Local Roundup
AG upsets Hempfield to remain in Section 1-AAAA playoff hunt Albert Gallatin thrust itself back into the Section 1-AAAA playoff race Monday, handing Hempfield its first section loss of the season with a 5-3 upset at home.
The Lady Colonials improved to 4-7 in the section and 5-7 overall, and host Penn Trafford, another team vying for the third and final playoff spot, this afternoon at 4 p.m. The Lady Spartans remain in first place with an 11-1 record, slipping to 12-2 overall.
Ashley Petrone brought home the game-winning runs in the bottom of the fifth inning with a two-run home run.
Hempfield wasted no time cracking the scoreboard, scoring two runs in the top of the first inning. Albert Gallatin got one of those runs back in the bottom of the inning when Ashley Petrone, who had doubled, scored on Megan Angelo’s double.
The Lady Colonials tied the game in the bottom of the third, only to have the visitors regain the lead with a single run in the top of the fourth. Albert Gallatin rallied to tie the game in the bottom of the inning on Gabbie Ross’ solo shot.
Jennifer Lewellen (5-7) allowed three hits in the complete-game victory, striking out six and walking one.
Beth-Center 15, Charleroi 0; Beth-Center 14, Charleroi 0 – Rachael Zane hurled a perfect game with six strikeouts in the second game of a Section 2-AA doubleheader win over Charleroi.
Zane also blasted a three-run home run in the fifth inning.
The Lady Bulldogs shellacked Charleroi 29-0 in both games and allowed just one hit.
Holly Brown went 2-for-3 in the first game with two runs scored and two RBIs, and Amanda Higinbotham tripled.
Geri Whitman hurled a one-hitter in the first game with four strikeouts and no walks.
Jenna Rakosky allowed 12 walks and struck out for Charleroi.
In the nightcap, Zane’s perfect game was in jeopardy, but Elyssa Blaze made a nice defensive play on a hard hit fly to left field in the fifth inning.
In addition to Zane’s three-run shot, Megan Sowers went 4-for-4 at the plate with three runs scored. Higinbotham and Whitman each doubled.
Rakosky picked up her second loss on the afternoon.
The Lady Bulldogs travel to Burgettstown today.
Belle Vernon 9, Waynesburg Central 4 – Kayla Nuccetelli went 4-for-5 with three runs scored en route to a Section 4-AAA win over host Waynesburg Central.
Teammate Megan Chadwell went 2-for-3 with two runs scored and an RBI. Winning pitcher Ashley Nichols hurled a four-hitter with four strikeouts.
Lauren Minor took home the loss for the Lady Raiders. She worked 3 1-3 innings with four strikeouts and a walk.
With the season winding down and five games remaining, Waynesburg has a shot at the playoffs if it can win four games. The test will be a doubleheader next week against Ringgold.
The Lady Raiders host Elizabeth-Forward today.
Jefferson-Morgan 6, West Greene 2 – Heather Herbert doubled twice as part of her 3-for-4 performance at the plate and drove in four runs as Jefferson-Morgan cruised to a Section 2-A win over visiting West Greene.
Teammate Ashley Olson went 3-for-4 with two runs scored, Ashley Phillips singled twice, and Erin Barbetta doubled.
The Lady Pioneers struck first with two scores in the top of the third, but the Lady Rockets quickly answered with three runs in the bottom of the inning, one in the fourth and two insurance runs in the sixth.
Emily Cottle evened her record at 5-5 with the win on the mound. She fanned eight batters and allowed three walks.
Losing pitcher Rachel Burns (9-4) went the distance striking out eight and walking two.
The Lady Rockets extend their record to 4-5 overall and 5-6 in the section.
West Greene sits at 8-3 in the section and 9-4 overall. They look to rebound today at home against Mapletown.
Jefferson hosts Geibel Catholic today at 3:30 p.m.
Greensburg Salem 6, Laurel Highlands 4 – The Fillies led the unbeaten Lady Golden Lions after five innings, but couldn’t hold on and suffered a Section 2-AAA setback.
Greensburg Salem led 2-0, but Laurel Highlands (7-6, 5-3) scored once in the bottom of the third inning, and three more times in the fifth to take a 4-2 lead.
The Lady Golden Lions tied the game with two runs in the top of the sixth inning, and move ahead with two more in the seventh.
Laurel Highlands committed six errors.
Rebecca Williams (3-5) suffered the loss. She struck out four, didn’t walk a batter and scattered seven hits.
Carrie Maier was the winner, walking two and striking out eight. She gave up six hits.
Jackie Gaddis paced LH with three singles, while Amanda Weightman had two hits for Greensburg Salem.
