Local roundup
Jacobs wins 100, 200 and 400 at Baldwin Breehana Jacobs won the 100 and 200 as expected at the Baldwin Invitational track and field meet on Friday. The Laurel Highlands senior star also decided to run in the 400, however, an event in which she has much less experience.
It mattered little.
Jacobs won the 400 as well, setting a stadium, meet and Fillies record in the process with a time of 55.33 seconds. Her first-place times in the 100 and 200 were 11.93 and 24.64, respectively.
The Fillies also got medal-winning performances from Aleesha Washington, Demi Phillipy, Casey Conn and Lauren Molchan to finish second in team scoring with 53.5 points.
North Allegheny finished first with 63 points and Erie McDowell was third with 46 points in the 78-team field.
Phillipy came within inches of winning the javelin and setting a school record. She placed second with a heave of 132 feet, 1 inch, just behind Kiski Area’s Leah Ulizio, who threw 132-5.
Conn and Molchan were third and fifth in the pole vault. Both cleared the bar at 10-6 to tie the school record. Conn placed higher due to the tiebreaker, which is fewer misses.
Washington, a talented freshman sprinter, finished fourth in the 100 with a time of 12.62.
Other area girls to earn medals were Waynesburg Central’s Maria Shepas (sixth in the 800, 2:22.16) and Morgan Bland (seventh in the pole vault, 9-6), and Belle Vernon’s Jessica Biddle (sixth in the javelin, 118-4).
Three Mustangs also took home medals in the 79-team boys meet.
Zane Breakiron placed fifth in the javelin with a throw of 171-10. Nathaniel Hensh was third in the pole vault, clearing the bar at 14-3. Brian Grady wound up sixth in the 300 hurdles with a time of 41.30.
“I thought we would place in the pole vault and javelin, but Grady came out of the third heat to earn his medal,” Laurel Highlands boys coach Bob Costello said. “He had a tough road and ran very well.”
Connellsville’s Rodney Richter finished second in the discus and eighth in the shot put with heaves of 170-7 and 53-3.75. Hempfield’s Weston Banks was first in both events with a meet-record throw of 179-4 in the discus and 61-8 in the shot put.
The Falcons also got a third-place performance from Scott Jones in the 110 high hurdles with a time of 15.02. Uniontown’s Darius Reeves (15.62) finished seventh.
Belle Vernon’s Shane Curran placed sixth in the 400 with a time of 51.19.
Girls softball
Beth-Center 6, Washington 3 – Geri Whitman wrapped up a phenomenal week by firing a two-hitter and also tripled as red-hot Beth-Center knocked off first-place Washington in a Section 2-AA game.
The victory extended the second-place Lady Bulldogs’ winning streak to six, all coming this week with Whitman earning the win in five of those games.
Jessica Schinkovec had two hits, including a double, and an RBI for visiting Beth-Center (12-5, 10-4), which had 11 hits. Rachael Zane also had two hits and an RBI and Megan Sowers was 2 for 2. Tonya Carroll and Lauren Snyder each belted a double.
“It was a real big win,” B-C coach Frank Mazeppa said. “They were undefeated in conference play and had only one loss. We had a lot of people responsible for this win. We had six different people get RBIs. We had a lot of help.
“We’re playing a lot better right now, offensively and defensively. We’re really starting to click.”
The Lady Bulldogs took a 1-0 lead in the second when Sowers singled and Schinkovec doubled her home.
Beth-Center took charge with three runs in the third. Ashley Niefert’s one-out single was followed by Whitman’s run-scoring single and Amanda Higenbotham’s RBI single. Higenbotham scored as Zane was thrown out trying to stretch a single into a double.
The Lady Prexies (17-2, 13-1) cut the lead in half with two runs in the fifth, but the Lady Bulldogs countered that with two runs in the sixth. Zane started the rally with a single and took second on Sowers’ sacrifice bunt. Schinkovec singled in courtesy runner Samantha Starkey and Carroll followed with an RBI double to make it 6-2.
Washington put up one more run in the sixth, but that was all Whitman would allow as Beth-Center finally broke through against the Lady Prexies.
“Last time we were beating them 2-0 in the fifth and made a couple mistakes,” Mazeppa said. “The first time we played they scored three unearned runs against us. They’re a good solid team. If you make mistakes, they’re difficult to beat.”
