Penn Manor tops State College
ALTOONA, Pa. (AP) – Penn Manor right-hander Jared Yecker pitched a two-hitter to lead the Comets to a 2-0 victory over State College in the PIAA Class AAAA baseball championship game Friday night at Blair County Ballpark. Yecker, a 6-foot-6 senior who entered the state final with a 1.08 ERA, struck out three and walked none. He faced only 22 batters in the game, which lasted just one hour and 28 minutes.
Penn Manor (24-6), the District 3 runner-up, scored the game’s only two runs in the second inning as Andy Drexel, Yecker, Curran Blevins and Ryan Eshelman singled. Left-hander Matt Moberg gave up seven hits while striking out six and walking one, and also hit two batters.
Riverside 8, Halifax Area 0
Curtis Brown pitched a no-hitter and Johnny Elms singled in runs in three innings to lead Riverside High School to an 8-0 victory over Halifax Area and the PIAA Class AA baseball championship on Friday at Blair County Ballpark.
Brown, a senior right-hander, struck out seven and walked three for Riverside (24-2), the District 7 runner-up. He faced only 24 batters, three over the seven-inning minimum, from Halifax Area (23-4), the District 3 champion.
Johnny Elms singled home Jon Jurinko in the top of the first inning for the only run that Brown needed. Joe Jurinko hit a two-run triple in the third, and Elms and Steve Lowry also had RBI singles in the inning. Riverside tacked on two more runs in the fourth and Elms collected his third RBI with a run-scoring single in the sixth inning.
Lampeter-Strasburg 8, Peters Township 7
Lampeter-Strasburg blew a 5-0 lead but rallied to defeat Peters Township 8-7 in the PIAA Class AAA baseball championship game Friday afternoon at Blair County Ballpark.
Tyler Gansner drove in four runs for Lampeter-Strasburg and smacked a key two-run single in the top of the sixth that gave the Pioneers an 8-6 lead.
Jeff Bianchi, a second-round draft pick of the Kansas City Royals, belted a double to spark a four-run outburst by Lampeter-Strasburg (26-4) in the top of the first inning. Dominic Lombardo singled and scored on a wild pitch as the Pioneers built their lead to 5-0 in the top of the second.
Luke Pisarcik’s two-run double in the bottom of the second helped Peters Township cut into the lead. In the fifth, they grabbed a 6-5 advantage by scoring three more, including two runs on a single by Kevin McGuire.
Shane Eckels doubled and scored on Jordan Jankowski’s sacrifice fly in the bottom of the seventh, but winning pitcher Justin Guiliano retired pinch batter Doug Komoroski on a comebacker to end the game.
Lombardo, Ryan Visneski and Dan Velcheck had two hits each for Lampeter-Strasburg, from District 3.
Pisarcik, Eckels, Ryan Miaze and Ben Cain had two hits apiece for Peters (21-6), of District 7.
CD Mennonite 6, Homer Center 1
Greg Folgia pitched a two-hitter and struck out 10 to lead Christopher Dock Mennonite to a 6-1 win over Homer Center for the PIAA Class A baseball championship on Friday.
Folgia, a junior, walked only one and finished the season with a 9-1 record, 5-0 in postseason play. He also helped himself out with an RBI single that drove in Tim Sutcliffe to give the Pioneers a 3-0 lead in the second inning.
Dock scored twice in the first inning on singles by Tom Houseal and Eli Detweiler and a triple by Kevin Derstine.
Jason Monte’s hit plated Derstine in the third to make it 4-0.
Jordan Gazza tripled and scored on Tyler Clifford’s sacrifice fly in the sixth for Homer Center’s only run.
Minersville 4, Chartiers-Houston 0
SHIPPENSBURG, Pa. (AP) – McKenzie Hummel scattered five hits in a complete-game shutout and also scored two runs as Minersville defeated Chartiers-Houston 4-0 to win the PIAA Class A softball title Friday at Shippensburg University.
Hummel struck out four and got the Bucs to bounce into 12 groundball outs as the Battlin’ Miners captured their seventh state championship title.
Ashliegh Stewart laced an RBI triple into left to bring Hummel home and then scored on a Sarah Guthrie groundout to put District 11 champion Minersville up 2-0. In the sixth, Ashley Hablett lined a two-run double into left to score Hummel and Liz Williams.
The District 7 champion Bucs had chances to score but left seven stranded on base.
Bald Eagle 6, Brandywine 0
Brittany Rees narrowly missed throwing a perfect game and Bald Eagle Area hit two home runs to capture the PIAA Class AA softball title, defeating Brandywine Heights 6-0 Friday at Shippensburg University.
Brandywine Heights’ Jess Fegely beat out a grounder to short to lead off the bottom of the seventh to become the only base runner Rees allowed. Rees struck out 10.
Danielle Noll gave the District 6 champion Lady Eagles the only run they would need on the game’s first pitch, sending the ball over the fence in right-center field for her first career home run. Bald Eagle also got a two-run shot to left field from Jackie Penland in the sixth inning, extending the lead to 5-0.
Pennsbury 10, Shaler 0
Pennsbury scored eight runs in the first inning and Rachel Crossin held Shaler scoreless as the Falcons won the first-ever PIAA Class AAAA softball championship Friday 10-0 in six innings.
Niki Cognigni had a two-run double, Crossin an RBI double and Brooke Muth, Leah Francona and Kristin McDaniel drove in a run each with singles in the first inning for Pennsbury, the District 1 champion.
Crossin, a Connecticut recruit, scattered four hits and only allowed two runners to reach scoring position. She didn’t give up a run in four state playoff games, and the Falcons won those games by a combined 25-0.
Lia Sorce had two singles for District 7 champ Shaler, which won the AAA title last year.
The title was Pennsbury’s fourth. It last won the 2001 AAA title. Softball split into four classifications for the first time this year.
Leah Francona and sister Alyssa Francona, the Falcons catcher who drove in a run and scored twice, are the daughters of Boston Red Sox manager Terry Francona.