Apr 26, 2021 10 min read

High school baseball

McGuffey clinched at least a share of the title in Class 3A Section 4 with a 12-2 thumping of Brownsville Monday night at Wild Things Park.

The Highlanders are 7-0 in the section and 9-2 overall. Brownsville is in second place at 4-3 and 5-6. McGuffey can win the outright section title with a win today at Brownsville.

The Highlanders jumped on Brownsville by scoring five runs in both the first and second innings. Luke Wagner doubled and drove in three, and Kyle Brookman had two hits, including a double, and a pair of RBI. Jake Orr and Brock Wallace also doubled.

Orr was the winning pitcher, scattering five hits and striking out five.

• Class 2A Section 1 leader Carmichaels remained undefeated in the league with a 10-1 victory at Frazier.

Drake Long and Dylan Rohrer combined on a two-hitter and Gavin Pratt belted a two-run homer in the top of the seventh. Pratt, Long, Rohrer and Zack Hillsman each drove in two runs as the Mikes improved to 5-0 in section and 9-1 overall.

Long pitched 6 2/3 innings, allowing one unearned run. He struck out eight, walked two and hit five batters.

• Lorenzo Glasser and Eli Callaway combined on a three-hit shutout as Ringgold blanked Elizabeth Forward 4-0 in Class 4A Section 3, snapping the Warriors’ four-game winning streak.

Gianni Cantini went 3-for-3 with a run and two RBI for Ringgold (2-5, 6-7) and Hunter Mamie had a double, the only extra-base hit in the game.

Glasser went six innings, allowing three hits. He did not walk a batter and struck out eight. Callaway got the final three outs, two on strikeouts.

EF slipped to 3-2 in section and 5-2 overall.

• Thomas Jefferson broke a tie by scoring six times in the bottom of the fifth and defeated Trinity 9-2 in Class 5A Section 4.

Winning pitcher Chase Lautner allowed four hits and two unearned runs over six innings. Trinity (0-5, 3-7) took a 2-0 lead in the top of the first, scoring one run on a throwing error and the second on an RBI double by Ben Hardy.

Marco Gambino’s one-out RBI double gave TJ (2-3, 3-6) a 3-2 lead in the fifth.

• Chase Krewson went 3-for-4 and drove in three runs, and Tyler Pitzer struck out 10 over six innings as South Fayette rolled over visiting North Hills 10-1 in Class 5A Section 3.

The Lions (5-2, 11-2) remain one game out of first place in the section.

Krewson had a double and two singles to lead SF at the plate. A.J. Bryan doubled and drove in two runs.

• Bryce Bedilion drove in five runs and Owen Maddich struck out six in seven scoreless innings as Jefferson-Morgan shut down Bishop Canevin 7-0 in a Section 2-A game.

Bedilion hit two doubles and a triple as J-M (4-1, 6-4) broke the game open with three runs in the fourth. Maddich didn’t walk a batter and gave up just four hits.

• Vinny Martin hit two doubles, scored three times and drove in three runs as Yough downed Waynesburg 12-2 in a Section 4 game in Class 3A.

Ryan Lubovinsky and Sean Royer drove in a pair of runs for Yough (3-4, 3-6),

Lincoln Pack tripled, singled and scored for Waynesburg (2-5, 2-7).

• Phil Fox struck out 10 and walked one as Hempfield shut out Canon-McMillan 4-0 in Section 2 of Class 6A.

Christian Zilli went 3-for-4 with an RBI, Fox singled and scored twice and Jayson Jacob singled and scored for Hempfield (5-3, 8-5).

The top half of the Canon-McMillan (2-5, 4-9) lineup went 2-for-17.

• Charleroi scored eight runs over the final two innings to scorch Southmoreland 11-5 in a Section 4 game in Class 3A.

Charleroi (1-6, 3-7) scored the runs on seven singles and eight walks. Tyler O’Neil and Colton Palonder each drove in two runs.

Losing pitcher Anthony Govern struck out nine, doubled, tripled and scored twice for the Scotties (3-5, 5-6).

• California overcame a late six-run deficit and defeated host Washington 9-7 in eight innings in a Class 2A Section 1 game.

Washington (1-3, 3-3) led 6-1 after two innings and 7-1 after five. But California (5-2, 8-3) scored three times in both the sixth and seventh innings to force extras. The Trojans took advantage of three errors by Washington in the seventh. The Prexies committed seven errors in the game, leading to five unearned runs.

California scored in the eighth on run-scoring singles by Fred Conard and Kris Weston.

Connor Vig was the winning pitcher and Brody Conner pitched the bottom of the eighth for a save.

Nick Blanchette, David Lutes, Steven Patterson and Michael Shallcross all doubled for Wash High.

• John Baronick tossed four shutout innings and Brodie Kuzior doubled and had two RBI as Burgettstown smashed Clairton 15-0 in a four-inning game in Class 2A Section 4.

Baronick struck out four and allowed just one hit for the Blue Devils (5-2, 7-3). Nate Klodowski singled, walked three times, drove in two and scored three times. Burgettstown took advantage of 10 walks and four hits batsmen.

• Class A Section 2 leader Greensburg Central Catholic used a 20-hit attack to win at Mapletown, 17-8

GCC (7-0, 9-1) trailed 6-3 after two innings and 6-5 in the fourth before scoring 12 runs over the final four frames. Alex Miller homered and drove in five and Max Kallop went 4-for-6 with two triples to lead the Centurions.

