DALLAS TWP. – The East had few bright spots in Wednesday’s 38th annual Robert L. Dolbear Wyoming Valley Conference Senior Softball All-Star Game.
Pittston Area’s entries in the game provided two of them.
Taryn Ashby had one of three East hits and Jordan Cegelka provided the team’s most impressive defensive play in a 4-1 loss to the West.
Cegelka, who went 2-for-6 (.333) as a spot starter in the outfield as a senior after playing more in her junior season, was pleased with the chance to play one more game before heading to King’s College. Cegelka said she is undecided on whether to play softball in college.
“I was kind of excited,” Cegelka said. “I didn’t know if it was going to be my last game of softball so I kind of went all out for it to have a good time and everything.”
Cegelka came off the bench, first playing third base and successfully handling two chances. She moved to left field where she made a running, overhead, backhand catch in deep left field, while heading toward the line, to end the sixth inning.
When Hanover Area’s Tianna Davis lofted the fly ball, Cegelka did not expect to get to it.
“I thought it was going over my head so I started running back for it,” Cegelka said. “Then, I realized it was going toward the line.
“Honestly, I still thought it was going to go over my head at the last minute, so I put out my glove.”
Cegelka was 0-for-2 at the plate.
The East got just three runners on in the nine-inning game.
Ashby, who started in center field, singled to lead off the third. With the East using one continuous 13-player batting order, she finished 1-for-2.
In four years as a starter, Ashby batted over .300 for her Pittston Area career. She will switch her concentration to track and field in college after committing to a Division I scholarship at Villanova University.
Players from Pittston Area, GAR, Northwest, Holy Redeemer, Wyoming Seminary, Hazleton Area, Coughlin and Crestwood made up the East team, which was coached by Holy Redeemer’s Jerry Paulukonis.
The West, coached by Nanticoke’s Ryan Stetz, featured players from Berwick, Dallas, Nanticoke, Tunkhannock, Wyoming Valley West and Hanover Area.
