High school softball roundup: Home runs power Canon-McMillan in opener over USC
Grace Higgins started a home-run filled afternoon for visiting Canon-McMillan in an 8-3 win over Upper St. Clair in a Class 6A Section 1 softball game Wednesday.
Higgins, the Big Macs’ leadoff hitter, went deep to begin the game. Olivia Ulam and Lindsay Schmidt each followed with homers in the first inning for C-M (1-0, 1-0).
Abby Allen also hit a home run later in the game for the Big Macs.
Big Macs’ pitcher Elika Mowery scattered eight hits, including five extra-base hits, to limit Upper St. Clair (0-1, 0-1) to only three runs.
Belle Vernon 5, Ringgold 3: Breaking a tied game with three runs in the top of the eighth inning, Belle Vernon edged Ringgold, 5-3, in a Class 4A Section 2 game.
Sophie Godzak broke the tie with a two-run homer, which was followed by a solo home run from Jordan French to lead by three, 5-2.
French had three hits for Belle Vernon (1-0, 1-2).
Ashlee Selembo had a pair of singles for Ringgold (0-1, 0-1).
Charleroi 15, Monessen 0: Faith Martin led a dominant performance from Charleroi with three hits as the Cougars defeated Monessen, 15-0, in a non-section game.
Martin went 3-for-3, including a double, as Charleroi (1-0) followed a six-run first inning with five runs in the second and four in the third to enforce the mercy rule.
Jocelyn Polonoli had a pair of hits for the Cougars.
Montour 9, South Fayette 4: Angelina LaMarca had three hits and five RBI to lead Montour over South Fayette, 9-4, in a Class 5A Section 3 opener.
LaMarca opened the scoring with a run-scoring single to right field. Montour (1-0, 1-2) scored the first five runs of the game.
Ashley Micholas hit a solo home run for South Fayette (0-1, 2-3).
Brownsville 11, Jefferson-Morgan 10: Payton Hall hit a pair of home runs as Brownsville held off a seventh-inning rally from Jefferson-Morgan to down the Rockets, 11-10, in a non-section game.
Trailing 11-6 entering the final inning, Jefferson-Morgan (0-1) scored four runs in the bottom of the seventh but fell one run shy of tying the game.
Jasmine Demaske had four hits for the Rockets.
Brownsville (2-1) was paced by Payton Hall, who homered twice and also had four hits.
Burgettstown 8, Carlynton 0: Aubrey Krivak tossed a two-hit shutout and struck out 12 as Burgettstown rolled past Carlynton, 8-0, in a Section 1-AA game.
Krivak also doubled for the Blue Devils (1-0, 1-0). Madesyn Monaghan went 3-for-4 with a double and four RBI. Brooke Vebelun also doubled. Jordan Baronick and Destiny Kinder each went 2-for-3 with two RBI.
Beth-Center 25, California 7: Beth-Center took advantage of 15 walks by California to come away with a 25-7 victory in a non-section game.
Hannah Moore had a three-run home run for Beth-Center (1-0). California fell to 0-1.