Apr 6, 2026 By Chris Dugan 7 min read

It was another season and another All-America honor for Slippery Rock’s Drew Layton.

A former high school standout at Waynesburg, Layton earned his fourth All-America honor in the pole vault this winter at the NCAA Division II Indoor Track and Field Championships that were held last month in Virginia Beach, Va. It is his second indoors All-America honor.

This time, Layton, a junior, had to overcome an injury to compete at the national championships and he settled for a 13th-place finish and second team honors.

Despite being injured, Layton elected to compete at the national meet after skipping competition in February. He cleared the opening bar at 15-11 1/4, but missed all three attempts at 16-5 1/4 to fall out of the competition well below his indoor career-best of 17-2¼.

“Drew is a tough kid and I applaud him for battling this winter to get here and to have a chance to compete,” said Slippery Rock head coach Bill Jordan. “I know this isn’t the result he wanted this season, but to deal with what he dealt with this winter and still come out of it as an All-American is a testament to the kind of athlete he is. We are proud of him and looking forward to getting him healed up for the outdoor season.”

Softball

Former Peters Township standout Sami Bewick is the starting second baseman for Ohio State.

A junior, Bewick is the Buckeyes’ leading hitter with a .364 batting average, has a team-high 10 doubles and is second on the team with 28 RBI. Bewick has displayed terrific plate discipline and bat-to-ball skills as she has struck out only four times in 127 plate appearances.

Three times Bewick has produced a three-hit game, including one against Michigan State in which she went 3-for-3 with three runs, three RBI and a double.

Ohio State is 7-5 in the Big Ten and 18-19 overall.

Talia Ross, a sophomore pitcher for Lock Haven and a Belle Vernon graduate, has a 10-4 record and 2.80 ERA for the Bald Eagles.

Ross has struck out 99 batters in 75 innings and opponents are batting only .206 against the lefthander.

Ross threw a four-hitter Friday as Lock Haven defeated No. 23-ranked Shippensburg, 4-1.

Ali Jacobs, a freshman first baseman from Carmichaels, is the leading hitter for Salem.

Jacobs has a .397 batting average with five doubles in 24 games. She opened the season with a seven-game hitting streak, and on Saturday had her first three-hit game, going 3-for-3 in a 9-1 win over West Virginia Wesleyan. She went 4-for-6 in the doubleheader.

Perhaps the PSAC should write news releases whenever Slippery Rock’s Maddie Cavenaugh doesn’t win a weekly conference award. That would mean less work for the office staff.

Cavenaugh, a freshman center fielder, was named Monday as the PSAC Athlete of the Week for the fourth time this season. The South Fayette graduate led The Rock to a 4-0 week by going 11-for-17 with four runs, six RBI, two home runs, a double and a stolen base from the leadoff spot in the batting order.

She had three hits in three of the four games and smacked a game-tying three-run homer with two outs in the seventh inning against Indiana. In the second game of the doubleheader, she belted a walk-off two-run homer with two outs in the 11th inning.

Cavenaugh is hitting a team-high .457 with seven doubles, three triples, seven home runs, 10 stolen bases and team-leading totals of 30 runs and 32 RBI.

Baseball

Jack Natili, a junior at Cincinnati, has been one of the best hitting catchers in college baseball this season.

A Venetia native and Peters Township graduate, Natili has started all 34 games for the Bearcats and is batting .333 with 10 doubles, two triples and nine home runs. He has a .403 on-base percentage.

Natili’s best game came against Utah on March 21 when he went 5-for-5 with three home runs, a double, five runs and five RBI. He had 15 total bases in the game.

Another player from Venetia who is off to a torrid start is Denison’s Jack Lutte.

The junior utility player missed some games early in the season but once Lutte returned he has been an impact player in an impact lineup.

Lutte, who has started at catcher, left field and designated hitter, is batting .542 through 14 games. He has 10 doubles, one triple and three home runs to go with 21 RBI and 23 runs.

In a game against North Central (Ill.), Lutte went 4-for-5 with a double, home run and six RBI.

Denison has a 19-1 record. The Big Red are coached by Mike Deegan, a Washington native and Trinity graduate.

