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DALLAS — The question mark was in the form of a circle. As in how Dallas this season would replace Maddie Kelley, one of the most reliable pitchers in the Wyoming Valley Conference during her career.

A couple underclassmen stepped up this season and again on Wednesday in a District 2 Class 4A first-round game.

Freshman Abby Jayne worked out of one jam and sophomore Sydney Hornlein escaped a bigger one in the seventh inning as the Mountaineers defeated Scranton Prep 2-1.

“They both pitched well today and did what we needed them to do,” Dallas coach Joyce Tinner said. “And until that last inning, they kept (Prep) scoreless and I was happy with that.”

Seventh-seeded Dallas (7-7) will head to No. 2 Valley View (9-4) for a quarterfinal game at 4:30 p.m. Thursday. Both teams had the same seeds last year when they played in the quarterfinals and Dallas won 5-1.

Jayne was pulled after walking consecutive batters in the third with one out and Dallas ahead 2-0. Hornlein entered and retired 12 in a row until Prep’s Rae Hatala crushed a homer to left with one out in the seventh.

“It was a little scary at first,” Hornlein said, “but I already knew we had one out and had two runs. So I felt all right and knew I could trust my team behind me.”

Still, the situation became a little more scary when Emily Holtsmaster followed with a single, putting the tying run on base. After a foul out for the second out, pinch hitter Campbell Kelly singled to right. Gracie Giordoni, running for Holtsmaster, tried to get to third, but had to slam on the brakes about 10 feet from the bag when the throw beat her.

Giordoni got in a rundown and was tagged out after four throws.

Baserunning hurt Prep (4-10) in the second inning after Bella Gorzkowski and Hatala led off with singles. Both moved up a base on a sacrifice bunt. Tess Davis followed with a flyout, but instead of getting a run, Prep ended up with a double play when it was ruled Gorzkowski left third too early.

“Oh, I did,” said Tinner when asked who noticed the premature dash to the plate. “That’s my job to watch that. My assistant coach watches the catch, I watch the tag. We have that down. (Left fielder) Sam (Kern) has a cannon for an arm. As soon as we saw there wasn’t even a play at home, you knew.”

Dallas scored both its runs in the first inning. Peyton Ross led off by rolling a double down the left field line. She moved to third on Kendra Saba’s single and scored on Gianna Spaciano’s single. Kern eventually brought home Saba on a sacrifice fly.

Berwick 13, Coughlin 0 (5 inn.)

Sammi Starr homered twice and she and Brooke Stout had two RBI as Berwick advanced in the D2-4A playoffs.

Kylie Levan and Emily Novicki combined to strike out 11 as the Dawgs (8-6) moved to Thursday’s quarterfinals and will play at Nanticoke Area (8-5).

Taylor Pawlush had the only hit for Coughlin, which finished 1-13.

Honesdale 10, Crestwood 0

The Comets ended their season at 4-10 with a shutout loss to Honesdale (6-8).

Honesdale plays at Tunkhannock (10-3) at 4:30 p.m. Thursday.

CLASS 2A QUARTERFINALS

Northwest 6, Wyoming Seminary 5

Courtney Cragle led off the bottom of the seventh inning with a home run, sending the Rangers into the district semifinals.

Her shot came after Wyoming Seminary rallied to tie the game in the top of the seventh on Lauren Fletcher’s two-out, two-run single.

Courtney Cragle finished with three hits and added a double to go with her homer, while Nicole Cragle drove home four runs and finished with a single and a double.

Winning pitcher Brooke Harvey went 2-for-2 and Emily Culver came up with a pair of hits in the victory.

Alexus Dunn had three hits and Kylee Kolbicka doubled for Sem.

CLASS 3A FIRST ROUND

Carbondale 11, Meyers 7

Katelyn Dovin was the winning pitcher, ripped two doubles and drove home three runs to lead the Chargers.

Lexi Bruno slammed a three-run homer as Meyers scored all seven of its runs in the fifth inning to pull within 10-7.

Ashley Bruno had a triple and a single and drove in two runs for the Mohawks, while Lexi Bruno finished 2-for-4 with the homer and a double.

Dunmore 11, GAR 0 (5 inn.)

Marlena Pegula threw a perfect game with 12 strikeouts and drove in five runs as Dunmore (7-6) moved to the D2-3A quarterfinals where the Bucks will play at second-seeded Holy Redeemer (14-0) at 3:30 p.m. Thursday.

GAR ended its year at 1-13.

DISTRICT 2 CLASS 4A FIRST ROUND

Dallas 2, Scranton Prep 1

Prep`AB`R`H`BI

Gianello lf`2`0`0`0

M.Kelly 2b`3`0`0`0

Cawley cf`3`0`0`0

Gorzkowski c`3`0`1`0

Hatala dp`3`1`2`1

Holtsmaster p`2`0`1`0

Giordina pr`0`0`0`0

Davis 1b`3`0`0`0

Stankewicz rf`1`0`0`0

C.Campbell ph`2`0`1`0

Purcell 3b`1`0`0`0

Ferraro ss`0`0`0`0

Totals`24`1`5`1

Dallas`AB`R`H`BI

Ross c`3`1`1`0

Saba ss`3`1`2`0

Spaciano 2b`2`0`1`1

Dixon rf`3`0`0`0

Kern lf`2`0`0`1

S.Hornlein dp-p`2`0`0`0

Schappert cf`2`0`1`0

Johnson 3b`2`0`0`0

L.Hornlein 1b`2`0`2`0

Jayne p`0`0`0`0

Totals`21`2`7`2

Scranton Prep`000`000`1 — 2

Dallas`200`000`x — 2

2B — Ross, Schappert. HR — Hatala.

