sports briefs
J-M softball team ousted
The Jefferson-Morgan softball team’s season came to a close in the WPIAL Class AA quarterfinals Friday afternoon with an 11-0 loss in five innings to second-seeded Union at Montour High School.
Union (18-3) advances to the semifinals against Greensburg Central Catholic (12-5) on Tuesday at a site and time to be determined. West Greene (13-3) faces Springdale (11-1) in the other semifinal.
Union pitcher Mia Preuhs stifled the Jefferson-Morgan offense, allowing only two runners. The freshman walked Jasmine Demaske to open the game and allowed an infield single that bounced off the plate by Brooklyn Snyder with one out in the top of the fourth inning.
Preuhs struck out 11 batters, including the side in the second and fourth innings. The right-hander needed only nine pitches to do so in the second inning.
She also had a solid day at the plate with two sacrifice flies and a run-scoring double.
The Lady Scots scored two runs in each of the first two innings, four in the bottom of the third inning and invoked the mercy rule with three runs in the fourth inning.
Kayla Larkin started for Jefferson-Morgan and gave way to Demaske in the bottom of the second inning after facing seven batters. Larkin allowed four runs on three hits, including Emily Siddall’s solo home run.
Demaske gave up seven runs on six hits. She was also hurt by a pair of errors.
Players honored
Senior starting pitcher Dylan Brosky and senior utility Jacob McCaskey were both recently voted to the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association All-Atlantic Region Second-Team.
Brosky received second-team all-region laurels for the second time this week, as he was previously honored by the Division II Conference Commissioners Association. In his first year as the No. 1 starter, Brosky posted an 8-3 record and a 2.39 ERA over 64.0 innings pitched. The Brownsville product finished among the top 10 in the country with a 0.95 WHIP (walks and hits per inning pitched) and set a career high with 69 strikeouts, which are the most in a season since Randy Sturgill eclipsed the century mark in 2011.
McCaskey earned second-team all-region accolades at utility after being a first-team honoree at utility/pitcher by D2CCA earlier this week. He led the team in virtually every offensive category while playing all four infield positions in addition to serving as a weekend starting pitcher. McCaskey registered a 1.105 OPS (on-base percentage plus slugging percentage) and boasted a career-high .373 average. He paced the team with 10 home runs and 45 RBI this spring, as he joined Sam DiMatteo as the only players since 2000 to record double-digit homers in back-to-back seasons. On the mound, McCaskey posted a 6-1 record and a 3.17 ERA over 54.0 innings pitched. He tossed at least 5.0 innings in eight starts while tallying a career-high 59 strikeouts.
Pony baseball
Washington Hyundai stopped Avella, 17-7, in founder’s League Pony action.
Caleb Patton homered and Zach Schrader had two triples and a double for Washington Hyundai. Noah Patton and Michael Wheeler each had a double.
Bryce Wright had a double for Avella.