Pittston Area earned one playoff and avoided another.
The Lady Patriots moved back into a tie for first place in the final Wyoming Valley Conference Division 1 softball standings to force a Sunday championship game against Tunkhannock.
By protecting first place in the seven-team ratings race for the top seed in the District 2 Class 5A playoffs, Pittston Area earned the only quarterfinal bye in that tournament.
Both teams were 11-1 in Division 1.
The championship game is set for Sunday at 1 p.m. at Lake-Lehman. There will be a $5 admission charge at the game. There will not be advance sales. District 2 gold passes will be honored.
The division playoff will not impact the playoff races. Only regular-season games count in the ratings formula.
Tunkhannock ended defending state Class 5A champion Pittston Area’s 28-game winning streak, 3-2, April 13. Pittston Area won the rematch, 5-1, May 3.
DISTRICT PLAYOFFS
District 2 pairings and schedules will become official Sunday.
Wyoming Area (11-9) appears headed for the fifth seed and a Tuesday quarterfinal at fourth-seeded Dallas.
A bye in Monday’s quarterfinals will send Pittston Area (15-2) into a Wednesday semifinal that it will host.
Pittston Area 15, Scranton Prep 2
Winning pitcher Julia Mehal went 4-for-4 to lead the way in Thursday’s non-league game.
The top three batters in the order all had three hits for Pittston Area, which used a seven-run second inning to take an 11-0 lead after 1½ innings.
Mehal doubled twice and drove in three runs while scoring two.
Kallie Booth was 3-for-4 with a double, homer, three runs and three RBI from the leadoff spot.
Bella Giardina and Ava Callahan were each 3-for-3. Giardina doubled twice, scored three runs and drove in one . Callahan doubled, drove in three runs and scored two.
Pittston Area finished with 18 hits, including 11 for extra bases.
Mehal allowed five hits and struck out four.
Pittston Area 5, Dallas 3
DALLAS TWP. — The Lady Patriots did just enough to win Wednesday. Dallas did just enough to help them.
Four Dallas errors led to three early unearned runs for Pittston Area, which then had to rally for the victory that forced a special playoff in Wyoming Valley Conference Division 1.
Pittston Area got another outstanding performance from junior pitcher Gianna Adams, who struck out 19, including the 500th of her career. Otherwise, the Lady Patriots didn’t quite look like the defending District 2 Class 5A and PIAA Class 5A state champions.
“Struggled,” Pittston Area coach Frank Parente said. “Struggled getting the big hit. A lot of runners left on base. Struggled in the field. Definitely want to throw the film out.”
Weather was a factor. It was 50 degrees with wind gusts reported up to 25 mph. Some players wore jackets and even one donned a stocking hat for a bit. Flyballs were an adventure at times.
Pittston Area scored its first run when Kallie Booth opened the game by reaching on a three-base error. Bella Giardina then singled up the middle. An error on a flyball by Adams sent Giardina to third and she scored from there on a groundout.
Adams reached on a two-base error in the third inning and moved to third on another error. Julia Mihal singled her home for a 3-0 advantage.
Dallas tied the score in the bottom of the third. Audry Atherholt opened the inning by reaching on an infield single. She moved to second two outs later when Jordan Porasky singled to left. Victoria Spaciano walked to load the bases and Carolyn Comitz followed by lifting a double down the right-field line.
The ball took an odd bounce away from Pittston Area right fielder Lilli Hintze, who was in position to hold Comitz to a single, allowing three runs to score.
Pittston Area took the lead for good in the fourth on an RBI double by Giardina, who an inning earlier was likely robbed of a home run by the wind. The Patriots added an insurance run in the sixth on an RBI single by Sam Herbert.
Wyoming Area 10, Crestwood 3
Anna Wisnewski had three hits and scored three times as Wyoming Area assured itself of a winning season with Tuesday’s non-league, road victory in the regular-season finale.
Morgan Janeski doubled, singled, scored three runs and drove in two.
Winning pitcher Alexa Gasek had two runs, two hits and two RBI. She gave up 11 hits, but did not walk a batter while striking out four.
Dallas 4, Wyoming Area 1
Maggie Hallman, Morgan Janeski and Alexa Gasek had two hits each in Monday’s non-league loss.
Hallman drove in the team’s only run. Janeski doubled for the only extra-base hit.
Valley View 4, Pittston Area 1
HUGHESTOWN – Lackawanna League Division 1 champion Valley View handed host Pittston Area just its second loss of the last two seasons in the May 13 non-league game between teams with hopes of contending for district and/or state titles in different classifications.
“There is victory in defeat sometimes,” Pittston Area coach Frank Parente said. “Hopefully, the girls will remember this taste because it doesn’t taste good. I told them this tastes bad, and it will taste a lot worse down the road if it happens again.
“And I give (Valley View) a lot of credit. Really good offense one to nine.”
The Lady Patriots’ downfall was twofold – a four-run Valley View fourth inning and an offense, except for the top-three hitters, that didn’t produce as Valley View’s Taylor Cawley struck out 14.
Pittston Area would have escaped the fourth unscathed, but a misplayed flyball opened the door for the Cougars to score four times with two outs.
Pittston Area scored its only run in the bottom of the fourth. Gianna Adams, who had two hits, and Ava Callahan led off with singles. Natalya Soto, who ran for Adams, and Callahan moved up a base on a wild pitch. Soto scored on an error on a grounder by Bella Giardina.
Cawley got out of the jam and finished off Pittston Area by retiring 12 of the next 13 batters, including eight via strikeouts. Kallie Booth’s two-out infield single in the fifth was the Patriots’ only baserunner after the fourth.
“Taylor pitched great,” said Valley View coach E.J. Weston, who coached the Cougars to a state title in 2013. “She had them off-balance most of the game. Their top of the lineup is tough, but Taylor pitched a great game.”
Valley View made a little bit of noise over the final three innings, but a pair of line drive double plays quelled the possible threats.
