6/23/2018
2017-18 Citizens’ Voice Softball All-Stars
Matt Bufano – Citizens Voice

Miranda Bohn
School: Nanticoke Area
Year: Senior
Position: Pitcher

Misericordia commit pitched every inning for the PIAA semifinalist Trojanettes, striking out 171 batters with a 1.24 ERA. Also a skilled hitter, Bohn had a team-high .378 average and five home runs.

Brinley Sobeck
School: Nanticoke Area
Year: Junior
Position: Second base

En route to making the district final and state semifinals, Sobeck reached base in all six playoff games. She was either No. 1 or 2 on the team in batting (.338), doubles (eight), RBIs (17) and runs (17).

6/16/2018
Nanticoke Area softball coach Stetz steps down after run to state semifinal
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Ryan Stetz stepped down Friday as Nanticoke Area’s softball coach, three days after his team’s season ended in the PIAA Class 4A state semifinals.

Stetz coached Nanticoke Area for the past six seasons and had a 61-23 record in Wyoming Valley Conference regular-season games. He was an assistant for three years prior to taking over the program.

“It’s really every year the job is open and I’m just choosing not to reapply,” Stetz said. “Realistically, I think I’m in a good spot personally (with my family) and professionally in my life and will always care for the program. And for the program’s stake, it’s a great opportunity for the next person to come in with a great young team and an opportunity to play on a new field (at the high school).

“It seems like at this point it’s the right time to move on.”

Nanticoke Area is losing just two starters – pitcher Miranda Bohn and third baseman Megan Murphy. The Trojanettes finished second in Division 2 of the Wyoming Valley Conference and finished as District 2 Class 4A runners-up.

“With the way the group of kids come through, it was in the back of my mind,” said Stetz, who teaches social studies at the high school. “When you’re around kids everyday, there are so many opportunities that realistically I wanted to leave it open to do other things professionally.

“Having Miranda and Murphy their seniors years, with this group, was definitely something special. We wanted to come out strong and represent our school and I think we did that to the best of our abilities.”

Stetz’s teams twice made it to within a win of playing for a state championship. Both times the Trojanettes lost to District 11 champion Bethlehem Catholic. The other loss was in 2015 in the PIAA Class 3A state semifinals.

Stetz took over the program in 2013 after long-time coach Gary Williams resigned. He coached the Trojanettes to second-place finishes in Division 1 of the Wyoming Valley Conference in 2013 and 2014, both times ending up behind Hazleton Area.

The WVC realigned softball in 2015 and Nanticoke Area finished tied for first place in Division 2 with Wyoming Area, only to lose in a special playoff game to determine the champion. The Trojanettes went on to the District 2 Class 3A championship, the ninth district title in the program’s history.

In 2016, Nanticoke Area tied for the WVC Division 2 title, but once again lost in a special playoff game – this time to Tunkhannock. The Trojanettes broke through in 2017 by winning the WVC Division 2 crown.

The time is right for Ryan Stetz to move on.

That’s what Stetz told his players Friday, the day he announced he will not be reapplying for his job as head softball coach at Nanticoke Area.

“I told the kids I’m looking for the next opportunity, whether it be personally or professionally, to move forward,” Stetz said. “I think the time is right for the program to be moved on to the next person.”

The news came three days after Nanticoke Area’s 11-0 loss against Bethlehem Catholic in the PIAA Class 4A semifinals.

It was another successful season under Stetz, who was appointed head coach in 2013 and led the Trojanettes to six straight winning seasons.

“It’s all about the relationships with the student-athletes and the bonds we’ve formed over the years,” Stetz said. “This was just a great year and so special. This team will make a mark on my heart going into the future.”

Stetz had been an assistant coach in Nanticoke Area’s softball, football and boys basketball programs before taking on softball full-time.

Stetz was the hand-picked successor to Gary Williams, who coached the Trojanettes to PIAA titles in 2003 and 2010.

“I just want someone else to experience the joys of coaching,” Stetz said. “It’s been awesome.”

Stetz — who said he doesn’t have any immediate plans to jump back into coaching — is a high school social studies teacher at Nanticoke Area, primarily focusing on seniors.

He had two seniors on this year’s team — pitcher Miranda Bohn and third baseman Megan Murphy — who experienced some of the greatest seasons in program history with Stetz.

The Trojanettes made the state’s Final Four in 2015 and 2018, while also going undefeated in the regular season last year and winning a district championship in 2015.

Stetz thanked his players and said that, given who’s returning to the team next year, the Trojanettes have a bright future ahead.

