Apr 26, 2002 By The 7 min read

Jared Early only gave up runs in one inning, and he quickly made amends for that in lifting Uniontown to a 3-2 victory over host Ringgold in a Section 2-AAA baseball battle on Thursday. Early tossed a seven-hitter with five strikeouts and two walks, but watched his team fall behind 2-0 with the Rams struck for their only two runs of the game in the bottom of the third.

The Red Raiders answered quickly, however.

Losing pitcher Bill Harkins, who also went the distance, hit Nate Lewis with a pitch leading off the fourth. Ricky Wilson and Brandon Mallick followed with singles to load the bases and Mike George got Uniontown on the board with a sacrifice fly.

Harkins got the second out with a strikeout before Early delivered with a two-run single to put the Red Raiders in front. Early, who had two hits, made sure the one-run margin stood up as Uniontown improved to 8-4 overall and 4-3 in the section.

Ringgold fell to 2-10 and 1-6.

The Red Raiders face a key section confrontation today at 4:30 p.m. against visiting Hempfield at Farmington.

Hempfield 7, Albert Gallatin 4 – Hempfield scored three runs in the first and three more in the fifth on its way to a Section 2-AAA win over visiting Albert Gallatin.

Warren Ciabattoni tripled for the Spartans (5-7, 3-4), while Steve Zeiba, Mike Hook and Nate Hopkins each had a double.

Chris Buncic doubled, singled, scored three runs and stole two bases, giving up 20 swipes on the season, in a gallant losing effort for the Colonials (7-7, 3-5).

“To make the playoffs, we’ll need help,” AG coach Shawn Chory said. “We didn’t play our best ball and left runners stranded … nine guys on base. We just couldn’t get a key hit.”

The Colonials took a 1-0 lead in the top of the first when Buncic singled, stole second and third, and scored when the throw eluded the third baseman.

Ringgold came back with three in the bottom of the inning, but AG pulled within 3-2 in the third when Buncic doubled and scored on Jerome Manchas’ single.

Down 7-2 in the seventh, Albert Gallatin mounted a rally that produced two runs. Adam Weakland singled and scored on Craig Hriblan’s double. Bob Epley added a run-scoring ground out.

The Colonials host Brownsville today at 4 p.m. in a non-section matchup at Masontown.

Brownsville 8, Beth-Center 2 – Brownsville broke a 2-2 deadlock with a three-run fifth, then added three more in the sixth to win going away in a Section 1-AA tilt against visiting Beth-Center.

Jared Slusser allowed seven hits and no walks with six strikeouts in garnering the complete-game win for the Falcons (5-9, 3-5).

Jason Rechichar tripled and scored what proved to be the winning run on Chad Rice’s sacrifice fly in the bottom of the fifth. Matt Rechichar kept the inning going with a single and Erik Highburger and Mike Klamerus followed with back-to-back RBI doubles.

Jason Rechichar also doubled and singled, while Matt Rechichar wound up with three hits as well to go along with two RBIs. Brandon Williams contributed a triple and a double.

Matt Falcone, who walked three and struck out three, took the loss for the Bulldogs (5-9, 3-5).

Carmichaels 10, West Greene 0 – Colby Giles seemed to like the surroundings.

Giles was 2-for-2 with two RBIs and three stolen bases, and also fired a five-hit shutout as Carmichaels crushed West Greene in a six-inning Section 1-A game at Falconi Field, the new state-of-the-art home of the Washington Wild Things minor-league team.

Giles struck out seven and walked three in helping the first-place Mikes improve to 9-2 overall and 8-0 in the section.

The Pioneers, who played as the home team, fell to 2-12 and 2-7.

Niko Buday was 2-for-2 with a run scored and Jared Lapkowicz tripled for Carmichaels.

Justin Allen tripled for West Greene’s only extra-base hit. Joel Phillips was the losing pitcher.

The Mikes host Frazier on Monday at 4 p.m.

