The District 2 softball tournament is still awaiting its first upset.
All 11 higher-seeded teams won on their home fields Tuesday, making favorites – at least according to seeds and district playoff ratings – 15-0 going into the semifinals of the District 2 brackets and the subregional brackets involving district teams.
Top seeds Abington Heights and Tunkhannock had entirely different experiences.
Abington Heights ended its District 2-4 Class 5A Subregional quarterfinal in the least amount of time possible, not even needing to bat in the bottom of the third to put away Wallenpaupack, 15-0, on the 15-run rule.
Tunkhannock trailed three times before using a six-run fifth inning to defeat Dallas, 8-6, in District 2 Class 4A.
Before the Lady Tigers got around to their timely half-dozen runs in the fifth, Abington Heights had put up a dozen runs in the first inning.
Abington Heights began the game with four straight extra-base hits and the first 13 batters reached base.
Megan Heard, who finished 3-for-3 with three runs and an RBI, led off with a double.
Bryn Stiles fouled off a pair of 3-2 pitches then homered to left field to open the scoring. She finished 2-for-2 with three RBI.
Riley Marshall was next. She tripled. Marshall later doubled as part of a 2-for-2 day with three runs and an RBI.
Bailey White doubled in Marshall, then scored. She later added another hit, run and RBI.
Avery Fiorillo also had two hits, including a double, and drove in three runs.
Rachel McDonald and winning pitcher Ava Leach drove in two runs each.
Wallenpaupack’s only hit was a single by Samantha Sassi to lead off the game.
Leach struck out five in two innings.
Fiorillo then finished up, needing just eight pitches to get through a 1-2-3 third.
Hannah James, who drove in two runs and scored one, and Paige Marabell each went 3-for-3 to lead the Tunkhannock offense.
Dallas took leads of 1-0 in the third inning, 2-1 in the fourth and 4-2 in the fifth before Tunkhannock broke loose.
The game was the third meeting of the two teams in less than two weeks.
Tunkhannock had posted two straight shutouts, 4-0 and 7-0, with the second win clinching the team’s Wyoming Valley Conference Division 1 title.
This time, the Mountaineers produced much more offense.
Maddie Major doubled, singled and scored twice. Sidney Thomas had two hits and a run. Morgan Sakulich had a single, sacrifice, sacrifice fly and two RBI. Victoria Spaciano had a triple and RBI. Lily Lombardo doubled and scored.
The Lady Tigers eventually had enough offense of their own to overcome that production.
Kaya Hannon, who scored twice, and Ella McNeff had two hits. McNeff scored one run and drove in another.
Tunkhannock got hits from eight different players, runs from seven and RBI from six.
Abington Heights, the Lackawanna League Division 1 champion, and Tunkhannock are ranked 1-2 among Big Schools in the Riverfront Sports Super Six Power Rankings of District 2 teams.
The second seed in Class 4A – and third-ranked Big School team prior to the start of the tournament – also faced a significant challenge.
Honesdale needed an extra inning to get past Wyoming Area, 1-0, in eight.
Marissa Gregory threw a three-hitter with nine strikeouts and no walks.
Olivia Canfield drove in Grace Maxson with the game-winning run.
Stephanie Nowak took a three-hitter into the bottom of the eighth for Wyoming Area before Maxson, Maria Maglione and Canfield all singled.
Honesdale will host Berwick, which defeated Scranton Prep, 7-2.
Maddie Auchter had three hits and Kaite Caladie drove in three runs for Berwick.
Emily Novicki tossed a five-hitter with 10 strikeouts.
Valley View defeated Hanover Area, 4-2, to advance into a semifinal at Tunkhannock.
Emma Giavagnoli went 3-for-3 and drove in two runs to lead Valley View.
All of the semifinals involving Tuesday’s winners are scheduled for Thursday.
North Pocono, West Scranton and Pittston Area joined Abington Heights in advancing through the Class 5A subregional semifinals.
North Pocono knocked out the District 4 representative, beating Shikellamy, 10-5, to earn a shot at Abington Heights.
The Lady Trojans scored in each of the first four innings, including four runs in the first and fourth to take a 10-1 lead before Shikellamy battled back to make things interesting.
The Braves scored in each of their last four at-bats and followed Sydnee Leeser’s home run to lead off the seventh by putting two runners on base.
Madison DeStefano led North Pocono, going 3-for-4 with a homer, double and four RBI.
Savannah Slater and Kylie Mastillo each had productive two-hit days. Slate doubled, drove in two runs and scored twice. Mastillo doubled twice and drove in a run.
Alexa Stevens had a double and two RBI.
Leeser, Amelia Wary and Kelly Sprenkel all had two hits for Shikellamy. Sprenkel was 2-for-2 with an RBI.
Gia Russo’s three-run homer broke a tie and lifted West Scranton to a 4-1 victory over Crestwood.
The Lady Invaders will play at Pittston Area, which defeated Wyoming Valley West, 8-4.
Winning pitcher Tori Para went 3-for-3 for Pittston Area. She scored one run and drove in another.
Nikki Dennis, who had two hits, and Skylar Borthwick each drove in two runs. Kallie Booth had two hits, scored twice and drove in a run.
Sam Pepe and Kylie Hardin each had two hits and an RBI for Wyoming Valley West.
There were also two games in Class 3A where the top two seeds received byes and another in Class A.
Dunmore defeated Riverside, 5-2, and Lake-Lehman handled Western Wayne, 12-2, in five innings.
Moriah Murray pitched a three-hitter for Dunmore.
Jillian Ulozas drove in three runs and scored three for Lake-Lehman, which opened a 10-0 lead with a six-run second.
Lackawanna Trail edged MMI Prep, 7-6, in Class A.
MMI Prep erased a six-run deficit in the last two innings only to have Lackawanna Trail recover with the game-winning run in the bottom of the seventh.