Stetz added he made his decision now because he wanted to put the program in the best position moving forward, allowing Nanticoke Area to hire someone who will lead the Trojanettes in offseason training.

Stetz summarized his time with the softball team, saying he’ll remember it by “the laughs and the good times.”

Nanticoke Area’s Jilann Baron drives a single in the sixth inning of Tuesday’s PIAA Class 4A semifinals against Bethlehem Catholic in Pine Grove. - Tony Callaio | For Times Leader

All the good fortune that Nanticoke Area had been riding through the state softball playoffs took a sudden turn for the worse.

And that dramatic twist of fate helped rearrange the Trojanettes’ hopes of playing for a state championship during an 11-0 loss to Bethlehem Catholic.

They say good teams make their own breaks.

But there isn’t much you can do when the ball is breaking the other way all the time.

It was enough to finally break the back of a proud and gallant Nanticoke Area team, which reached the PIAA Class 4A semifinals after an opposing runner left third base too soon in one game the Trojanettes went on to win in 14 innings and Madison Stashak came back into another state game to deliver the winning single in the ninth.

They didn’t come anywhere near extra innings in the semifinals Tuesday because destiny deserted the Trojanettes right from the first inning.

Brinley Sobeck, Nanticoke Area’s third hitter of the game, launched a shot long enough to clear the left-field fence. But it sailed well foul and Sobeck was eventually called out on strikes.

Nanticoke Area’s Megan Murphy unloaded a similar blast down the left-field line that had the Golden Hawks holding their breath before curling foul in the sixth inning.

Rather than rattle Bethlehem Catholic pitcher Tatum Kresley, those fouls allowed her to make up for some mistake pitches.

“Some of their hitters, I saw their confidence,” Kresley said. “That got my confidence up. I just tried to throw it not where they had hit it. I just stayed relaxed.”

And in the fifth frame of a 2-0 game, Miranda Bohn didn’t quite get enough of her attempt to tie the game with a runner on base, as her long fly to deep left field settled into the glove of the Hawks’ Jaden Spigner.

“It’s part of the game,” Nanticoke Area coach Ryan Stetz said. “We hit the ball as well as we had all year.”

On the other side, Bethlehem Catholic was doing pretty well with its own karma being kind.

Addie Roche’s double fell inches inside the right field foul line and just out of reach of diving Nanticoke Area outfielder Jen Kurkoski to produce the game’s first run in the second inning. And the Hawks added a second run when Kresley sliced a double that dropped just fair down the left-field line before she came around to score in the fifth.

Those luckless little jabs that left the Trojanettes behind by a bit turned into a flood of big blows during Bethlehem Catholic’s nine-run seventh inning that put the game out of Nanticoke Area’s reach.

Mainly because of a girl who didn’t even reach base in that inning. Or the game, for that matter.

Yet, Bethlehem Catholic’s Morgan Christine helped wrap up the game when she fouled off 11 straight balls while sapping energy from Nanticoke Area pitcher Miranda Bohn before popping out back to the circle.

“It definitely wore her down,” Christine said. “I could tell she was getting frustrated the last couple pitches. I was trying to get a hit for my team. We definitely wanted to wear her down.”

It was already a 4-0 game by that point. But Bohn, who fanned seven batters and struck out Christine three times before that, couldn’t find anything to put another batter away. And five hits and seven runs after that, the Hawks had put the game away instead.

“I’m proud of Morgan,” Kresley said. “She hasn’t been hitting well lately. But I saw how she was fighting in there. That definitely drove us. That got us a little excited. That made us more determined to hit the ball.”

In the late innings, working under a hot sun, even the gallant effort of a pitcher as good as Bohn wasn’t enough to stop a bad ending for the Trojanettes that was highlighted by a memorable at-bat from a hitter who wasn’t swinging so good.

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“Yeah, it started to get to me a little bit,” Bohn said. “I’m not sure if it affected me (physically). I wasn’t going to give up for my team. I was thinking, ‘Just focus on the next pitch, don’t let them hit it, try to win the battle.’ All the credit to that team. I wish them the best in the (state) championship.”

Nanticoke Area second baseman Brinley Sobeck makes the scoop at first base on a sacrifice bunt by Bethlehem Catholic’s Jess Indelicato during the fifth inning. - Tony Callaio | For Times Leader

Nanticoke Area first baseman Jilann Baron fields an attempted bunt from Bethlehem Catholic’s Alexa Panuccio. - Tony Callaio | For Times Leader

Nanticoke Area shortstop Gabby Rakowski cuts off a grounder in the hole before tossing to first for an out against Bethlehem Catholic on Tuesday. - Tony Callaio | For Times Leader

Nanticoke Area’s Brinley Sobeck connects for a double in the sixth inning on Tuesday. - - Tony Callaio | For Times Leader

PINE GROVE — The final score, no doubt, looked ugly — Bethlehem Catholic 11, Nanticoke Area 0.

