Hazleton Area and North Pocono clinched at least ties for boys track and field division titles with victories Tuesday.
Matthew Cusatis led the way for Hazleton Area, which defeated Pittston Area, 85-65, in Wyoming Valley Conference Division 1.
The Cougars are 5-0 with one meet remaining. Wyoming Valley West has already finished at 5-1 and is the only team left that can match Hazleton Area in the standings.
Cusatis won the triple jump with 44-6, the long jump with 19-10 and the 100-meter dash in 11.4 seconds.
Zach Keiner (1600), Beck Hutchinson (400) and Nicholas Hebel (3200) each won an individual event and were part of the winning 3200 relay.
North Pocono won, 91-59, at Delaware Valley to improve to 3-0 with one meet remaining in Lackawanna Track Conference Division 2.
The win was the second in as many days for the Trojans, who knocked off previous leader Wallenpaupack Monday and will need to beat Western Wayne Thursday to take the title outright.
Christian Lezinski won the shot put and the discus to help Abington Heights defeat Scranton Prep, 83-67, in the meet that decided second place in Lackawanna Track Conference Division 1, behind Valley View.
BASEBALL
Matt Shamany and Marcus LaBuda combined on a two-hitter and Hazleton Area took advantage of six Wilkes-Barre Area errors while winning, 8-0, to remain unbeaten and clinch at least a tie for the WVC Division 1 title.
The Cougars used their fourth straight shutout to improve to 11-0 in the division and 17-0 overall.
Hunter Sgarlat drove in three runs as Wyoming Valley West kept its slim WVC Division 1 title hopes alive with a 4-3 victory over Crestwood.
Holy Redeemer prevented Lake-Lehman from locking down the WVC Division 2 title behind a strong starting pitching effort from Jake Griffin and big offensive games from Cam Krugel and Hunter Austra.
The Royals avenged an earlier loss with the 10-1 victory.
Lake-Lehman (9-2, 11-2) has already clinched at least a tie. Holy Redeemer (8-3, 11-3) kept its hopes of a tie alive.
Griffin struck out 11 while allowing just two hits, a walk and an unearned run in 5 2/3 innings.
Krugel and Austra each had three hits and three RBI. Krugel homered and scored twice.
Jake Millan and Gavin Chillot combined on a no-hitter as Division 2 leader North Pocono remained unbeaten in the Lackawanna League with a 7-0 victory over West Scranton.
Millan struck out 12 and walked just one in six innings. Chillot struck out two while working the seventh inning.
Zach Walsh led the offense, going 3-for-4 with a double and two runs scored from the leadoff spot.
West Scranton played a home doubleheader of Lackawanna crossover games and bounced back to defeat Delaware Valley, 7-5.
The same offense that could not manage a hit against North Pocono scored in each of the first three innings against Delaware Valley.
Nick Forsette, Cameron Butka and William James all had two hits and drove in two runs. James was 2-for-2 with two doubles while Forsette and Butka each had one double.
Elk Lake scored four runs in the top of the seventh to knock Mountain View out of the lead and create a wild race in Lackawanna Division 4 with a 5-2 victory.
Lackawanna Trail is 7-2 with three games left for a half-game lead over Mountain View (6-2) and a one-game lead over Elk Lake and Blue Ridge (both 6-3).
Logan McConnell had three hits, including a double and the game-winning single in the bottom of the ninth inning when Valley View moved into a tie for the Lackawanna Division 1 lead with a 4-3 victory over Scranton.
SOFTBALL
Maranda Runco tossed a two-hitter with 12 strikeouts while going 3-for-4 with a home run and three RBI to lead Mid Valley to a 4-0 shutout of Lakeland in Lackawanna Division 3.
The win clinched at least a tie for the Division 3 title for the Spartanettes, who are 11-0 in league play.
Tunkhannock opened its lead in WVC Division 1 to 2½ games by beating second-place Pittston Area, 5-4.
Emily Schultz drove in the tying and winning runs on a single with two out in the bottom of the seventh inning to lift the Lady Tigers to the victory.