“We made too many errors,” said Fillies coach George Kaiser. “We beat ourselves. But we still managed to take the lead going into the sixth inning. They (Greensburg Salem) got a couple key hits. I guess that’s why they’re undefeated.”
Greensburg Salem improves to 11-0 overall and 9-0 in Section 2-AAA.
Carmichaels 4, Frazier 1 – Courtney Newland fanned 12 Frazier batters and picked up her 10th victory this season as Carmichaels downed visiting Frazier in a Section 2-A clash.
Laci Ludrosky had the hot bat for the Lady Mikes with a triple, while Morgan Pratt knocked three singles.
Angie Kirrchner struck out five and walked two for the Lady Commodores.
Carmichaels (10-1) looks to improve on its 9-1 section record today on the road in a rematch against Frazier.
High school baseball
Jefferson-Morgan 24, Frazier 4; Jefferson-Morgan 10, Frazier 3 – Noah Pust ripped a grand slam in the second inning and Josh Harshman a three-run home run in the second inning as Jefferson-Morgan cruised to an easy 24-4 Section 1-A win over Frazier.
In the nightcap, the Rockets again won handily over the Commodores.
Winning pitcher Mike Mox (1-1) scattered five hits with five strikeouts and four walks.
It was a rough day at the office for losing pitcher Justin Berklovich. He posted two strikeouts and two walks.
The Rockets’ bats were in full swing as David Montibeller went 3-for-4 with three runs scored and three RBIs.
Jarrod Moskola was 2-for-4 with an RBI and one stolen base.
Pust’s grand slam was part of a 3-for-5 performance with three runs scored and six RBIs.
Harshman hit 2-for-2 with four runs scored and six RBIs, while Ryan Edwards was 2-for-3 with four runs scored and an RBI.
Craig Rebovich singled twice for Frazier.
Pust again drilled a home run in the nightcap. This time a solo home run in the sixth inning.
Moskola was on fire for J-M with a 2-for-2 performance at the plate with three runs scored, two stolen bases and an RBI.
Edwards was 2-for-4 with a triple and two RBIs.
Terry Lawrence remains undefeated (5-0) on the mound for the Rockets. He worked five innings with five strikeouts and four walks.
Berklovich took home another loss. He saw five and one-thirds innings of action with two strikeouts and two walks.
Jefferson-Morgan (6-3, 9-5) finishes up a game suspended by weather today with a 6-1 lead over California at home.
Geibel Catholic 14, Mapletown 4; Geibel Catholic 17, Mapletown 0 – The Gators picked up a pair of Section 1-A victories, first after completing a suspended game, then by pounding out 17 hits against a shell-shocked Mapletown.
Nolan Zavora picked up the win in the opener, starting and working three innings. He allowed three runs on three hits, and struck out four and walked four. He also helped himself at the plate with two hits and three RBIs.
Ashly Menear suffered the loss, allowing nine unearned runs in just one-third of an inning. Menear walked four , allowed five hits and was the victim of five Mapletown errors.
Don Hilenbrant and Menear paced Mapletown with two hits apiece, with Menear smacking a solo home run for his second roundtripper of the season.
In the regularly-scheduled game, Eric Baluch started and worked all five innings. He allowed six hits, struck out three and walked two.
Hilenbrant suffered the loss, starting and lasting two and two-thirds innings. Hilenbrant allowed 11 runs on 13 hits.
Mike Ciarochi belted a two-run home run during Geibel’s six-run fifth inning. Brandon Costantino had two hits, including a double, and Ryan Craft, Dan Manna, Josh Wilson and Mark Gira also doubled.
Waynesburg Central 6, Beth-Center 2 – Troy Cree ripped a solo home run in the first inning and it was all Waynesburg Central after that as they cruised to a Section 2-AA win over visiting Beth-Center.
Cree also picked up the win on the mound with two strikeouts and a walk in three innings of action.
John Cherup went home with the loss for the Bulldogs. He also worked three innings with two strikeouts and a walk.
Nate White was next in the offensive scoring column with two singles and two RBIs, and Nick Stewart also drilled two singles.
The Raiders are back in action Wednesday at home against Charleroi for a 4 p.m. start.
Brownsville 10, Fort Cherry 7 – Randy Smithberger had a busy day for the Falcons with a double, two singles and his second win on the mound as Brownsville rolled past the Rangers in Section 2-AA action.
Smithberger entered the game in the third inning and allowed one run on two hits, two strikeouts and no walks.
Eric Landman doubled and singled, while P.J. Lanzi and Carey Zivkovich each ripped two singles.
Zack Crowley went on record with the loss for Fort Cherry. He worked five innings with seven runs, eight hits, two strikeouts and seven walks.
