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First Posted: 4/22/2013

DALLAS — A return to the Back Mountain went much better for Becky Demko than the first trip.

The Hazleton Area senior pitcher threw a no-hitter, striking out 11, as the Cougars remained unbeaten with a 1-0 victory over Dallas in Wyoming Valley Conference softball Monday.

“That’s the real Becky right there,” Hazleton Area coach Vince Trivelpiece said. “What you saw the other night not too many people have ever seen in their life.”

Last Wednesday, Demko was hit hard at Lake-Lehman. She lasted just 2 2/3 innings and gave up two towering home runs, although Hazleton Area (8-0) won 15-8. She pitched Monday more like the player who entered the week second in strikeouts and third in ERA in the entire WVC.

Demko struck out the side in the second and third innings, part of seven consecutive Dallas batters that fanned. She also retired 13 of 14 during that span, with a fourth-inning walk to Maddie Perez the only glitch.

“My rise was working much better than at Lake-Lehman and the change-ups, too,” Demko said.

Good thing because Hazleton Area’s bats and baserunning weren’t. The Cougars had scored 26 runs in their last two games, but could only get one girl across the plate Monday. They also had two runners thrown out stealing by Dallas catcher Kelly Snyder and another tagged out on a rundown between third and home.

Mackenzie Yori scored the game’s only run. She singled with one out in the third, stole second and moved to third on Abby Sachse’s single to left. Lexi Wolk’s sacrifice fly brought her home.

“It really puts the pressure on you and you have to keep your head up when you’re pitching,” Demko said of pitching with a precarious lead. “We tried to get more insurance runs, but Dallas was pretty good at getting us out.”

Dallas starter Taylor Baker never allowed the Cougars to piece together a big inning. She allowed just seven hits and struck out four.

The Mountaineers (3-4), though, failed to score for a second consecutive game. They didn’t get a runner past second the entire game. Katy Comitz’s flyout in the sixth was the first out recorded outside the infield. She came a close to a home run in the third, pulling the ball just wide of the left-field foul pole.

The loss was Dallas’ fourth in a row and second consecutive by a 1-0 score. Coach Joyce Tinner stayed positive about the setback to the team that is considered the WVC’s best.

“We had a couple rough games there,” Tinner said. “Hopefully, today was a turning point for us. To keep them 1-0 when they’ve been pounding the ball pretty hard against a lot of teams. We played well defensively, we just didn’t score any runs.”

Hazleton Area`AB`R`H`BI`2B`3B`HR

Maria Trivelpiece 2b`4`0`2`0`0`0`0

Mackenzie Yori 3b`3`1`1`0`0`0`0

Abby Sachse rf`3`0`1`0`0`0`0

Lexi Wolk cf`2`0`0`1`0`0`0

Becky Demko p`3`0`0`0`0`0`0

Justine Rossi c`2`0`0`0`0`0`0

Samantha Varela 1b`3`0`1`0`0`0`0

Celine Podlesney dp`3`0`0`0`0`0`0

Hailey Kendall lf`2`0`1`0`0`0`0

Jolene Browdy ph`1`0`1`0`0`0`0

Renee Taylor pr`0`0`0`0`0`0`0

Victoria Bernotas lf`0`0`0`0`0`0`0

Totals`26`1`6`1`0`0`0

Dallas`AB`R`H`BI`2B`3B`HR

Katy Comitz lf`3`0`0`0`0`0`0

Maddie Perez rf`1`0`0`0`0`0`0

Taylor Kelley ss`3`0`0`0`0`0`0

Taylor Baker p`3`0`0`0`0`0`0

Abby Berger 1b`3`0`0`0`0`0`0

Sydney Kern dp`2`0`0`0`0`0`0

Samantha Missal cf`2`0`0`0`0`0`0

Nicole Giampietro 2b`2`0`0`0`0`0`0

Sadie Trudgen 3b`1`0`0`0`0`0`0

Amy Bolton pr`0`0`0`0`0`0`0

Kelly Snyder c`0`0`0`0`0`0`0

Totals`20`0`0`0`0`0`0

Hazleton Area`001`000`— 1

Dallas`000`000`0`— 0

Hazleton Area`IP`H`R`ER`BB`SO

Becky Demko (W, 6-0)`7`0`0`0`3`11

Dallas`IP`H`R`ER’BB`SO

Taylor Baker (L, 3-4)`7`7`1`1`0`4