Softball: Beth-Center stays in playoff hunt; C-M upset at home
Abby Gustovich’s arm and bat kept Beth-Center in the thick of the playoff race in Section 2-AA.
Gustovich threw a three-hitter and also smacked a two-run homer Friday to power the Bulldogs to a 6-3 victory over host Washington.
The win moves the Bulldogs to 6-4 in the section. B-C (6-7 overall) is in a three-way tie with Chartiers-Houston and Bentworth for third place. The top three teams in each section advance to the WPIAL playoffs.
Beth-Center has two section games remaining, at Waynesburg today and at Bentworth Monday.
Ebony Douglas had a two-run triple and Alayna Mickoloff doubled for the Bulldogs. Morgan Bainer hit a double for Washington (1-9, 2-10).
• One day after avenging its only section loss in two years, Canon-McMillan suffered a Section 4-AAAA home loss, falling to Bethel Park 11-9 in nine innings.
The Big Macs (10-2, 14-3) still hold a one-game lead in the section over Baldwin, which the Big Macs defeated Thursday. Bethel Park is in third place at 8-4.
Haley Reid hit her second home run of the game, a game-winning two-run shot in the top of the ninth. Five of BP’s 10 hits were home runs. Kavonna Anderson, Jamie Smith and Julia Sherwin also homered.
Giorgianna Zeremenko hit a three-run homer for C-M and Linda Rush had a double. The Big Macs scored on a passed ball in the bottom of the seventh to tie score at 9-9.
• Waynesburg moved into a tie for the Section 2-AA lead by defeating winless Fort Cherry, 20-0.
The Raiders (8-2, 9-8), who are tied for first place with McGuffey, combined 20 walks with seven hits. Winning pitcher Taylor Staley, who threw a two-hit shutout, and Emily Luckey each had two hits and two RBI. Hannah Higgins had five RBI.
• Jefferson-Morgan smacked 19 hits and scored in every inning en route to a 24-0 four-inning victory over California in Section 1-A.
The Rockets (11-2, 14-2), who hold a one-game lead over second-place Carmichaels, ended the game with a 12-run fourth inning.
Reagan Rush, Camryn Dugan, Brooke Diamond and winning pitcher Maddie Ludrosky each had a double for J-M. Ludrosky threw a one-hitter and struck out nine.
• Ashley Iagnemma threw a one-hit shutout and Emily Bryan had a big day at the plate as South Fayette blanked Moon 7-0 in Section 2-AAA.
The win moved South Fayette (9-1, 11-1) into first place, a half-game ahead of idle Trinity.
Iagnemma struck out 14 and did not issue a walk. Moon (2-8, 2-8) had only one baserunner.
Bryan hit two triples, drove in two runs and scored twice to lead the Lions’ attack. Gwen Iagnemma had a double and drove in two runs for the Lions, who have won six in a row.
• Avella swept a Section 1-A doubleheader from winless Northgate, 12-2 and 5-3, keeping the Eagles in playoff contention.
Megan Waddell and Makaylee DePetro were the winning pitchers for Avella (5-3, 5-5). Dena Simonelli hit a home run and a double in each game to lead the Eagles’ offense. Jade Georgetii had two doubles in the opener, and Kira Doaks doubled in the second game.