Josh Snatchko had the hot bat for the Rangers with a three-run shot in the first inning, a double and four RBI.
Brandon Kelly doubled and singled for Fort Cherry.
The Falcons (6-1) are back in action against Washington.
Norwin 15, Albert Gallatin 7; Norwin 6, Albert Gallatin 2 – The Norwin bats were hard at work in a Section 2-AAAA clash with Albert Gallatin.
The first game resumed after being suspended April 11 due to weather conditions.
Tom Shirley paced Norwin in the first game with a two run homer in the first, while teammate and winning pitcher J.T. Redshaw ripped a solo home run in the fourth.
Matt Whiteman added a solo home run in the bottom of the sixth, while Josh Hambrick drilled three singles.
John Angel had the hot bat for Albert Gallatin with a solo home run to lead off the game and also a double.
Teammate Blake Robinson singled twice.
On the mound, Redshaw hurled five and one-third inning with seven runs on eight hits, three strikeouts and six walks.
Losing pitcher Elmer Engle (2-3) started the game and pitched only the first inning with four hits, six runs, two walks and a strikeout.
In the nightcap, Shirley doubled as did teammate Matt Griffith.
Nick Miller singled twice as Norwin totaled eight hits compared to Albert Gallatin’s five.
Colonial sophomore Colin Packroni knocked out his first career home run with a two-run shot in the fifth. Gene Franks singled twice for AG.
Whiteman hurled the win for the Knights with five innings of action, two runs on three hits, seven strikeouts and three walks.
Engle again went away with the loss. He pitched the complete game striking out three and walking four. He gave up six runs (five earned) on eight hits.
The Colonials (2-5, 5-6) look to get back on track today with a home game against Latrobe starting at 4 p.m.
Laurel Highlands 5, Greensburg Salem 3 – The Laurel Highlands freshmen ruled the offense and defense en route to a Section 2-AAA win over host Greensburg Salem.
On offense, Carmen Congelio tripled, singled, scored two runs and drove in one, and on defense, Ethan Mildren picked up his fifth victory on the mound.
Mildren scattered seven hits over seven innings with four strikeouts and a walk.
Randy Rankin set the tone for the Mustangs with a two-run triple in the first inning. Josh Myers also doubled for LH.
Losing pitcher Matt Mangery saw five innings of action with a strikeout and four walks.
Zack Ruffner and Steve Deems each singled twice for Salem.
Laurel Highlands (6-1, 10-1) looks to chalk up one more in the win column today at home against Derry at 4:15 p.m.
Derry 5, Uniontown 4, 8 innings – Uniontown took a 4-2 lead to the eighth inning, but Derry rallied with runs in the bottom of the eighth for a Section 2-AAA win over the Red Raiders.
Uniontown is back in action today at home against Mount Pleasant.
Boys tennis
Hempfield 3, Connellsville 2 – Connellsville’s Dave Witt cruised to a 6-2, 6-1 win at No. 1 singles, but the Spartans edged past the Falcons in a Section 1-AAAA contest.
Hempfield’s Anthony Nemanic brought the Spartans back with a 6-0, 7-5 win over Blake Michaux in the second singles match.
Teammate Trevor Staab downed Chris Coffman 6-4, 6-2 in No. 3 singles.
The team of Andy Trump and Tom Hann defeated Hempfield’s Eric Stargoom and Jesse Cazten in No. 1 doubles with the scores of 6-3, 7-6 (7-3).
Nick Coughey and Andrew Miller downed Luke Giles and Nick Nagy in No. 2 doubles, 7-6 (7-1), 6-4, 6-4.
Connellsville hosts Latrobe today at 4 p.m. for the final match of the season.
Women’s golf
NCAA Division II East Regional – Sophomore Sandra Gonzalez carded a 5-over-par 77 to lead California (Pa.) to fourth place after the first day of competition at the NCAA Division II East Regional Women’s Golf Tournament at Katke Golf Course.
Host Ferris State leads the team standings after the first day (18 holes) of the three-day, 54-hole tournament with a 298 score, followed by Grand Valley State (303), Drury (303), Cal (318), Indianapolis (330) and Northwood (336).
Gonzalez is six strokes off the pace, set by Becky Hoffman of Ferris State, who shot a one-under-par 71.
Sophomore Simone DeSouza and freshman Jessie Punia are tied for 14th place, one shot behind Gonzalez, after shooting a 6-over-par 78.
Sophomores Melissa Davies and Rachel Rundell posted scores of 85 and 87, respectively.
The top two teams in the event, along with the top two individuals from the remainder of the competitors, will advance to the NCAA Championship Tournament to be held May 9-12 at Stonebrook Golf Club in Pensacola, Fla.