Apr 9, 2002 By The 7 min read

Kerri Hiles was a one-girl wrecking crew for Connellsville Monday, leading the Lady Falcons to a 3-1 Section 3-AAA road victory at Elizabeth-Forward. Hiles scattered four hits with four strikeouts and two walks on the mound. At the plate, Hiles just missed the cycle with a single, double, and triple, scoring two runs and driving Lori Hensel home with the third.

Hiles was helped by a stellar defensive effort at first base by Heather Rulli.

Heather Riley was the star for the Lady Warriors (0-1, 1-3) with 12 strikeouts and only one walk.

Connellsville (1-0, 3-0) hosts Belle Vernon on Wednesday.

Laurel Highlands 5, Albert Gallatin 3 – Angie Shotter helped her own cause with a two-run first inning home run with the Fillies opening the Section 3-AAA schedule with a road victory. Laurel Highlands added two runs in the second inning and an insurance run in the seventh.

Shotter (2-0) also had an RBI-single in the second to go with five strikeouts. Abby Martin had two hits and scored two runs. Teri Veno singled twice with an RBI while Marcy Pursglove shined at the plate with two singles and on the field with a stellar defensive effort in the second inning. Ashley Capranica doubled and singled for the Fillies.

Losing pitcher Jessica Lemro had two RBIs for the Lady Colonials with Holly Williams adding three hits and Adriene Dunham finishing with two singles. Stephanie Vicinelli had the other RBI to go with two singles.

Laurel Highlands is 1-0 in the section and 2-1 overall. Albert Gallatin falls to 0-1 and 1-2.

Waynesburg Central 4, Yough 3 – Tera Raymont’s two-out RBI-single, her second hit of the game, drove home the winning run in the Lady Raiders’ Section 3-AA victory. Waynesburg improves to 1-0 in the section and 3-0 overall.

Erin Cross and Jessi Schifko also had two hits for Waynesburg. Nikki Shriver (1-0) struck out four and walked two.

Brownsville 15, Southmoreland 9 – The Lady Falcons got the most of eight singles, mixing the one-base hits with over 10 walks and two errors for a Section 3-AA victory.

Brownsville goes to 1-0 in the section and 2-1 overall while the Lady Scots drop to 0-1 and 0-3.

Losing pitcher Shannah Zapotoczny hit a solo home run for Southmoreland.

Gina Pelehac, Tara Sassano and Erin Guerrieri all had two hits for Brownsville. Pelehac and Julia Martini finished with three RBIs.

Brownsville travels to Yough Wednesday for a Section 3-AA game.

Chartiers-Houston 3, Carmichaels 1 – Carmichaels rallied for a run in the second inning, but visiting Chartiers-Houston scored the go-ahead runs in the fourth for a victory in the Section 1-A opener for both teams.

A bases-loaded walk and a single scored two runs in the top of the fourth to give Jen Alderson the victory. Alderson allowed only three hits, all singles by Jessie McMinn, while striking out 10 and walking two.

Stacey Zuspan (3-3) struck out two and walked four for the Lady Mikes.

Beth-Center 10, Frazier 0 – Kristi Mazzaferri held the Lady Commodores to one hit – Carrie Sterdis’ one-out single in the sixth inning – while Chelsey Stotka led the Lady Bulldogs’ attack with three RBIs in the first Section 6-A game for both teams.

Mazzaferri (3-3) struck out 10 and walked two. Sherri Roberts stroked a pair of doubles and scored two runs. Leslie Kurjanowicz went 2-for-3 with two runs scored with Jennifer Brady contributing two singles and two runs scored.

Beth-Center (1-0, 3-4) travels to Geibel Catholic Wednesday for a Section 6-A contest.

Geibel Catholic 2, Bentworth 1 – Laura Campbell (2-0) allowed only one hit with eight strikeouts and one walk to carry the Lady Gators to a tight Section 6-A victory. Geibel improves to 1-0 in the section and 2-1 overall.

Jenny Johns was strong on the mound for Bentworth (0-1, 0-1) with 12 strikeouts.

Geibel scored its first run on a passed ball and the second on Emily Pennington’s RBI-single.

California 5, Monessen 4 – California remained undefeated, improving to 4-0 with a win against Monessen in the Section 6-A opener.