Schultz finished with three RBI.
Pittston Area took a 4-2 lead in the sixth when Taylor Baiera doubled in two runs and scored on a Nikki Dennis single.
Tunkhannock avenged its only WVC loss when Pittston Area scored in the bottom of the seventh last week. The Lady Tigers improved to 10-1 in the division and 15-2 overall.
Pittston Area is 6-2 and 7-3.
Hazleton Area tied the game in the seventh inning, then scored three more times in the eighth for a 6-3, WVC Division 1 victory at Crestwood.
Olivia Wolk had a home run, single, three RBI and three runs scored for the Lady Cougars.
WVC Division 2 champion Holy Redeemer shut out Nanticoke, 10-0, in five innings.
Jenna Santuk threw a two-hit shutout with nine strikeouts as Holy Redeemer improved to 11-0 in the division, with one game remaining, and 16-1 overall.
Kendra Santuk doubled twice and drove in three runs to lead the offense.
Kaeli Romanowski’s home run in the bottom of the eighth inning lifted Western Wayne over Carbondale, 8-7, in a Lackawanna League Division 3 game.
Tommi Viscaino’s two-run, seventh-inning triple forced extra innings.
Valley View also pulled out a win with a run in the bottom of the eighth, beating Scranton, 3-2, in Lackawanna Division 1.
Morgan McVicar went 4-for-5 with a triple, two runs scored and an RBI for the Cougars.
Morgan Quinn had three hits, including two doubles, as Dunmore defeated Riverside, 7-5, in another Lackawanna Division 3 game.
Jenna Cruser also had three hits while Emma Conte hit a home run.
Division 2 leader North Pocono handled Division 1 second-place team West Scranton, 14-2, in a Lackawanna crossover game.
Montrose swept Susquehanna in a Lackawanna Division 4 doubleheader, 13-7, 18-1.
BOYS VOLLEYBALL
North Pocono prevented Abington Heights from wrapping up a Lackawanna League title, handing the Comets their first loss in a lengthy four-set match, 25-22, 26-28, 25-22, 30-28.
The Comets dropped to 10-1 and will need to win at Blue Ridge (9-2) Thursday to avoid a playoff for the league title.
Caleb Hoch had 19 assists, 13 service points and five aces to lead Western Wayne to a 25-17, 25-14, 25-14 sweep of Elk Lake in another Lackawanna match.
GIRLS LACROSSE
Madison Lasinski scored six goals and assisted on one as second-place Lake-Lehman remained in Wyoming Valley Conference contention by defeating third-place Wyoming Area, 15-5.
Lilian Raczkowski scored three goals, Maddy Raspen had two goals and three assists and Kortney Harry made six saves in the win.
Rachel Shook scored a goal, the 100th of her career, and added two assists.
Lake-Lehman won its 15th straight to improve to 12-1 and 16-1.
Wyoming Area, playing for the first time in two weeks, had a four-game winning streak broken while falling to 8-2 and 10-2.
Makenzie Switzer scored three of the Wyoming Area goals while Emma Keller had two.
GIRLS TRACK AND FIELD
Pittston Area and Dallas remained unbeaten to set up their first-place showdown Thursday at Pittston Area for the WVC Division 1 title.
Both teams are 5-0.
Pittston Area downed Hazleton Area, 96-54, while Dallas routed Wilkes-Barre Area, 137-13.
Jakiya Kroon won the 100 and 200 dashes, anchored the winning 400 relay and was part of the winning 1600 relay for Pittston Area.
Giavanna Innamorati won both hurdles and anchored the 1600 relay win. Aria Messner won the long jump and triple jump in addition to running on the 400 relay team.
MORE TUESDAY COVERAGE
Girls track: Abington Heights extends streak. https://nepasportsnation.com/ah-girls-extend-streak-win-division/.
Boys tennis: Early rounds of district singles. https://nepasportsnation.com/district-2-boys-tennis-singles-tournament-blog/.
