May 7, 2003 By The 11 min read

Hiles pitches Connellsville girls past Albert Gallatin Jessica Lemro was good. Kerri Hiles was even better.

Hiles struck out a season-high 18 in twirling a two-hitter to lead host Connellsville to a 3-0 victory over stubborn Albert Gallatin in Section 3-AAA girls softball action on Tuesday.

The win gave the Lady Falcons a sweep of the section at 10-0. They improved to 15-1 overall.

The Lady Colonials fall to 4-13 and 1-9.

Hiles walked none and hit one batter. She allowed only a second-inning second to Jenn Tressler and a sixth-inning single to Holly Williams.

Lemro was sharp as well, limiting Connellsville to only two earned runs on six hits. She struck out three and walked only one.

The Lady Falcons got Hiles the only run she would need in the second inning when Ashley Whipkey reached on a two-out error, which allowed Kristina Brooks to score.

Connellsville added a run in the third when Natalie Bukovac, who had two hits, doubled in Lindsay O’Donnell.

The Lady Falcons clung to their 2-0 until the bottom of the sixth when they tacked on one more insurance run as Dena Leighty singled in Heather Rulli.

Connellsville is in the midst of a four-games-in-four-days stretch, starting with the first of three straight non-section contests today when it travels to Carmichaels for a 4 p.m. matchup. The Lady Falcons host Elizabeth-Forward at 4 p.m. Thursday, then travel to Greensburg Central Catholic for a 3:30 p.m. game Friday.

Carmichaels 7, West Greene 1 – Melissa Metcalf pitched a one-hitter as Carmichaels ran the table in Section 1-A with a victory over visiting West Greene.

Metcalf struck out 10 and walked three as the Lady Mikes improved to 15-1 overall.

Sarah Pavel was 3 for 4 with a triple and Angie Lasko also was 3 for 4 to lead a 15-hit Carmichaels attack. Jessica McMinn was 2 for 4 with a double, Metcalf also doubled, Autumn Willis tripled and Amber Willis was 2 for 3.

The game was scoreless until the Lady Mikes struck for three runs in the third. McMinn singled and to third on Lasko’s single. Lasko stole second and both scored on Autumn Willis’s triple. Amber Willis then singled in courtesy runner Andrea Swestyn.

Singles by Jamie Menhart, Lasko and Pavel produced a run in the fourth, and Metcalf doubled and scored on Amber Willis’s single in the fifth to make it 5-0.

Carmichaels scored its final two runs in the sixth as McMinn doubled and scored on Lasko’s single, and Pavel followed with an RBI triple.

Metcalf took a no-hitter into the seventh when she gave up a one-out single to an unidentified Lady Pioneer.

The Lady Mikes host Class AAA Connellsville in a clash of softball powers today at 4 p.m., then travel to Class AA Belle Vernon on Thursday to play yet another higher-class WPIAL playoff team.

“We’re happy to be where we’re at,” Carmichaels coach Al McMinn said. “We played well today. We played good defense, and Melissa pitched an outstanding game.

“We’re looking forward to playing Connellsville. I think it will help us to play a team of that caliber. We have such a long break between now and the start of the playoffs.”

The Lady Mikes played error-less ball, while West Greene committed three miscues.

Beth-Center 6, Bentworth 0 – Chelsea Stotka made sure Beth-Center didn’t have to share with anyone.

Stotka fired a four-hit shutout as coach Frank Mazeppa’s Lady Bulldogs clinched sole possession of first place in Section 6-A with a victory over host Bentworth.

The Lady Bearcats needed a win to earn part of the section title, but wind up alone in second place with an 8-2 mark.

Beth-Center improved to 14-6 overall and 10-0 in the section.

Stotka struck out 11 and walked just one in dominating Bentworth.

Freshman Courtney Kurowski doubled and drove in two runs for Beth-Center, which will now until the WPIAL pairings are announced next week.

Stacey Greenawalt was 1 for 2 with a run scored, and Lesley Kurjanowicz, Tammy Pendland and Breanne Paletta each drove in a run for the Lady Bulldogs.

Losing pitcher Jenny Johns gave up five hits and four walks with one strikeout in going the distance. Keira Washlack doubled for the Lady Bearcats.

