Apr 17, 2013 4 min read

Deanna Hileman had three singles and two RBI to lead Belle Vernon to a 13-3 win over Southmoreland in five innings yesterday. The Leopards improved to 2-7 in Section 3-AAA, 4-9 overall. Lacey Washovich added two singles and an RBI. She was also the winning pitcher after striking out two over five innings. Molly Gauden hit a triple, and Alexis Ellin drove in a pair of runs.

Allison Hurley and Hannah Wilcox scored five goals apiece, Sarah Bootman added three goals and three assists, and the Peters Township girls lacrosse team beat Seton-La Salle, 16-5, in WPIAL Division I Section I Wednesday night. Hurley contributed two assists, Wilcox one for Peters Township, which improved to 5-0 in section play, 8-1 overall. Mel Morgret and Angela Esposito combined to limit the Rebels to five goals.

• The Canon-McMillan boys lacrosse team suffered a 12-5 loss to Seton-La Salle in WPIAL Division II Section 2. No other details were made available to the Observer-Reporter.

Winning pitcher Madison Rotto drove in four runs and scored three times as Washington & Jefferson topped Chatham, 10-2, in the opening game of a President’s Athletic Conference doubleheader. W&J also won the nightcap, 8-0.

Rotto homered, while D.J. Ufolla had a bases loaded double for the Presidents (7-3, 18-10) in the opener.

Sadie Marak homered in the first inning in the nightcap to back the pitching of Krista McCartney.

Natale Vazquez had three hits for Chatham (3-9, 7-23) in the game.

• Waynesburg lost a pair of games at Thiel Wednesday to have its four-game winning streak snapped, falling by scores of 5-2 and 7-2.

Shelby Tabrosky, Katey Potopenko and Jasmine Blackwell had two hits apiece in Game 1, but the Yellow Jackets (12-14, 4-7) made two errors and stranded nine runners.

Waynesburg fell behind, 4-0, on three unearned runs in Game 2 and never recovered. Blackwell also had two hits in the nightcap, one of them a triple. Haley Payne also had a pair of hits.

With a 23-1 record, including a 19-1 mark against in-region opponents, the California University softball team debuted at No. 1 in the NCAA Division II Atlantic Regional rankings, which were released yesterday. The Vulcans opened the year with 14 consecutive victories and are currently riding a nine-game winning streak.

Cal has faced four of the 10 teams in the initial regional rankings, going 6-0 against those teams.

University of Pittsburgh athletic trainer Rob Blanc has been named the 2013 NCAA Division I Head Athletic Trainer of the Year by the National Athletic Trainers’ Association (NATA).

Blanc, a 26-year veteran, is the head football athletic trainer, as well as an adjunct clinical instructor for Pitt’s undergaduate athletic training curriculum.

The Presidents’ Athletic Conference tennis championships begin Friday at the Pennbriar Athletic Club in Erie, and Waynesburg and Washington & Jefferson will each be represented.

W&J’s Shihao Liang, who was fourth at second doubles last year, is seeded second at No. 6 singles.

Waynesburg’s Jon Anderson and Philip Littlejohn are seeded third at second doubles. Both at fourth seeds, Littlejohn at No. 2 singles, Anderson at No. 3 singles.

Catholic scored the final six goals of the game to eliminate Washington & Jefferson College from Landmark Conference Tournament contention with a 10-9 loss for the Presidents at home Wednesday.

Joseph Eck and Tom Starr had three goals apiece, but Walter Hickey had four for Catholic, which held W&J (4-9, 0-4) scoreless for the final 33 minutes, 24 seconds.

W&J will not instead play in the first annual Presidents’ Athletic Conference Invitational during the first week of May.

The Waynesburg women’s track and field team scored 157 points to edge W&J, 157-51, at the 2013 Presidents’ Athletic Conference South Quad hosted by Bethany College. Waynesburg also won the men’s meet with 179 points. No other details were available at press time.

W&J finished second on the women’s side, third on the men’s.

Jared Jones won the 100- and 200-meter dashes with times of 11.02 and 22.47 seconds for the Presidents. Teammate Scott Ryan set a meet record with his 1,500 time of 4:00.30.

W&J’s Cheyenne Mangold won the 400 hurdles with a venue-best time of 1:02.80. She also helped set a meet record (4:07.59) in the 4×400 relay.