Whitman has made very few mistakes lately. She allowed a total of seven hits with 53 strikeouts in 28 innings covering five games this week, including three shutouts.
Whitman threw three one-hitters and two two-hitters in beating Charleroi, Burgettstown, South Fayette twice and the Lady Prexies.
“Those aren’t bad teams either,” Mazeppa said.
Beth-Center hosts Brownsville on Tuesday.
Jefferson-Morgan 7, Frazier 5 – Jefferson-Morgan clinched a playoff spot and eliminated Frazier and Mapletown in the process with a Section 2-A victory over the visiting Lady Commodores.
Emily Cottle tossed a four-hitter, Erin Barbetta smacked a double and a single, and Ashley Phillips and Lindsay Olson each also had two hits as J-M improved to 8-6 overall and 7-5 in the section. Sarah Olson doubled for the Lady Rockets.
“I’m real proud of these girls,” Jefferson-Morgan coach Scott Moore said. “We lost four games by a total of six runs in the middle of the season. We lost some tough games there, and the kids really came back and responded well.”
The Lady Rockets had to come back on this day also as Frazier (8-9, 5-9) held early leads of 1-0 and 3-1.
Jefferson-Morgan took the lead with fours run in the third. Phillips and Barbetta both singled and eventually scored on wild pitches. Lindsay Olson singled and later scored on an RBI groundout by Cottle to put J-M in the lead to stay. Heather Herber walked and wound up scoring the final run of the frame on Sarah Olson’s sacrifice fly to make it 5-3.
The Lady Rockets went up 7-3 in the fourth when Phillips hit a two-out single, Barbetta cracked an RBI double and Lindsay Olson smacked a run-scoring single.
The Lady Commodores scored their final two runs in the seventh off Cottle, who struck out eight and walked four.
Losing pitcher Angela Kirchner allowed seven hits with six strikeouts and three walks.
Jefferson-Morgan also made the playoffs last year and went on to suffer a 10-inning, 1-0 loss to Beth-Center in the first round.
“I’m just glad to get back in the playoffs again,” Moore said.
The Lady Rockets continue a suspended game at Carmichaels at 4 p.m. Monday. Jefferson-Morgan holds a 5-0 lead in the sixth.
Moore’s squad then travels to West Greene on Tuesday for a 6 p.m. game.
Boys baseball
Connellsville 3, Baldwin 1 – Four Connellsville pitchers combined to fire a one-hitter as Connellsville defeated Baldwin in a non-section game played at PNC Park in Pittsburgh.
Joe Leonard went 2 for 3 with an RBI and earned the save as the Falcons improved to 8-10.
Ben Herrington started and tossed two scoreless frames.
Winning pitcher Jeremy Molinaro took over in the third and allowed one run in two frames.
Tyler Nicholson allowed the Highlanders’ only hit in throwing a scoreless fifth, but put a couple runners on in the sixth. Leonard relieved and pitched out of the two-on, none-out jam, then finished up to earn the save.
Connellsville scored two runs in the top of the fourth on Brian Sherwood’s RBI double – the only extra-base hit of the game – and Alex Fogle’s run-scoring single.
Leonard knocked in the Falcons’ final run with an RBI single in the fifth.
“It was a great experience for the kids,” Connellsville coach Brian Shipley said of his team playing at PNC Park. “Everybody got to play and every on the roster got to step out onto the field. I’m glad we had the opportunity to play there.
“It’s something they’ll remember the rest of their lives.”
James Monroe was the losing pitcher. Baldwin falls to 5-10.
Connellsville jumps back into section play on Monday when it travels to Hempfield.
Men’s baseball
Shippensburg 18, California 6 – California University of Pa., coming off a victory over No. 1-ranked Kutztown on Friday, ran out of gas against Shippensburg on Saturday in the championship game of the PSAC tournament held at Slippery Rock.
Vulcans’ coach Mike Conte earned his 300th career victory at Cal with the win over Kutztown, but the Raiders made sure No. 301 wouldn’t come a day later by exploding for seven runs in the second inning against three Vulcan hurlers.
California, the PSAC West regular-season champion, falls to 36-15. The Vulcans are still expected to receive an at-large bid to the NCAA Regional Tournament later this month.