Beth-Center held a precarious 1-0 lead before putting up two runs in the fifth and tacking on three more in the seventh.

California 12, Geibel Catholic 1 – California’s season has ended just when the Lady Trojans were starting to have a lot of fun.

Alison Edwards tossed a three-hitter and Lindsey Taylor drove in four runs with three hits, including a double, as coach George Zarlino’s squad defeated host Geibel Catholic for its seventh win in nine games.

California finishes at 9-9 overall and 6-4 in Section 6-A. The Lady Gators end up at 2-8 in the section.

“We had a good turnaround,” Zarlino said. “We started out 2-7 and finished out 7-2. A lot of girls stepped up. We finally got going. I with the season was still going. We were really coming on.”

Edwards upped her season strikeout total to 152 with 12 against Geibel with five walks.

Cassie Wolpink had three hits for the Lady Trojans. Kristy Caster and Amy Wohar both singled twice.

Emily Pennington doubled for Geibel. Losing pitcher Carrie Gessner allowed seven earned runs on 14 hits and nine walks with two strikeouts.

California scored once in the first and twice in the third before Taylor’s three-run double highlighted a four-run fourth to make it 7-0.

Frazier 13, Monessen 5 – Frazier rallied from a four-run deficit to pull away from host Monessen in a Section 6-A contest.

The Lady Greyhounds scored once in the first and four times in the second to go up 5-1.

The Lady Commodores (4-11, 3-7) tallied three runs in the third, then took the lead with a five-run fourth.

Deanna Liptack was hit by a pitch and Nicole George singled to start the fourth-inning uprising. Both eventually scored on passed balls to bring in the tying and go-ahead runs.

Frazier added four insurance runs in the fifth.

That was more than enough for winning pitcher Ashley Thorpe, who struck out 12 and held Monessen scoreless over the final five frames. Thorpe allowed five hits and two walks.

Larrisa Kulikowki was 2 for 3 with an RBI, and April Pasterick contributed one hit, two RBIs and three runs.

Erika Krenshaw took the loss.

Belle Vernon 1, McGuffey 0 – Dana Bickerton drove in the winning run in the bottom of the 13th inning as Belle Vernon out-lasted McGuffey in a Section 7-AA battle.

The section champion Lady Leopards improved to 14-2 overall and 10-1 in the section.

Belle Vernon’s Corey Baron pitched all 13 frames, allowing seven hits and only one walk with nine strikeouts.

Tough-luck loser Elyse King gave up six hits and six walks with two strikeouts in going the distance.

Jillian Kunka set up the winning run with a two-out double. Amber Dongilli ran for Kunka and came around to score on Bickerton’s second single of the game.

Brooke Panepinto also doubled for the Lady Leps.

Nicole McDonough tripled and singled for McGuffey.

Conemaugh Valley 9, Turkeyfoot Valley 5 – Jenette reached base three times via a walk, hit by pitch and single, stole three bases and scored two runs, but it wasn’t enough as Turkeyfoot Valley fell to visiting Conemaugh Valley in a non-section game.

Danielle Makin pitched a six-hitter to earn the win.

Losing pitcher Brittany Barefoot allowed only five hits in taking the loss, but was hurt by six errors.

Conemaugh Valley jumped out to a 4-0 lead, but Turkeyfoot fought back to within one with single runs in the second, third and fifth.

The Lady Bluejays pulled away again with five runs on only one hit in the seventh, however, taking advantage of three Lady Ram errors.

Vanessa Wheatley singled and walked for Turkeyfoot.

The Lady Rams return to West-Pac action on Thursday when they take on first-place Shanksville at 4 p.m.

Boys baseball

Beth-Center 4, Mapletown 3 – Beth-Center scored two runs in the bottom of the fifth to take a one-run lead and reliever Matt Stay made it stand up by striking out five of the sixth batters he faced as the Bulldogs edged visiting Mapletown under the lights at the Beth-Center Athletic Complex.

Justin Huey started and pitched three scoreless innings for Beth-Center (6-10). Larry Dibiaso allowed three runs in two frames, but still got credit for the win, and Stay earned the save. The three combined to allow seven hits and just one walk.

Coach Frank Pryor’s Bulldogs took a 1-0 lead in the third on Matt Falcone’s run-scoring single, but coach Jay Donley’s Maples to a 2-1 lead in the top of the fourth on Steve Roszak’s two-run single.

