunt followed with a single and Morgan Mesaros added a double to score a run. The Jaguars scored another run on a sacrifice fly to left, but when Mesaros tried to dash to third, the Cougars ended up with a 7-6-5 double play.</p><p>Book ended the threat &#8212; and the game &#8212; with a groundout.</p><p>Hazleton Area wasn&#8217;t ripping the ball either off Garnet Valley&#8217;s Becca Halford and finished with five hits. Two of them &#8212; consecutive singles by Becca Rossi and Tiana Treon &#8212; led to one run in the fourth. Another scored on a throwing error on Marissa Trivelpiece&#8217;s grounder.</p><p>Treon made it 4-0 in the fifth with a two-run single, scoring Olivia Wolk and Taylor Kaschak. Wolk reached on an error and Kaschak was hit by a pitcher. Both runners moved up a base on a sacrifice bunt by Rossi.</p><p>&#8220;She threw a lot of off-speed pitches that threw us off just a little bit,&#8221; Treon said. &#8220;Eventually we got on her, but yeah, her off-speed was very, very good.&#8221;</p><p style="text-align: center;"><strong>PIAA CLASS 6A FIRST ROUND</strong></p><p style="text-align: center;"><strong>Hazleton Area 4, Garnet Valley 2</strong></p><p><strong>Garnet Valley`AB`R`H`BI</strong></p><p>Torregrossa 3b`3`0`0`0</p><p>McLaughlin 2b`3`1`1`0</p><p>Hunt c`3`1`2`0</p><p>Mesaros ss`3`0`1`1</p><p>Bechtold 1b`2`0`0`1</p><p>Shenk cf`3`0`0`0</p><p>Halford p`2`0`0`0</p><p>Saboja ed`2`0`0`0</p><p>Valente lf`2`0`0`0</p><p><strong>Totals`23`2`4`2</strong></p><p><strong>Hazleton Area`AB`R`H`BI</strong></p><p>Kaschak 2b`2`1`0`0</p><p>Rossi cf`2`1`1`0</p><p>Treon 3b`3`1`3`3</p><p>Trivelpiece ss`3`0`0`0</p><p>Antolick lf`2`0`0`0</p><p>Book p`3`0`0`0</p><p>Mrochko rf`3`0`0`0</p><p>Mooney 1b`2`0`0`0</p><p>Peters ph`1`0`1`0</p><p>Wolk c`3`1`0`0</p><p><strong>Totals`24`4`5`3</strong></p><p><strong>Garnet Valley`000`000`2 &#8212; 2</strong></p><p><strong>Hazleton Area`000`220`x &#8212; 4</strong></p><p>2B &#8212; McLaughlin, Mesaros.</p><p><strong>Garnet Valley`IP`H`R`ER`BB`SO</strong></p><p>Halford L`6.0`5`4`2`1`2</p><p><strong>Hazleton Area`IP`H`R`ER`BB`SO</strong></p><p>Book W`7.0`4`2`2`0`4</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">Hazleton Area&#8217; Becca Rossi steals second base in the sixth inning as Garnet Valley shortstop Morgan Mesaros waits for the throw during Monday&#8217;s PIAA Class 6A state softball game at Wilkes University. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/web1_TTL060518Hazleton-Softball1.jpg</photo0><caption0>Hazleton Area&#8217; Becca Rossi steals second base in the sixth inning as Garnet Valley shortstop Morgan Mesaros waits for the throw during Monday&#8217;s PIAA Class 6A state softball game at Wilkes University. </caption0><photoCredit0>Aimee Dilger | Times Leader </photoCredit0></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/web1_TTL060518Hazleton-Softball2.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Hazleton Area second baseman Taylor Kaschak collides with right fielder Julia Mrochko after Mrochko makes a catch in the sixth inning Monday. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo1>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/web1_TTL060518Hazleton-Softball2.jpg</photo1><caption1>Hazleton Area second baseman Taylor Kaschak collides with right fielder Julia Mrochko after Mrochko makes a catch in the sixth inning Monday. </caption1><photoCredit1>Aimee Dilger | Times Leader </photoCredit1></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/web1_TTL060518Hazleton-Softball3.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Hazleton Area third baseman Tiana Treon and center fielder Becca Rossi celebrate with pitcher Erika Book (28) after a 4-2 win Monday against Garnet Valley in a PIAA Class 6A state softball first-round game at Wilkes University. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo2>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/web1_TTL060518Hazleton-Softball3.jpg</photo2><caption2>Hazleton Area third baseman Tiana Treon and center fielder Becca Rossi celebrate with pitcher Erika Book (28) after a 4-2 win Monday against Garnet Valley in a PIAA Class 6A state softball first-round game at Wilkes University. </caption2><photoCredit2>Aimee Dilger | Times Leader </photoCredit2></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By John Erzar</p><p>jerzar@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach John Erzar at 570-991-6394 or on Twitter @TLJohnErzar</p></shirttailMeta></div>

PIAA softball: Hazleton Area wins by the Book in Class 6A