But for six innings Tuesday, anyway, the Trojanettes were right there. A break, a hit, a Becahi mistake away from making a close PIAA Class 4A softball semifinal game even closer.

Then came the seventh, which was easily Nanticoke Area’s worst inning of the season.

Becahi banged out nine hits and scored nine times, ending Nanticoke Area’s season for the second time in four seasons and once again in a state semifinal. The Golden Hawks defeated the Trojanettes 5-0 in the 2015 Class 3A state semifinals.

“The score isn’t indicative of the game,” said Nanticoke Area coach Ryan Stetz, whose District 2 runner-up Trojanettes ended the year at 17-8. “To battle that team 2-0 and give ourselves a chance at the end. I know you can’t erase the runs off the board, but we went toe-to-toe with them for six innings.”

District 11 champ Becahi delivered the knockout in the seventh. Four Hawks had RBI singles and Alyssa Jimenez had a two-run triple in the inning. But the biggest at-bat arguably came from the player who made the first out of the inning — Morgan Christine.

Christine fouled off 11 consecutive two-strike pitches before hitting a lazy, low popout to Nanticoke Area pitcher Miranda Bohn.

“I was definitely feeling tired,” said Bohn, who threw 198 pitches in a 14-inning quarterfinal victory on Thursday. “But I definitely wasn’t giving up. I was just trying to help my defense and get outs anyway I could.

“I was thinking, ‘Just try to win this battle with every pitch and don’t give up.’ ”

Until the seventh, Bohn had allowed just five hits — including a RBI double in the second and an RBI double in the fifth — and recorded seven strikeouts.

“That pitcher is as good as we’ve seen all year,” Becahi coach Rich Mazza said. “Couple of those kids swing the bat well, so we can see why they got here.”

Nanticoke Area had its chances a couple times before the Hawks pulled away.

Bohn singled with one out in the first inning and Megan Murphy walked an out later, but both ended up stranded. Then in the fourth, Brinley Sobeck opened with a double and Murphy followed with a single. Again, nothing against Becahi pitcher Tatum Kresley, who finished with eight strikeouts.

“We’ve faced some dominant pitchers and she was another one,” Stetz said.

Nanticoke Area got two-out singles from Gabby Rakowski in the fifth and Jilann Baron in the sixth, but came up empty.

Murphy and Bohn, who both started as freshmen against Becahi in 2015, finished up their Nanticoke Area careers. After an emotional moment with Bohn, Murphy tried to put the situation in perspective.

“That’s why I love softball. It’s so unpredictable,” Murphy said. “You don’t know what’s going to happen in a game. Everyone thinks it’s going to be a perfect game with no errors and everyone is going to hit the ball. But that’s not how softball is.”

Becahi will play District 9 champ Punxsutawney at 1:30 p.m. Friday at Penn State for the Class 4A state championship.

6/13/2018
PIAA Softball: Nanticoke Area falls to Bethlehem Catholic in Class 4A semifinal
Matt Bufano - Citizens Voice

WARREN RUDA / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER Nanticoke Area’s Miranda Bohn delivers against Bethlehem Catholic in the PIAA softball semifinals on Tuesday.

WARREN RUDA / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER Tatum Kreslev pitched for Bethlehem Catholic.

PINE GROVE — Sometimes, the final score is not indicative of what actually happened in a game.

Fans and team members from both sides would agree that Tuesday’s PIAA Class 4A softball semifinal fits the bill.

Left-hander Miranda Bohn pitched six strong innings for Nanticoke Area, which drubbed five hits and drew two walks against Bethlehem Catholic ace Tatum Kresley, one of the best pitchers in the state.

“That pitcher (Bohn) is as good as we’ve seen all year,” said Becahi coach Rich Mazza. “A couple of those kids swing the bat well and I see why they got here.”

Unfortunately for the Trojanettes, a miserable seventh inning made their season-ending defeat look worse than it was, as Becahi beat Nanticoke Area, 11-0, and advanced to the state championship game.

“I know you can’t erase the runs off the board, but we went toe to toe with them for six innings,” said Nanticoke Area head coach Ryan Stetz.

The runner-up in its division and district, Nanticoke Area’s season closes with a 12-7 record. District 11 champion Becahi (21-5) will play for the state title against Punxsutawney 1:30 p.m. Friday at Penn State.