Prep`IP`H`R`ER`BB`SO

Holtsmaster L`6.0`7`2`2`0`2

Dallas`IP`H`R`ER`BB`SO

Jayne`2.1`2`0`0`2`1

S.Hornlein W`4.2`3`1`1`0`3

Berwick 13, Coughlin 0 (5 inn.)

Coughlin` `000`00 — 0

Berwick` `122`8x — 13

Pitching — COU, Amanda Smith L (4 IP, 14 H, 13 R, 10 ER, 2 BB, 2 SO); BER, Kyle Levan W (4 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 2 BB, 8 SO). Emily Novicki (1 UP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 3 SO).

Top Hitters COU, Taylor Pawlush 1-2; BER, Sammi Starr 3-3, 2 HR, 2 RBI; Katie Starr 2-4; Levan 2-3; Brooke Stout 1-3, 2 RBI; Sarah Dent 2-3, RBI; Novicki 1-3, RBI; Mallory Pinterich 2-3, RBI; Lydia Hess 1-3, RBI.

DISTRICT 2 CLASS 2A QUARTERFINAL

Northwest 6, Wyoming Sem 5

Wyoming Sem`300`000`2 — 5

Northwest`203`000`1 — 6

Pitching — SEM, Delaney Romanchick, L, 6 IP, 12 H, 6 R, 5 ER, 2 BB, 6 SO; NW, Brooke Harvey, W, 7 IP, 6 H, 5 R, 3 ER, 4 BB, 3 SO.

Top hitters — SEM, Alexus Dunn 3-for-4, Kylee Kolbicka 2B, Lauren Fletcher 2 RBI. NW, Courtney Cragle 3-for-4, HR, 2B, Nicole Cragle 2-for-4, 2B, 4 RBI, Brooke Harvey 2-f0r-2, Emily Culver 2-for-3.

DISTRICT 2 CLASS 3A FIRST ROUND

Carbondale 11, Meyers 7

Carbondale`211`151`0 — 11

Meyers`000`070`0 — 7

Pitching — CAR, Katelyn Dovin, W, 6.1 IP, 7 H, 5 R, 5 ER, 2 BB, 6 SO, Peyton Carey 0.2 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 0 BB, 0 SO; MEY, Lexi Bruno, L, 3 IP, 2 H, 4 R, 2 ER, 6 BB, 3 SO, Abbi Sattof 4 IP, 10 H, 7 R, 6 ER, 2 BB, 1 SO.

Top hitters — CAR, Brooke Staple 3-for-4, Katelyn Dovin 2-for-4, 2 2B, 3 RBI; MEY, Ashley Bruno 2-for-4, 3B, 2 RBI, Lexi Bruno 2-for-4, HR,m 2B, 3 RBI.

Dallas starter Abby Jayne delivers a pitch against Scranton Prep in a District 2 Class 4A first-round softball game in Dallas Township on Wednesday.
https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/web1_TTL052418Dallas-PrepSB_1.jpg.optimal.jpgDallas starter Abby Jayne delivers a pitch against Scranton Prep in a District 2 Class 4A first-round softball game in Dallas Township on Wednesday. Bill Tarutis | For Times Leader

Dallas catcher Peyton Ross goes after the ball as Scranton Prep’s Bella Gorzkowski crosses the plate in the second inning Wednesday. Gorzkowski was ruled out after leaving third base early on a flyout.
https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/web1_TTL052418Dallas-PrepSB_2.jpg.optimal.jpgDallas catcher Peyton Ross goes after the ball as Scranton Prep’s Bella Gorzkowski crosses the plate in the second inning Wednesday. Gorzkowski was ruled out after leaving third base early on a flyout. Bill Tarutis | For Times Leader

Dallas’ Olivia Johnson watches her drive ahead of Scranton Prep catcher Bella Gorzkowski in a District 2 Class 4A first-round game Wednesday.
https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/web1_TTL052418Dallas-PrepSB_5.jpg.optimal.jpgDallas’ Olivia Johnson watches her drive ahead of Scranton Prep catcher Bella Gorzkowski in a District 2 Class 4A first-round game Wednesday. Bill Tarutis | For Times Leader

Dallas’ Kendra Saba bunts her way on base against Scranton Prep Wednesday.
https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/web1_TTL052418Dallas-PrepSB_3.jpg.optimal.jpgDallas’ Kendra Saba bunts her way on base against Scranton Prep Wednesday. Bill Tarutis | For Times Leader

Dallas’ Gianna Spaciano watches her RBI single clear the infield against Scranton Prep.
https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/web1_TTL052418Dallas-PrepSB_4.jpg.optimal.jpgDallas’ Gianna Spaciano watches her RBI single clear the infield against Scranton Prep. Bill Tarutis | For Times Leader

By John Erzar

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Reach John Erzar at 570-991-6394 or on Twitter @TLJohnErzar