HUGHESTOWN — Paige Mokychic not only described her go-ahead single precisely, she also summed up Tunkhannock’s five-run seventh inning Tuesday.
“It was a hard hit and right in the right spot where she couldn’t get to it,” said Mokychic as she strapped on shin guards to catch the junior varsity game. “I mean, it was close.”
Tunkhannock seemed to hit everything just out of the reach of Pittston Area and — at the same time — put the game out of reach for a 7-3 victory.
The win put Tunkhannock (4-1) a half-game ahead of Nanticoke (3-1), which was upset by Wyoming Valley West, in Division 2 of Wyoming Valley Conference softball. Meanwhile, Pittston Area (3-3) lost its third tough game in a row to fall to the middle of the pack in Division 1.
Pittston Area, which came into the game off a pair of 2-1 losses, took a 3-2 lead in the bottom of the sixth. Abbey Bradigan reached on a fielder’s choice, with the force at second making the first out of the inning. Taylor Baloga followed with a liner to right that got caught in the fierce crosswind that blows constantly at the facility. The ball sliced to the right and down the foul line as Baloga raced around the bases for a two-run, inside-the-park homer.
Everything seemed set up for a win for the Patriots after Baloga’s home run.
“We got a timely hit, we had good baserunning, we had the lead,” Pittston Area coach Vito Quaglia said. “You’re going (to the seventh) with 7-8-9 against Taylor and you’re thinking this is as good a spot as you can be in. They lead off and their seven hitter gets a single and the nine-hole hitter hits a shot down third base and then it started.”
Sydney Faux led off Tunkhannock’s seventh with a single to center and moved to second on a sacrifice bunt. Danielle Krispin then rocketed a grounder to left, just inches from the glove of Pittston Area third baseman Bradigan, to score Faux and tie the game 3-3.
Hope Jones and Faith Jones then bunted their way on base, leading to Mokychic’s hit to give the Tigers’ a 5-3 advantage. Like Krispin’s hit, Mokychic’s grounder just escaped the grasp of Pittston Area second baseman Lexi Felinski, who was playing in with the bases loaded.
Tunkhannock added two more runs on a fielder’s choice and an error. Hope Jones retired the Patriots in order in the seventh.
“There were a couple close hits there that if they make the play, we end up losing by a run,” Tunkhannock coach Bob Hegedty said. “The ball had eyes and it went through. And for Syd Faux to connect. She was struggling early in the game and to come up with a base hit up the middle to start the innings. That’s the kind of junior leadership we look for.”
Wyo. Valley West 9,
Nanticoke 7
Mandi Zawadzki had two singles and four RBI as the Spartans knocked Nanticoke out of first place in Division 2.
Valley West rallied back with three runs in the sixth. Melodi Raskiewicz picked up the win in relief.
Jenna Lipowski had a homer, triple, single and four RBI to pace Nanticoke.
Hanover Area 6, Wyo. Seminary 5
Michelle McNair had two homers and three RBI as Hanover Area edged Wyoming Seminary.
Karly Bennett had a triple, double and an RBI. Emilee Bobos knocked in a run.
Cassidy Graham and Melinda Holena each had a triple for Seminary.
Wyoming Area 10, Coughlin 0
Gwen Glatz, Vicky Remley and Kristi Skok (3 for 4) all had two RBI as Wyoming Area blanked Coughlin.
Jess Parente scored three times for the Warriors. Glatz limited Coughlin to four hits.
Dallas 9, Crestwood 4
Maddie Kelley and Mikayla Engler had two hits each and Dallas took advantage of eight Crestwood errors to post its first win.