Aiden Delansky and Landan Stevenson doubled for Mapletown (0-5, 0-6).

High school softball

Trinity gave its playoff chances out of Class 5A Section 4 a boost with a 5-1 win over visiting South Fayette Monday night.

Finley Hohn smacked two doubles and drove in three runs, and Taylor Dunn and Emma Morgan combined on a two-hitter as Trinity improved to 3-3 in the section and 4-3 overall.

The Hillers took a no-hitter into the seventh inning before South Fayette (5-3, 9-4) opened the frame with consecutive singles that eventually led to a run.

Morgan drove in two runs and had a double, and Bayleigh McCullough added a two-bagger for the Hillers.

• Madison Ellsworth went 3-for-3 and drove in four runs as Carmichaels blanked Bentworth 15-0 in three innings in Class 2A Section 3.

Winning pitcher Emma Holaren, who allowed one hit and struck out five, hit a solo home run as the Mikes improved to 5-1 in section and 8-5 overall. Carmichaels has won four of its last five.

Emma Hyatt and Carlee Roberts each doubled for the Mikes.

• West Greene, the only area softball team that entered the week as a section leader, blanked visiting Avella 10-0 in five innings in Class A Section 2 as Kiley Meek fired a no-hitter.

Meek walked one batter and struck out seven.

London Whipkey went 3-for-4 with a double and three RBI to pace the Pioneers (5-0, 9-2). Jersey Wise doubled and drove in a pair.

• Chartiers-Houston scored 20 runs – yes, 20 – in the first inning and defeated visiting Aliquippa 23-0 in three innings in Class 2A Section 1.

The win pushes C-H above the .500 mark at 4-3 in section and 6-5 overall. The Bucs had 11 hits, including a double by winning pitcher Nicolette Kloes. Bella Hess and Maddie Smith each drove in three runs.

Aliquippa pitcher Lorianna Swogger walked seven and hit eight batters in two innings.

• Charleroi erupted for eight runs in the bottom of the fifth inning to finish off Ringgold 11-1 in a non-section game.

Winning pitcher Sofia Celaschi had a big game for Charleroi (7-6). She twirled a three-hitter and went 2-for-3 with three RBI. Her two-run homer started Charleroi’s big uprising in the fifth. Rece Eddy had a triple and three RBI, and Madalynn Lancy and Kylie Quigley each doubled.

• Beth-Center did all its scoring in the first four innings and defeated California 8-5 in Class 2A Section 3.

Kaelyn Makrush drove in two runs, and Jennifer Zelenick and Chloe Byrne each had a double and scored two runs for the Bulldogs (1-5, 3-5), who won for the first time in section play. Dorianna Hoover had a double to back the winning pitching of Gianna Petersen.

Makayla Boda had a two-run inside-the-park homer for California (2-4, 3-8). Jordyn Cruse, Jenna Defranco and Meghan Hartley each doubled.

• Macey Roble struck out 11 and Fort Cherry scored the decisive runs in the sixth inning to take an 8-6 victory from host Mapletown in a non-section game.

Annika Rinehart and Dana Sinatra each hit a double for Fort Cherry (5-4).

Taylor Dusenberry doubled and Kileigh Smith had two singles for the Maples (6-4).

Pony baseball

Winning pitcher Jase Hartley and Cameron Dames each doubled to lead Brox BBQ to a 5-4 win over CrossWood in the Washington Pony League.

Nathaniel Pettit, Leo Carder, Devin Henderson and Caden Vogel doubled for CrossWood.

• Ty Wheeler tripled and John Scott doubled to support the winning pitching of Leo Carder as CrossWood defeated Mathinsen & Salvitti 8-2 in the Washington Pony League.

Ben Priest, Lincoln Johnson and Brandon Kelley each doubled for Marthinsen & Salvitti.

In the majors

Jarrod Dyson doubled and scored the go-ahead run in the fifth inning and the Kansas City Royals held on to beat the Detroit Tigers 3-2 Monday, completing a four-game sweep on the road for the first time in nearly 22 years.

• Jeff Bridich is stepping down as general manager of the Colorado Rockies, ending a tumultuous tenure that included two playoff appearances and a falling out with Nolan Arenado that ultimately led to the star third baseman’s offseason trade.

The Rockies announced Monday that the decision was a mutual agreement with Bridich, who was in his seventh season as GM.

Siena guard transferring to PSU

Siena’s Jalen Pickett, a former Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference basketball player of the year, is transferring to Penn State.

Pickett will have two years of eligibility remaining.

Pickett averaged 15.8 points, 4.6 rebounds, 6.7 assists and 2.0 steals as a freshman. The 6-4, 190-pound point guard ranked ninth nationally in assists per game and among Division I freshmen was third in assists and fourth in both assist-to-turnover ratio and steals. He was named MAAC rookie of the year after being named rookie of the week a record 11 times.

Pickett also was a first-team selection in his two other seasons at Siena.

Pickett officially declared as an early entrant for the 2019 NBA draft, participated in the inaugural NBA G League Elite Camp and had pre-draft workouts with several NBA teams. He returned to school and averaged 15.1 points, 4.6 rebounds and 6.0 assists to earn MAAC Player of the Year honors in 2020.