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Wyoming Rotary ‘Crabfest’ set for Oct. 4

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Evans, Leventhal take first at NEPA Race for the Cure

The sweet shots keep finding their spot in the back of the cage, just like they always seem to do when Abie Sorokas has a field hockey stick in her hand.She races up and down the field, effortlessly gliding the ball through choppy terrain and making it rough for opponents trying to match her game.Out on the pitch, playing for the Wilkes-Barre Area Wolfpack, everything seems the same.When she walks away from it, her whole world has changed.&#8220;My dad is the reason I started playing field hockey,&#8221; Sorokas said. &#8220;I know he&#8217;s still here with me, and I know it&#8217;s what he wanted me to do.&#8221;She said this as tears filled her eyes.There is a lot of crying at Wilkes-Barre Area these days.Robert &#8220;Coach Bob&#8221; Sorokas, a pillar of the Wilkes-Barre area youth sports community whose countless photos of field hockey action captured the Wolfpack&#8217;s admiration, passed away after battling heart trouble Monday, leaving a legion of former players saddened and his daughter heartbroken.&#8220;They were like this,&#8221; the old Coughlin basketball coach John Quinn said while crossing his middle and index fingers. &#8220;He knew all the stats of every player. If they were the eighth-string player on the team, he knew all about them. I&#8217;m going to cry.&#8220;So sad.&#8221;So suddenly, Colleen Wood &#8212; Quinn&#8217;s daughter and head field hockey coach of the Wolfpack &#8212; had a dilemma.The team had a makeup date with Abington Heights scheduled for the same day Bob Sorokas died.&#8220;I was actually going to cancel the game,&#8221; Wood said.Abie Sorokas said don&#8217;t.&#8220;I know he loved the sport,&#8221; Sorokas said. &#8220;I just wanted to play for him.&#8221;She scored three goals in Wilkes-Barre Area&#8217;s win Monday.&#8220;I didn&#8217;t want to be disrespectful to Abie,&#8221; Wood said. &#8220;She said she really wanted to play for her dad that day. It was a chilling moment when she scored a goal, and she lost it. I had to pull her out. She got herself settled, went back in, and scored two more.&#8221;She had three more goals Tuesday as the Wolfpack beat Pittston Area, then had an assist and a goal as Wilkes-Barre nearly knocked off undefeated and defending state champ Wyoming Seminary.&#8220;Early on Tuesday, she said, &#8216;I can&#8217;t do it,&#8217; &#8221; Wood said. &#8220;Later, she said, &#8216;Yeah, I&#8217;m going to try it.&#8217; She had another hat trick.&#8221;The final score, or even her ability to score, didn&#8217;t really matter as much as the courage and strength Sorokas has shown through her heartache.Julia Christian understands it.She was in the middle of a playoff run that would take Wyoming Seminary to a state title when her grandfather, Sam Yencha, passed away. Her Blue Knights teammates visited her at the funeral services, less than an hour before Christian scored three goals in a district semifinal victory, but Christian&#8217;s biggest fan was no longer in the stands the rest of the way.&#8220;I played every game for him. And still do,&#8221; said Christian, who had a promising senior season ended by a knee injury last week. &#8220;How I got through it, I remembered he would want me to play my heart out every single game. It&#8217;s still in my mind every single game.&#8221;They say life goes on after the loss of a loved one.So does the emptiness.&#8220;I know he&#8217;d yell at me if I didn&#8217;t play,&#8221; Sorokas said, managing a glimpse of a smile. &#8220;It&#8217;s hard not seeing him on the sideline, taking (photos). It was very hard to play, especially Monday and Tuesday.&#8220;Very hard.&#8221;It&#8217;s not the first time a Wolfpack player had to deal with death during a season. Before Wilkes-Barre&#8217;s three public schools joined together to form one sports program this season, Candladia Washinski lost her mother in the middle of Coughlin&#8217;s field hockey season last year.&#8220;It&#8217;s a shame kids have to go through things like this at such a young age,&#8221; Wood said. &#8220;I don&#8217;t know how they do it. I don&#8217;t know what I&#8217;d do.&#8221;It seems other players know exactly what to do.Wyoming Seminary&#8217;s gave Abie Sorokas a condolences card before the teams played Thursday, and her Wilkes-Barre teammates were with her for the funeral services Friday. Most likely, she will be hearing expressions of sorrow all over the Wyoming Valley Conference all season.&#8220;No one is going to go through this alone,&#8221; Christian said. &#8220;When Abie and I were little, I would go to school with her. Her dad was my coach for a little bit. My heart shattered when I heard what happened.&#8221;She has some advice for her old junior high school friend.&#8220;I used field hockey as my escape,&#8221; Christian said. &#8220;I had to use it as my island. I had to block out all my distractions and took my heartache into my play. It&#8217;s very therapeutic.&#8221;For Sorokas, it&#8217;s the best way to keep an unbreakable bond with her dad, through the memories they built through life that will guide her through his death.&#8220;I think it&#8217;s kind of amazing,&#8221; Sorokas said of her scoring surge in the days surrounding the loss of her father. &#8220;Scoring those first goals, it felt like he was there with me. It&#8217;s helpful. It kind of helps me get it off my mind somewhat.&#8220;I know he&#8217;s cheering for me, just like he always was.&#8221;<style>
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<div class="neCaption">Wilkes-Barre Area's Abie Sorokas, right, keeps the ball away from Wyoming Area's Mackenzie Switzer in WVC field hockey action at Guthrie Field in Wilkes-Barre on Wednesday. Bill Tarutis | For Times Leader</div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/web1_web-crop.jpg</photo0><caption0>Wilkes-Barre Area's Abie Sorokas, right, keeps the ball away from Wyoming Area's Mackenzie Switzer in WVC field hockey action at Guthrie Field in Wilkes-Barre on Wednesday. Bill Tarutis | For Times Leader</caption0><photoCredit0></photoCredit0></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><subheadMeta>Playing through a loss that will never be forgotten</subheadMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta>Paul Sokoloski covers area sports for the Times Leader. Reach him at 570-991-6392 or on Twitter @SokoSports</shirttailMeta></div>

Sokoloski: Playing through a loss that will never be forgotten