web1_richardson-cally.jpg

Could King’s grad be the first Dancing Physician Assistant?

web1_ll_sem5_faa.jpg

District 2 baseball preview: A look at the 16 WVC teams in the field

Hanover Area fell just short of catching Wyoming Seminary for the Wyoming Valley Conference Division 3 softball title. Pittston Area was on the tail of eventual WVC Division 1 champ Hazleton Area all season.And Tunkhannock kept everyone in the rearview mirror on the way to the WVC Division 2 crown.One shot at a championship gone. Now another begins.The District 2 softball tournament starts Monday with the runners-up capable of bringing home a different championship.Two teams in classifications where all squads make the district playoffs decided enough was enough. Carbondale (1-15) bowed out of an automatic spot in Class 3A. District 4&#8217;s Shikellamy (3-15) threw in the towel and won&#8217;t play in the D2-5A tournament.Here&#8217;s a rundown of the six classifications.CLASS 6AHazleton Area (18-1) has won seven consecutive District 2 titles and the Cougars are primed to make it eight in a row. They have shut out seven opponents and scored 10 or more runs nine times.District 4&#8217;s Williamsport (15-4) has been Hazleton Area&#8217;s toughest competition in the subregional and will be once again. Two of the Millionaires&#8217; losses have been by a run.Scranton (6-11) started the season 1-7 and has picked up steam down the stretch, but probably not enough to knock off Hazleton Area in its opener. Delaware Valley (9-10) has won four of its last six, but that long bus ride to Williamsport will be taxing.CLASS 5APittston Area (16-3) won its first district championship last season and has a chance to repeat. If the Patriots return to the title game, they&#8217;ll likely run into top seed Abington Heights (17-1). The Comets&#8217; only loss was 8-6 to West Scranton on May 6.Coughlin (1-17) will likely be playing the final softball game in school history when it heads up to third-seeded North Pocono (14-6).Wyoming Valley West (6-8) is the final WVC team in the bracket. The fifth-seeded Spartans have struggled at times on offense, but have shown enough that they could make things interesting at No. 4 Wallenpaupack (11-8). The Buckhorns have won four games by one run.CLASS 4AEight teams qualified via the power rating system. Lake-Lehman also earned a spot by finishing at least .500, so there will be nine teams vying for the championship. This is easily the most competitive of any of the six classes.Lehman (10-10) rebounded from a 2-6 start and is the only team to defeat D2-3A top seed Wyoming Seminary. The Black Knights open at eighth-seeded Berwick (9-11), which has lost four games by one run and handed Hazleton Area its only loss.The winner gets Tunkhannock (16-4), which is arguably the most complete team in District 2. The defending champion Tigers have two of the state&#8217;s top pitchers and there is no weak spot in their batting order. Three losses came at a tournament where they faced some of the top teams from New Jersey.Hanover Area (15-4) is seeded third, right behind Scranton Prep (11-5). The Hawkeyes were expected to be a force in 2020, but to their credit have arrived a year early.The final two WVC teams are fifth-seeded Wyoming Area (10-9) and seventh-seeded Dallas (9-11). Both have had up-and-down seasons, yet both are capable of knocking off anyone in the bracket.A noticeable absence is Valley View, a perennial Lackawanna League power. The Cougars finished 6-10 and outside the top eight.CLASS 3ATop-seeded Wyoming Seminary (17-1) gets a bye into the semifinals. The Blue Knights were a perennial losing team until coach Steve Mytych turned around the program. They&#8217;ve won 11 in a row since a 7-4 loss to Lake-Lehman. Second-seeded Mid Valley (14-3) poses a tough matchup should the two meet for the title.Defending champion Holy Redeemer (9-11) played for the PIAA 3A championship last season but lost significant talent from that squad. The Royals play Lakeland (7-9), which lost four straight until defeating winless Carbondale to finish the regular season.Meyers (4-11) is the final WVC team in the field. The Mohawks are playing their final season before merging with Coughlin and GAR. They put together a three-game winning streak as the calendar flipped from April to May but were outscored 33-9 in their last two games.CLASS 2ANorthwest (12-8) is the only WVC team in the six-team tournament. The Rangers came into the season with sights on the WVC Division 3 championship. But after a 1-0 loss on April 18 to eventual champion Hanover Area, they&#8217;ve struggled with consistency.The top two seeds are two-time defending champion Holy Cross (15-5) and Elk Lake (15-4).CLASS AMMI Prep (4-16) is the only WVC representative in the five-team bracket. The Preppers have lost nine in a row and haven&#8217;t scored more than four runs in any of those games. However, they open with Susquehanna (4-15), which has allowed 10 or more runs in all of its losses.Top-seeded Blue Ridge (14-4) is the only D2-A team with a winning record.<style>
.neFileBlock {
	margin-bottom: 20px;
}
.neFileBlock p {
	margin: 0px 0px 0px 0px;
}
.neFileBlock .neFile {
	border-bottom: 1px dotted #aaa;
	padding-bottom: 5px;
	padding-top: 10px;
}
.neFileBlock .neCaption {
	font-size: 85%;
}
</style>
<div class='neFileBlock'>
<div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/web1_TTL060218Tunk-NanSB_3_CMYK.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Tunkhannock&#8217;s Kendra Schultz and teammate Hope Jones give the Tigers a potent pitching duo. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/web1_TTL060218Tunk-NanSB_3_CMYK.jpg</photo0><caption0>Tunkhannock&#8217;s Kendra Schultz and teammate Hope Jones give the Tigers a potent pitching duo. </caption0><photoCredit0>Bill Tarutis file photo | For Times Leader </photoCredit0></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta>By John Erzarjerzar@www.timesleader.com</bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta>Reach John Erzar at 570-991-6394 or on Twitter @TLJohnErzar</shirttailMeta></div>

H.S softball: District 2 playoffs offer teams a chance at redemption