Local roundup
Haragos sparks LH comeback win Ashley Haragos sparked a fifth-inning come-from-behind victory on a two-run double, as the Laurel Highlands girls softball team edged visiting Mount Pleasant, 5-4, in Section 2-AAA action Monday.
“It was a good game for us,” said LH coach George Kaiser. “We had a tough loss to Greensburg Salem and we really needed this game.”
Rebecca Williams (2-2) started the game for the Fillies. She allowed one walk and struck out two.
Stephanie Martin came on in relief in the seventh and recorded the save. She retired all three batters, including one strikeout.
Down by two runs through the first two innings, LH responded with a three-run third and posted two more in the fifth to ice the win.
“It’s always good to win, but to win a section game means a lot,” said Kaiser. “We seemed to pick each other up and it worked out for us.”
In addition to Haragos’ double, Megan Wyda doubled for the Fillies.
Laura Tlumack tripled for the Lady Vikings, while Nicole Capezzi and Chelsea Nutter doubled.
Marissa Swartz and Jackie Gaddis each drilled two singles for LH.
Laurel Highlands travels to Franklin Regional Wednesday.
Carmichaels 4, Avella 2 – Carmichaels trailed 2-1 going into the top of the seventh, but rallied behind Memory Jordan’s double en route to a Section 2-A victory over host Avella.
Jordan had help at the plate as Morgan Pratt and Ashley Chernisky singled twice.
Courtney Newland paced the Lady Mikes’ defense with 12 strikeouts over seven innings.
Chelsea Brownlee went on record as the losing pitcher. She fanned 11 Carmichaels’ batters and allowed one walk.
At the plate, Brownlee blasted a home run in the bottom of the seventh.
The Lady Mikes (4-1) are back in action against Jefferson-Morgan at 2 p.m. Wednesday.
West Greene 2, Chartiers Houston 1 – Rebecca Burns pulled double duty for the West Greene girls softball team.
She doubled for the Lady Pioneers’ lone extra base hit, scored a run and also was the winning pitcher.
On the mound, Burns went the distance striking out five.
“It was a great, great softball game,” said West Greene coach Bill Simms. “They girls did everything there are supposed to do.”
Jaci Timko went 2-for-3 for Chartiers Houston with a triple and run scored.
West Greene takes on Cameron (W.Va.) today at 4 p.m.
Washington 6, Waynesburg Central 4 – A trio of Washington players blasted back-to-back home runs in the fifth inning as the Lady Little Prexies defeated visiting Waynesburg Central in a Section 2-A clash.
Amanda Baughman hurled the win. She went the distance, striking out six and walking one.
Courtney Orndorff went away with the loss. She fanned eight and walked one.
The Lady Raiders posted seven hits, led by Molly Henderson. She singled three times, while teammates Erin Giachetti and Brooke Roberts each hit two singles.
Alyson Johnson went 2-for-3 for Waynesburg, including a double.
Waynesburg returns to the field today at home against South Fayette, starting at 4 p.m.
Bentworth 8, Frazier 1 – Melissa Rankin clouted a pair of home runs, including a grand slam, and drove in six of Bentworth’s eight runs in the Section 1-A opener for both teams.
Alyssa Zrinsek pitched the win for Bentworth (8-1), while Jessica Barcelo absorbed the loss for Frazier (2-2). Kristen Miller tripled for the Lady Commodores.
Geibel Catholic 10, California 0 – Beth Novotny ripped a solo home run in the fourth inning en route to an easy 10-run shutout victory over California in Section 1-A action.
Novotny added two singles and went 3-for-3 on the day.
The Lady Gators jumped out to an early 5-0 lead and never looked back as they held California to just one run behind Carrie Gessner’s pitching.
She struck out five Lady Trojan batters in the one-hit victory.
Sabrina Szabo was also perfect at the plat for Geibel with three singles.
The Lady Gators (4-1, 1-0) travel to Bentworth Wednesday for a 4 p.m. start.
Jefferson-Morgan 6, Mapletown 2 – Winning pitcher Emily Cottle struck out six and knocked three singles en route to an easy Section 2-A win over Mapletown.
Teammate Haley Hawk doubled and singled.
Ashley Chory took the loss. She fanned five batters and allowed three walks.
Mapletown looks to bounce back at 4 p.m. today on the road against Chartiers-Houston.
Baseball
Frazier 12, West Greene 2 – Craig Rebovich had a banner day for Frazier with a home run, a single and four RBIs as the Commodores made quick work of West Greene in Section 1-A action Monday.
Teammate Tony Battaglini also doubled.
Frazier came out swinging with six runs in the first, followed by five in the second for a quick 11-2 lead through two innings.
Justin Berklovich (2-1) helped the defense with nine strikeouts for his second win.
Tyler Smith absorbed the loss. He walked six and didn’t strike out a Frazier batter.
Frazier (3-3, 1-1) looks to put one more in the win column Wednesday on the road against Carmichaels.
Mount Pleasant 5, Laurel Highlands 4 – A single and two errors in the bottom of the sixth inning produced the Vikings’ winning run.
The Vikings jumped to a 3-0 lead in the first on two walks and two doubles and added a fourth run in the second after the Mustangs scored a run in their half of the inning.
Laurel Highlands (0-3, 1-5) posted another run in the fifth before tying the game with a pair in the top of the sixth on two walks, a double by Mike Pegg and a single by Brent Coughenour.