Having played three straight extra-inning games that amounted to 33 innings, Stetz said fatigue may have played a role in Nanticoke Area giving up nine runs in Tuesday’s seventh inning.

“When you go to the well that many times, extra innings, against high-quality teams on a state level in 4A, it’s only a matter of time that it’s going to happen,” Stetz said.

Nanticoke Area had its chances at the plate, stranding a pair of runners on base in both the first and fourth innings.

Meanwhile, Becahi took advantage of its few opportunities.

Catcher Julia Sledz started the second inning with a leadoff walk, her first of three free passes.

Three batters later, No. 7-hitting third baseman Addie Roche hit a two-out double to shallow right field that scored Sledz and made it 1-0.

The score remained 1-0 into the fifth, as Kresley, a sophomore who’s verbally committed to play at Rider, weaved in and out of trouble while pitching.

“Tatum is an unbelievable competitor,” Mazza said. “She refuses to back down to anybody. You saw the way she swings the bat, too.”

Kresley led off the fifth inning with a double, eventually coming around to score on Alyssa Jimenez’s RBI single that made it 2-0.

In the circle, Kresley pitched a seven-inning shutout with eight strikeouts. At the plate, she batted No. 9 and went 3 for 4 with two singles, a double and two runs scored.

The game was not without its Nanticoke Area highlights, including singles by Bohn, Gabby Rakowski and Jilann Baron. Brinley Sobeck ripped a leadoff double to left in the fourth.

Senior Megan Murphy was 1 for 2 and drew a walk.

“Sometimes it doesn’t go our way,” said Murphy, who will play with Bohn next season at Misericordia. “That’s life. That’s a life lesson, I guess, in itself.”

Leading 2-0 entering the seventh, Becahi batted around the order with 13 plate appearances in the final inning. The first five batters had gotten on base before first baseman Morgan Christine battled and fouled off at least a dozen straight pitches before Bohn eventually got her out with a pop up.

“These four years, we’ve accomplished so much,” Murphy said.

Indeed, the Trojanettes made it to the state semifinals in 2015 and 2018 while mixing in a 2015 district championship and 2017 conference title along the way.

This year’s state playoff run was also unforgettable, as the Trojanettes knocked off a pair of college-bound pitchers — York College and La Salle — before running into Kresley and Becahi.

Stetz called it “one of the great seasons in Nanticoke softball history.”

6/11/2018
Athlete of the Week: Miranda Bohn, Nanticoke Area softball
Tyler Piccotti – Citizens Voice

Miranda Bohn, Athlete of the Week, Nanticoke Area softball
Miranda Bohn is the prototypical ace for the Nanticoke Area softball team.
She proved it last week in the PIAA playoffs.
Bohn, a senior, pitched two complete games — including when she went the distance in a thrilling 14-inning win over East Pennsboro on Thursday — and struck out 16 batters to help the Trojanettes advance to the semifinal round. For her efforts, Bohn was named The Citizens’ Voice Athlete of the Week, presented by Surgical Specialists of Wyoming Valley.

Q: How did your arm feel after throwing 14 innings?
A: (Laughs) It’s been sore, but I’ve been resting it this past weekend, so it’s gotten better.

 Q: The longer a game like that goes, do you have to change the way you pitch to stay sharp?
A: Not really. It’s just keeping my composure more and taking a deep breath before every pitch. Going into it with the mindset that I’m going to get through it and not giving up

 Q: What worked so well for you that game and in the postseason so far?
A: I think my drop curve has been working pretty well. And, just spotting my fastball better in the locations I need to.

 Q: Did the team get the sense as the season went on that a deep state run was a real possibility?
A: Yeah, that was always in the back of our head. We’re never looking too far forward like, “Oh yeah, we’re going to win districts and we’re going to win states.” We kind of just take it game by game. But as the season went on, we got more confidence in ourselves that we can actually do this.

 Q: You’re playing Bethlehem Catholic in the semifinals. What’s the plan for the game?
A: I don’t really know too much about them. We know they have good sticks, so they’re going to hit a lot and they are probably going to bunt. So, we’re just going to have to hope our defense does as good as it’s been in the past.