Girls softball

Laurel Highlands 11, Albert Gallatin 1 – Janelle Zinn smacked four hits, including a double, and Angie Shotter tripled and singled twice to spark host Laurel Highlands in a five-inning triumph over Section 3-AAA rival Albert Gallatin.

Abby Martin also had three hits for the Fillies (6-5, 3-3). Marci Pursglove and winning pitcher Angie Stafford chipped in with two hits apiece. Amy Bandzuch added a double.

Stafford tossed a two-hitter with no walks and four strikeouts.

It was Senior Day for Laurel Highlands, who honored out-going team members Zinn, Pursglove, Bandzuch, Heidi Frank and Teri Veno.

Jessica Condoluci and Holly Williams each had a single to account for the Lady Colonials’ (2-7, 1-4) only two hits.

Albert Gallatin scored its only run in the top of the first, but the Fillies countered with a run in the bottom of the inning, four more in the second and three runs apiece in the fourth and fifth to invoke the 10-run rule.

Jessica Lemro was the losing pitcher.

Laurel Highlands host Mapletown today in a non-section game at 4 p.m.

Elizabeth-Forward 2, Connellsville 0 – Heather Riley fired a one-hit shutout and Elizabeth-Forward tallied two unearned runs in the second inning to upend host Connellsville in a Section 3-AAA game.

The victory moved the Lady Warriors (6-4, 5-1) into a first-place tie with the Lady Falcons (8-3, 5-1), who won the first meeting between the two.

Riley struck out 10 and walked one. The only hit she coughed up was a fifth-inning single by Natalie Bukovac.

Kerri Hiles gave up four hits and no earned runs with four walks and four strikeouts in absorbing the tough loss.

Connellsville travels to Belle Vernon for a key section game on Monday at 3:45 p.m.

Carmichaels 9, Jefferson-Morgan 1 – Stacy Zuspan twirled a two-hitter and knocked in two runs as Carmichaels rolled past visiting Jefferson-Morgan in a Section 1-A contest.

Zuspan gave up a run in the first inning before throwing zeroes at the Lady Rockets (5-3, 2-3) the rest of the way. She struck out seven and walked four.

Losing pitcher Kelly Waligora singled twice to account for both of Jefferson-Morgan’s hits.

The Lady Mikes (8-5, 3-2) could only muster three hits off Waligora on singles by Autumn Willis, Lizzy Bencheck and Melissa Metcalf, but took advantage of three J-M errors.

Carmichaels led 3-1 before blowing the game open with a six-run fifth.

The Lady Mikes travel to Chartiers-Houston today for a 4 p.m. game.

Boys track

Connellsville 118, Belle Vernon 30 – B.J. Straughters won the 100 and 200, and also helped lead Connellsville’s 400 relay team to victory along with Rich Hair, Brian Burden and Antonio Thomas as the Falcons soared over visiting Belle Vernon in a Section 2-AAA meet.

Frank Kolarick won both hurdles events, Mase Copeland triumphed in the long jump and triple jump, and John Tremba took first in the 400 and the pole vault for Connellsville (7-1, 5-1).

Mike Sweeney gave the Leopards, who fell to 0-6 in the section, their only individual win in the 800, and also teamed up with Dave Bisher, Joe Mossor and Alex Burinski for Belle Vernon’s only other first-place finish in the 1,600 relay.

AG in three-way meet – Pat Raegan took first place in the 1,600 with a time of 4:59 to give Albert Gallatin its lone victory in a meet with Canon-McMilland and Trinity. Vaughn Jones finished second in the long jump for the Colonials.

Girls track

Connellsville 113, Belle Vernon 11 – Christine Salandra took first place in the 100, 100 high hurdles and long jump as Connellsville (4-4. 3-3) won every event in defeating visiting Belle Vernon in a Section 2-AAA meet.

Jaynece Stafford won the triple jump and high jump for the Lady Falcons, who improved to 4-4 overall and 3-3 in the section.

The Lady Leopards fell to 0-6 in section competition.