Groans emerged from the crowd when Nanticoke Area coach Gary Williams held Holly Sarnak at third base when Jess Higgins singled to center.
Sarnak had doubled, it was the bottom of the fourth with two outs, and so far the Nanticoke Area softball team had been scuffling against Dunmore’s Janel Melnick.
Moreover, it was the Trojanettes’ first game of the District 2 AA playoffs — and with the palm of his hand, fans thought Williams missed a major opportunity.
But the next batter, Amanda Valenti, turned the groans into cheers by singling in the two runs, a hit that sparked Nanticoke’s offense. The Trojanettes (11-3) added four more runs over the final two innings to win, 6-0, on their home field.
Nanticoke will play Montrose on Wednesday at turf.
The final score belied the early part of the game, a tightly contested few innings that were somewhat of a shock given Dunmore’s record (3-14). But Melnick had a perfect game through 3.2 innings, and the Trojanettes hit the ball right at Lady Bucks fielders.
“I was surprised. They played a very nice game,” Williams said.
Then Sarnak (2-for-3, two runs, RBI) doubled to get things started, and Dunmore fell apart for the rest of the game: two errors in the fifth allowed two more runs to score, and an error in the sixth allowed another. Nanticoke had better swings on the ball, highlighted by Jen Harnischfeger’s RBI triple in the fifth.
Jess Higgins kept Dunmore’s hitters in check, giving up five hits in seven innings, and striking out three.
“It’s a nice way to get the district playoffs started,” Williams said.

DUNMORE 000 000 0 — 0
NANTICOKE AREA 000 231 X — 6

2B—Sarnak (N) 3B—Harnischfeger (N). WP: Higgins LP 7, H 5, R 0, BB 0, SO 3. LP: Melnick IP 6, H 7, R 6, ER 3, BB 0, SO 1.