Tunkhannock 7, Pittston Area 5
Tunkhannock`AB`R`H`BI
HJones p`4`0`2`0
Straley cr`0`2`0`0
FJones ss`4`1`1`0
Mokychic c`4`1`2`2
Straley pr`0`1`0`0
Shultz do`3`0`1`3
Reposa 3b`4`0`0`1
Traver rf`4`0`0`0
Faux cf`4`1`1`0
Simmons lf`2`0`0`0
Krispin c`3`1`1`1
Farr 3b`0`0`0`0
Totals`32`7`8`6
Pittston Area`AB`R`H`BI
Lieback cf`4`0`0`0
Felinski 2b`3`0`1`0
McHugh lf`3`0`1`0
Cencetti 1b`3`0`1`0
Bradigan 3b`2`2`0`0
Baloga p`2`1`1`2
Silinskie cf`3`0`1`0
Ashby ss`3`0`1`1
Quaglia dp`2`0`0`0
Gable ph`1`0`0`0
Loyack c`0`0`0`0
Totals`26`3`6`3
Tunkhannock`001`001`5`—`7
Pittston Area`010`002`0`—`3
2B — Felinski, Silinskie. HR — Baloga
Tunkhannock`IP`H`R`ER`BB`SO
HJones (W)`7`6`3`3`2`4
Pittston Area`IP`H`R`ER`BB`SO
Baloga (L)`7`8`7`5`0`8
Wyo. Valley West 9, Nanticoke 7
Wyo. Valley West`050`001`3`—`9
Nanticoke`320`200`0`—`7
Pitching: NAN, Brinley Sobeck 1.2 IP, 2 H, 5 R, 5 ER, 4 BB, 1 SO; Vanessa Tockett (L) 4.1 IP, 5 H, 4 R, 3 ER, 0 BB, 2 SO. WVW, Chloe Ruckle 1.1 IP, 7 H, 5 R, 5 ER, 8 BB, 0 SO; Melodi Raskiewicz (W) 5.2 IP, 6 H, 2 R 2, ER, 0 BB, 1 SO.
2B — NAN, Tockett 2. 3B — NAN, Kiera Brown, Jenna Lipowski. HR — Lipowski.
Top Hitters: NAN, Rachel Roccograndi two singles; Kiera Brown single, triple, RBI; Lipowski home run, triple, single, 4 RBI; Tocket single, two doubles, RBI; Morgan Briggs two singles; Megan Murphy single, RBI. WVW, Mandi Zawadzki two singles, 4 RBI; Katie Rincavage two singles; Andi Blaski one single, RBI.
Hanover Area 6, Wyo. Seminary 5
Wyoming Seminary`002`300`0`—`5
Hanover Area`200`031`x`—`6
Pitching: HA, Mary Kate Penczkowski (W) 7 IP, 5 H, 6 R, 3 BB, 5 SO. WS, Cassidy Graham (L) 6 IP, 12 H, 6 R, 0 BB, 5 SO.
2B — HA, Karly Bennett, Lauren Blazaskie, Haylee Bobos. 3B — WS, Graham, Melinda Holena; HA, Bennett, Shannon Keating. HR — HA, Michelle McNair 2.
Top Hitters: WS, Graham 2-4. HA, Bennett 2-4, RBI; McNair 2-4, 3 RBI; Emilee Bobos 2-3, RBI.
Wyoming Area 10, Coughlin 0
Wyo. Area`001`044`1`—`10
Coughlin`000`000`0`—`0
Pitching — WP, Gwen Glatz 7IP, 4 H, 0 R, 4K, 0BB. LP, Molly Poray 6 IP, 9 H, 10 R, 10 ER, 5K, 10BB; Tori Martin 1 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 1 K, 1 BB.
2B — WA, Glatz.
Top hitters — WA, Skok 3-4; Coughlin, Amie Baboucarr 2-3; Tori Martin 2 for 3
Dallas 9, Crestwood 4
Dallas`005`012`1`—`9
Crestwood`020`010`1`—`4
Pitching: DAL, Maddie Kelley (W) 7 IP, 6 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 1 BB, 8 SO. CRE, Haley Naperkowski (L) 6 IP, 8 H, 9 R, 2 ER, 4 BB, 1 SO; Kate Thomas 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 0 SO.
2B — CRE, Sydney Sobolewski 2, Mady Heller 2. 3B — DAL, Peyton Ross.
Top Hitters: DAL, Kelly 2-3, run; Mikayla Engler 2-3, RBI. CRE, Sobolewski 3-4, run; Heller 2-4, 3 runs.