Age: 18
Hometown: Nanticoke
Family: Mother, Sandy; father, Jay
Favorite school subject: AP Biology
Favorite movie: “Nerve”
Favorite TV show: “One Tree Hill”
Favorite music artist: PnB Rock
Favorite food: Pasta
Favorite junk food: Watermelon Sour Patch
Favorite team: Florida Gators softball
Favorite holiday: Christmas
Favorite color: Orange
Away from softball, Miranda likes to ... hang out with her friends.
If Miranda could meet anyone in history, she would like to meet ... Babe Ruth.
If Miranda could travel anywhere in the world, she would go to ... Italy.
Miranda’s favorite thing about softball is ... the bonds she has made with her teammates.
For Miranda, the most difficult part of softball is ... putting in the extra practice during the season.
One thing Miranda couldn’t live without is ... her cell phone.
Miranda’s biggest role models have been ... her grandparents.
One word that best describes Miranda is ... athletic.
Miranda’s biggest fears are ... spiders and snakes.
If Miranda could have one superpower, she would want ... the ability to read minds.
If a movie were made about Miranda’s life, she would want to be played by ... her teammate, Katie King.
One talent Miranda doesn’t have, but wishes she did, is ... gymnastics ability.
Up next, Miranda ... will attend and play softball at Misericordia University. She is planning on studying medical imaging.

Matt Bufano – Citizens Voice

NEWPORT TWP. — Flash back to June 9, 2015.
The Nanticoke Area Trojanettes had just lost to Bethlehem Catholic in the PIAA Class 3A softball semifinals, falling one win short of the state championship game.
“When we walked off the field, there was a level of, ‘Are we ever going to get back to this point?’” admitted Ryan Stetz, the head coach.
No matter the talent, there was plenty reason to be skeptical, starting with the fact that only four teams in a class with 162 schools make the state semifinals.
In 2016, it was an injury and a superior District 2 team, Abington Heights, that derailed Nanticoke Area.
Last year, the Trojanettes had an undefeated regular season and the best hitter in the league, but failed to make it out of the district tournament.
“Strange things happen and for some reason, I thought we could this year,” Stetz said. “I really did.”
Seniors Miranda Bohn and Megan Murphy have been with Stetz the whole time, hoping there’s a redemption theme in today’s 12 p.m. Class 4A semifinal against Bethlehem Catholic at Pine Grove High School.
“It’s a great year to have your last year go into the semifinals,” Murphy said. “I just can’t believe we’re back like freshman year.”
While Becahi has played the standard 21 innings over its last three games, Nanticoke Area comes in having gone to extras in three straight games that amounted to a whopping 33 innings.
“I think it’s been a roller-coaster ride with how the emotions have been feeling,” said Bohn, who’s pitched every inning this season for the Trojanettes. “Now, if you lose, you’re done. We’re just trying to play every game like it’s our last and going out strong.”
Murphy and Bohn first played softball together in junior high, when, at the time, they had a few other Class of 2018 teammates.
Today, they’re the only seniors on Nanticoke Area.
“I love playing with her,” Murphy said of Bohn. “She’s like my best friend. I know she always has my back on and off the field. We’ve always trusted each other and I think our skills have grown together.”
Murphy and Bohn immediately showed their potential at the high school level, earning starting jobs with the varsity as freshmen.
Stetz said it was Murphy’s “athleticism and versatility” that caught his eye. He added that Bohn was a can’t-miss talent, even back then.
“When she first started, I had her in right field … because I just knew she had to get on the field someway,” Stetz said.
Bohn has since developed into one of the best pitchers in the Wyoming Valley Conference.
Bohn is 12-6 in league play with a 0.88 ERA and 0.85 WHIP, while she’s also the Trojanettes’ leader in batting (.385).
Bohn and Murphy are tied for the team lead with three home runs each. Murphy is batting .306.
Murphy, a third baseman, is 3 for 9 with two runs and three RBIs in the two state playoff games, each of which featured Nanticoke Area coming from behind to win.
“We can’t really get down on ourselves because this is the state playoffs, this is the best time of the year,” Murphy said. “We can’t get down on ourselves. This is supposed to be fun. Me and Miranda, we’re the seniors of the team, so we have to keep everyone up.”
Once fall rolls around, Bohn and Murphy will be enrolled at Misericordia, where they will extend their careers as teammates with the Cougars’ softball team.
And, then, the onus will be on multi-year starters second baseman Brinley Sobeck, shortstop Gabby Rakowski, first baseman Jilann Baron & Co.
But, rest assured, the Trojanettes are in no hurry to see this season come to an end.
“Regardless of the outcome of the game,” Stetz said, “just to be in games like this, win or lose, it has to be fun.”

6/9/2018
PIAA Softball: Decision-making in crucial moments helped Nanticoke Area survive 14-inning quarterfinal
By Eric Shultz and Matt Bufano  - Citizens Voice