Allegheny’s Michael Alspaugh, a freshman pitcher from Venetia and a Peters Township graduate, was named the Presidents’ Athletic Conference Newcomer of the Week for March 23-29.

Alspaugh had one win and one save in two relief appearances during the week. He did allow a hit and struck out four in four innings.

Alspaugh helped Allegheny to a 4-3 win in 11 innings over Hiram with three scoreless innings. He saved the Gators’ 5-4 win over Chatham with a perfect inning and one strikeout. He also went 3-for-7 at the plate with two runs in the series sweep of Chatham.

Basketball

Following a standout final season at Washington & Jefferson, senior guard Riley DeRubbo was named to the D3hoops.com All-Region 7 second team.

DeRubbo, a Trinity graduate, led the Presidents in scoring (15.2 per game), rebounding (6.3 per game) and three-pointers made (59). She ranked second on the teams in assists (79) and third in steals (46).

Among Presidents’ Athletic Conference players, DeRubbo ranks sixth in scoring, second in free-throw percentage (85.2 percent), fifth in three-point percentage (34.3 percent) and third in three-pointers made (59).

DeRubbo scored in double figures 25 times this season and netted 20 points or more on five occasions. She twice posted a season-high 24 points, including in the season opener against NCAA tournament qualifier Penn State Behrend. She earned a spot on the PAC all-tournament team after averaging 16.0 points and five rebounds per game across the Presidents’ three wins to secure the conference title.

Lacrosse

Washington & Jefferson freshman Braydon Reighard was named the Presidents’ Athletic Conference Men’s Lacrosse Newcomer of the Week for March 16-22.

An Oakdale native and South Fayette graduate, Reighard helped W&J to a 2-0 week by scoring seven goals to go with one assist, seven ground balls and one forced turnover. In the Presidents’ PAC-opening win over Hiram, Reighard scored two goals, helping W&J to a 9-8 overtime victory. He scored his first collegiate hat trick against LaRoche with five goals and added one assist in a 19-0 victory.

W&J freshman Jack Dufalla, a Trinity graduate, was named Monday as the PAC Newcomer of the Week.

Dufalla led the W&J backline with seven forced turnovers and 12 ground balls during an undefeated week in conference play.

He caused five turnovers and picked up six ground balls in a 12-10 victory over Thiel. Against Bethany, Dufalla had another six ground balls and helped the Presidents force 43 Bison turnovers.

Track and field

Waynesburg’s Adaire Settles, a freshman from Canonsburg and a Canon-McMillan graduate, was named the Presidents’ Athletic Conference Outdoor Track and Field Newcomer of the Week for March 17-23.

Settles received the honor after placing fifth in the 400-meter hurdles at the Marty Pushkin Invitational in Morgantown, W.Va. Her time of 1:09.81 placed her second among all Division III runners in the event.

Linescores

Softball

Beth-Center 000 00 – 0 0 1

Carmichaels (10)00 1x – 11 7 0

W-Barnyak (2 walks, 11 strikeouts). L-Bader (5 walks, 0 strikeouts). 2B-Carmichaels, Machesky 2, McConnell, Chun.

Seton LaSalle 001 001 0 – 2 3 0

Burgettstown 101 001 x – 3 2 2

W-Lehman (3 walks, 10 strikeouts). L-Chapman (3 walks, 10 strikeouts). 2B-Burgettstown, Sentipal.

Frazier 110 100 11 – 5 7 5

Waynesburg 200 110 02 – 6 8 3

W-Tedrow (6 walks, 15 strikeouts). L-Hiles (4 walks, 6 strikeouts). 2B-Frazier, Polkabla, Fisher. Waynesburg, Whipkey. HR-Waynesburg, Makel.

South Fayette 422 001 1 – 10 9 1

Upper St. Clair 000 003 5 – 8 11 2

W-Earley (1 walk, 7 strikeouts). L-Schlecker (4 walks, 4 strikeouts). 2B-SF, Vierra, Vuono. USC, Barnard 2, Guarino.

Baseball

Cameron 100 381 0 – 13 10 1

West Greene 310 100 1 – 6 8 6

W-Francis (3 walks, 8 strikeouts). L-Knight (1 walk, 2 strikeouts). 2B-Cameron, Evans, Reed. WG, Hughes, Roberts, Grimes. HR-Cameron, Francis.