Alison Edwards picks up her third win on the mound, while Olivia Vargo had three singles for California. Monessen’s Jennifer Hostovich had the game’s only extra base hit with a triple. California will visit Frazier on Wednesday.

Boys baseball

Laurel Highlands 10, Ringgold 7 – Ryan Gondek’s three-run home run helped stake the Mustangs to a 4-1 first inning lead, then the home team followed with six runs in the next four innings to defeat the Rams in the teams’ first Section 2-AAA game of the season.

Paul Briczinski missed hitting for the cycle for Laurel Highlands (1-0, 6-0) by a triple, hitting a solo home run in the second to finish with three hits and two RBIs. David Landman finished with two hits and two RBIs, including a single to bring home Kevin Martin after he tripled.

Brad Yohman (2-0) struck out three in five innings with Santino Sloboda securing his second save with three strikeouts in the final two innings.

Ringgold falls to 0-1 in the section and 1-3 overall.

Beth-Center 4, Waynesburg Central 2 – An infield error and Matt Babko’s RBI-single brought home the winning runs in the top of the seventh inning for a victory in the Bulldogs’ Section 1-AA opener.

D.J. Nakutis (1-0) struck out one in the win while Todd Gifford struck out four and walked three in the loss.

Beth-Center turned a key double play in the bottom of the seventh to stifle a Raider rally.

Beth-Center improves to 4-0 overall while Waynesburg Central falls to 0-2 in the section and 1-5 overall.

Brownsville 6, Charleroi 4 – A two-out, top of the seventh inning rally scored the winning runs for the Falcons in their first Section 1-AA game of the season.

With two outs, a single and intentional walk was followed by Jason Rechichar’s single on a 3-2 pitch with the runners going. Chad Rice kept the game alive with an RBI-single.

Jared Slusser (1-1) struck out six and walked two for the victory. Brandon Williams doubled while Matt Rechichar tripled for the Falcons.

Trevor Consavage had a strong performance despite the loss with 11 strikeouts and only one walk.

Brownsville (1-0, 1-3) hosts Washington today in another section game.

Girls track and field

Connellsville 128, Yough 20 – Christine Salandra had a strong day for the Lady Falcons with wins in the 100 high hurdles (17.5), 300 intermediate hurdles (53.6) and long jump (14-3) plus ran the opening leg of the 1,600 relay. Connellsville improves to 1-0 in Section 2-AAA and 2-1 overall.

Amanda Sines and Christina Roadman were quite a duo in the throws for Connellsville. Sines finished first in the shot put (31-11) and discus (91-7) while Roadman won the javelin (94-6).

Marissa Leos won the 100 (13.7) and 200 (28.9) and ran the anchor leg of the 400 relay. Jaynece Stafford carried the sweep of the jumps for Connellsville by winning the high (4-4) and triple (31-9) jumps.

Connellsville host Elizabeth-Forward on Wednesday.

Boys track and field

Connellsville 130, Yough 20 – Brian Burden won the 100 (11.3) and 200 (23.3), and ran the anchor leg of the 1,600 relay (3:39) for the Falcons in their Section 2-AAA opening meet at Yough. Connellsville goes to 1-0 in the section and 3-0 overall.

Mace Copeland was a jumping machine for the Falcons with firsts in the high (5-2), long (17-1) and triple (39-3). Clint Richter won the shot put (43-1) and discus (146-2) while Pat Mullaney finished first in the javelin as well as winning the 3,200 (10:39).

Kenny King ran 4:54 to win the 1,600 for Connellsville and 2:12 for the top finish in the 800.

Women’s softball

Penn State-Fayette 13, Butler CCC 5; Penn State-Fayette 9, Butler CCC 1 – The Roaring Lions put up eight runs in the bottom of the third in the first game and scored in all but one inning in the second game for a WPCC sweep.

Amy Brown had a double for Penn State-Fayette in the first game while Christine Ruck and Carrie Meyokovich adding two singles apiece.

Brown kept up the hot bat in the second game with three hits. Jennifer Epley added a triple and single to the Roaring Lion attack.

Valerie Henderson improved to 5-1 with the two wins. She struck out 13 and walked four in 12 innings of work.

Penn State-Fayette travels to Penn State-Beaver on Wednesday for a conference doubleheader.