Beth-Center tied it in the bottom of the fourth on Tristan Pinkney’s RBI double, but Mapletown (11-8) retook the lead in the fifth when Drew Denham doubled and scored on Justin Corso’s single.

The Bulldogs went on top to stay in the bottom of the fifth. Garret Balas singled, went to second on a passed ball, stole third and scored the tying run on Drew Frost’s squeeze bunt. Frost took second on the play after an error and scored what proved to be the winning run on Pinkney’s single.

Ben Whitten had two hits, including a bunt single, and Pinkney also had two hits for B-C. Denham and Roszak had two hits apiece for Mapletown. Denham gave up six hits and six walks with seven strikeouts in taking the loss.

“It was a fun game,” Pryor said. “It was a beautiful night to play a game and it was senior night for us. Both teams played well.”

Beth-Center hosts Peters Township today and Carmichaels on Thursday. Both games begin at 6:45 p.m.

Turkeyfoot Valley 5, Conemaugh Valley 4 – Turkeyfoot Valley rallied for four runs in the bottom of the sixth to nip visiting Conemaugh Valley in a non-section game.

The Rams (8-7) fell behind 4-0 before winning pitcher Billy Hinzy’s two-out RBI double got them on the board in the fifth.

Bob Lager and Seth Livengood started Turkeyfoot’s big sixth inning with back-to-back singles, but losing pitcher Dan Pollino seemed like he would escape unscathed when he got two outs. Pinch-hitter Mike Hartman and Craig McClintock came through with consecutive run-scoring singles, however. It was the first hit of McClintock’s high-school career.

After Chad Barkley was hit by a pitch, Hinzy again came through with a two-out hit, this time smacking a two-run double to put the Rams ahead to stay.

Hinzy has three hits, including two doubles, and drove in three runs. He struck out five and walked five in allowing two earned runs.

Pollino walked two and struck out one. Corey Stahl doubled for Conemaugh Valley (4-10).

Turkeyfoot travels to Shanksville today for a 4 p.m. game.

Boys tennis

Brownsville 3, Burrell 2 – Brownsville’s singles trio came through once again as the Falcons defeated Burrell in the first round of the WPIAL Class AA playoffs.

Brownsville improved to 12-2 overall, while Burrell ends up at 10-4.

“I know my best chance at winning is at 1-2-3 singles, and they did it again today,” Brownsville coach Dan Lonigro said. “We really get a test now, though.”

Brownsville travels to second-seeded Sewickley Academy for a second-round match today at 3 p.m.

“They beat us in the 2000 final and in the 2001 semifinals, so we know them well,” Lonigro said. “We’ve got to play over our heads to win, but we’re capable of doing it.”

Ryan Minor defeated Nick Tutolo at No. 1 singles, 6-0, 6-4, Neil Chafin won at No. 2 singles over Christian Yates, 6-1, 6-2, and Josh Seelye was victorious at No. 3 singles over Kevin Dunn, 6-1, 6-4 to account for the Falcons’ points.

Burrell’s Ryan Shanicka and Jon Didja topped Ian Glumac and Aaron Crable in a close match at No. 1 doubles, 6-3, 7-6, winning the tiebreaker 7-4. Eric Schoept and Dan Falvo topped Brownsville’s John Marcoloni and Colin Ryan at No. 2 doubles, 6-2, 6-2.

Franklin Regional 5, Connellsville 0 – Franklin Regional eliminated Connellsville from the WPIAL Class AAA playoffs with a first-round sweep.

The Falcons fall to 15-3, while Franklin improves to 16-1.

The closest match came at No. 1 singles where Franklin’s Jason Hunt fended off Josh Martin, 6-1, 1-6, 7-6, winning the tiebreaker 8-6. Arindam Ghosh fought off Gene Cunningham at No. 2 singles, 6-2, 7-5, and Nick Lieb beat Randy Richter at No. 3 singles, 6-1, 6-1.

Chad Kochis and Ryan Weber defeated Connellsville’s Matt Ratai and Steve Haines at No. 1 doubles, 6-2, 6-3, and Vivek Kumar and Brett Gillis knocked off the Falcons’ Joe Teets and Scott Campbell at No. 2 doubles, 6-2, 6-3.