MINERSVILLE - Hannah Nestor was just trying to get something started.
Batting with two outs in the third inning of a scoreless game, Williams Valley's shortstop tried to bunt her way on base, but the ball rolled foul roughly 15 feet from home plate.
Nestor launched the second pitch of the at-bat about 250 feet to left-center and circled the bases for a solo home run. The blast gave the Vikings the lead and they rode that momentum to a 7-0 victory over Minersville on Thursday in a Schuylkill League Division II clash at Ken Schneck Field.
The game matched the 2013 PIAA Class A champion Vikings (2-0, 1-0 D-II) against the 2011 PIAA Class A champion Miners (1-1, 1-1).
"I went up and my first pitch, I saw the first baseman was back, so I was going to try to bunt. That didn't work out very well,'' Nestor explained. "So, after I struck out (in the first inning), I went up there ready to hit. I saw it right there, and I just put all my might into it and swung.''
Nestor's sacrifice fly in the fifth inning doubled the lead to 2-0. A dropped fly ball that would have been the third out allowed two more runs to score, and winning pitcher Cassidy Pinchorski added an RBI single to make it 5-0.
In the sixth inning, pinch-hitter Tianna Yanoscak tripled to center field and scored on Maura Kreiser's sacrifice fly.
Hannah Nestor doubled and scored on Rayanne Hawk's RBI single in the seventh.
"We have this thing when one of us starts to hit, everybody goes along,'' Nestor said.
Williams Valley finished with eight hits, six over the final three innings.
"I knew our defense was there. Our defensive practices have been incredible,'' Williams Valley coach Lee Reiser said. "I was worried about our hitting because we haven't seen much live pitching.
"It seemed like the third, fourth inning you could see they were coming alive a little bit,'' he added, "starting to see better pitches and getting an idea of what to do.''
That support proved plenty for Pinchorski. The senior right-hander tossed a three-hit shutout, striking out five and walking none. She spotted her fastball well and used her change-up to keep the Miners off-balance.
Minersville, meanwhile, made four errors behind losing pitcher Riley Gerenda, who gave up eight hits but struck out nine.
"Our defense let our pitcher down,'' Minersville coach Dave Homa said. "I told our pitcher that. I thought she pitched well enough to win against most teams.''
Minersville's problems offensively contributed to the defeat. Adrienne Kroznuskie and Leah Leshko had infield singles, and Rachel Sterner blooped a single to shallow center field. That was it as the Miners advanced just one runner to third base all day.
The Miners stung a couple balls - not nearly enough - and Williams Valley caught them all. For the game, Minersville hit four balls to the outfield. All-Area shortstop Reighly Melochick missed the game due to injury.
"It's the second game of the year, and we're not going to panic,'' Homa said.