Eric Fudala also doubled for LH, while Welc and Berrick tagged two-baggers for the Vikings.
Josh Myers was the losing pitcher.
Brownsville 9, Charleroi 3 – Dave Novotney pitched a complete game, allowing four hits and one earned run while striking out four in a Section 2-AA win.
The Falcons got all the runs they needed in the third with a six-run explosion and wrapped it up with a pair in the fifth and one in the sixth.
Neil Novak, Jeremy Lewis and Mike Mihalsky each had a double and single for the Falcons (2-5, 1-0), and Justin Gibson, Nick Eadie and Matt Szuch had two singles apiece.
Justin Deutsch was the losing pitcher. Charleroi is 1-1 in section play.
Hempfield 7, Uniontown 2 – Hempfield led 1-0 through the first six innings, and erupted for four runs in the seventh for a Section 2-AAA win over host Uniontown.
The Red Raiders came up with two runs in the bottom of the seventh, highlighted by Nathan Fike’s double. He went 2-for-3.
Fike also went on record as the losing pitcher. He struck out nine through the first six innings and walked six.
Mick Apicella came on in relief in the sixth and seventh innings.
The Red Raiders (2-3-1) visit Connellsville today at Wharton.
Jefferson-Morgan 9, Mapletown 5 – Terry Lawrence fanned 12 batters and allowed only three walks as Jefferson-Morgan defeated Mapletown in Section 1-A action Monday.
The Rockets led 2-1 through the first three innings, but turned it on in the final three innings outscoring Mapletown 7-4 for the win.
Cory Dillinger picked up the loss striking out three.
The Maples bats were in full swing, as Jesse Boord homered, Ashley Menear tripled and John Grim and Nick Popernack doubled.
Not to be outdone, Justin Falcon led J-M with a 2-for-3 performance at the plate and two RBIs, while Mike Mox went 2-for-4 with three RBI’s.
California is next on Mapletown’s schedule. They square off at 4:15 p.m. Wednesday at California.
Steel Valley 6, Beth-Center 2 – Kyle Thomas fanned eight Beth-Center batters and scattered five hits as they cruised to an easy exhibition victory over host Beth-Center.
The Bulldogs scored their two runs in the sixth inning, highlighted by Joe Tarley’s home run.
Todd Chisler also reached extra base hits with a double for B-C.
Losing pitcher Derek Papakie (1-1) worked the seventh inning, struck out one and hit four batsmen.
Beth-Center looks to rebound from the loss today on the road against Brownsville (4 p.m.)
Washington 7, Waynesburg Central 4 – Mike Damerow was a one-man wrecking machine as he went 2-for-2 at the plate, including a home run and two RBI’s, as Washington downed Waynesburg Central in Section 2-AA action.
Bob Hasson kept up his end of the bargain on defense with seven innings pitched, eight strikeouts and four earned runs.
Troy Cree (1-1) was the losing pitcher. He worked five innings, striking out three and allowing seven walks.
Cree, J.D. Higgins and Nick Stewart each doubled for the Raiders.
Stewart went 2-for-3 on the afternoon, and Danny Cross went 3-for-4 with three singles.
Waynesburg (1-4, 1-1) is back in action today against Chartiers Valley at Falconi Field (4 p.m.)
Carmichaels 6, Bentworth 1 – Carmichaels extended its record to 7-0 overall and 3-0 in Section 1-A action with a convincing win over Bentworth.
Aaron Thompson homered and doubled to lead the Mikes.
Marcus Robinson (1-0) picked up his first win on the mound as he struck out two and walked one in four innings.
Ryan Anderson fanned nine and walked nine in the losing effort. He went the distance and gave up all six runs.
Carmichaels returns home Wednesday to take on Frazier.
Boys tennis
Connellsville got two players into the second round of the Section 5-AAA tennis singles championships Monday.
Scott Campbell got a bye into the second round, but lost there to Trinity’s Val Carter, 10-6.
Brandon Stafford beat West Mifflin’s Andy Bednar, 10-3, in the first round before losing to Ringgold’s Jordan Kurth, 10-1, in the second round.
Evan Chafin and John Marcolini represented Brownsville in the section singles matches.
Chafin went in as the fourth seed and advanced to the semis. He’s the first freshman to do that for Brownsville.
In the first round, he squared off against Greensburg Central Catholic’s Adam Huff and won 10-4.
Chafin downed Southmoreland’s John Eutsey 10-6, but lost in the semis to the first seed, Washington’s Chris Faulk, 6-0, 6-0.
He awaits the winner of Mount Pleasant’s Andrew Sankner and Washington’s Andrew Sickles in the consolation game to see who will make it to the WPIALs next Thursday.
Marcolini lost the first round to Sickles, 10-0.
College softball
Waynesburg 3, Carlow 0; Waynesburg 6, Carlow 0 – The Yellow Jackets registered a doubleheader sweep of Carlow University on Monday afternoon in their first action in two weeks.
In game one, Waynesburg received a complete game shutout from freshman Amanda Snoke, 3-0, before fellow freshman and Waynesburg Central graduate Autumn Minor allowed just one hit over seven innings in the 6-0 win in the nightcap.
In game two, Minor
was nearly perfect as she allowed just three Celtics to reach base (single, hit by pitch, error) in seven innings. She started the game with seven strikeouts over the first four innings.
In the fifth, Minor hit the first batter, who advanced to second on the ensuing sacrifice bunt. However, she then forced a shallow fly out to center and a groundout to shortstop to end the inning.