Apr 20, 2023 7 min read

High school baseball

Canon-McMillan scored two runs in the first inning and that was all the offense Austyn Winkleblech would need in the Big Macs’ 2-1 victory over Hempfield in Class 6A Section 2 play Thursday night at Wild Things Park.

Mason Fixx and Cameron Russell had run-scoring singles to score Lucas Dantry and Andrew Kocan.

Winkleblech did the rest in allowing just one run on Carson Shuglie’s solo homer in the second. Winkleblech had five strikeouts and three walks in throwing a complete game.

The Spartans (7-2, 9-4) won the first two games of the series, but with Thursday’s victory, Canon-McMillan (6-3, 8-4) sits just one game back in the section standings.

• Fort Cherry scored four runs in the fourth inning to pull away from Freedom in a 9-3 non-section triumph.

The Rangers (5-7) had a 4-3 lead after the third before adding four for a five-run cushion. The home team scored one run in the sixth.

Adam Wolfe had four RBI and two hits, while Ethan Faletto doubled. Luke Sweder knocked in three runs for Fort Cherry.

Owen Norman struck out and walk two in four innings of work to earn the win.

• A four-run fifth inning sent Waynesburg to a 5-0 non-section victory over visiting California.

The Raiders’ Mason Switalski pitched a two-hit shutout with eight strikeouts. Teammate Lincoln Pack had two hits, including a double, and drove in one run.

Aidan Lowden doubled for the Trojans (7-7).

• Frazier earned a non-section victory in walk-off fashion, 9-8, over Jefferson-Morgan in non-section play.

The Commodores (5-6) scored the winning run on an error after the Rockets (3-9) battled back to tie the game in the top of the seventh.

Chase Fulmer had three of Frazier’s 11 hits, including two doubles, and he drove in two. Dailan McManus tripled and had two RBI.

John Woodward tripled as part of his three hits for the visitors. Teammates Deakyn Dehoet and Jaymison Robinson added two hits apiece. Robinson doubled and Dehoet tripled.

• Bentworth and Mapletown were deadlocked heading into the fifth inning before the Bearcats’ offense started to click en route to an 11-2 triumph in non-section action.

Bentworth (7-6) scored three runs in the fifth, six in the sixth and one in the seventh.

Jacob Burt was the winning pitcher. bentworth’s Landon Urcho and Lucas Burt doubled. Ben Hayes tripled.

A.J. Vanata tripled for the Maples (1-7).

• Washington snapped a two-game slide with a 10-0 shutout of visiting Monessen in a five-inning non-section game.

Pitchers William Callan and Isaac Charnik combined on a two-hitter with eight strikeouts. Both hits for Monessen (1-9) were by R.J. DiEugenio.

Wash High made the most of only three hits, all singles including two by Michael Shallcross. The Prexies (4-7) were recipients of seven walks, three hit batsmen and four Monessen errors.

Owen Titich allowed one earned run over 6 2/3

• innings, struck out 12 and scored three runs to lead Greensburg Salem to a 7-3 home win over McGuffey in Class 3A Section 4.

The win keeps Greensburg Salem (7-1, 9-2) on the heels of section leader Yough.

Tutich allowed four hits and two walks. The Lions took a 3-2 lead by scoring twice in the third inning and two-run innings in the fifth and sixth.

McGuffey is 4-2 in section and 7-3 overall.

• Penn-Trafford rode a four-run second inning to a 6-3 win over visiting Ringgold in a non-section game.

The Warriors (7-3-1) made the most of only five hits. They had a walk, two hit batsmen, two singles, a sacrifice bunt and sacrifice fly in the pivotal second inning.

Ringgold (4-8) was held to four singles. The Rams pulled to within 4-3 in fourth but could get no closer.

• Jack Lutte hit a walk-off solo home run in the bottom of the ninth inning late Wednesday night to give Peters Township a 3-2 win over Bethel Park in a Class 5A Section 2 game at Peterswood Park.

Evan Holewinski gave Bethel Park (5-1, 7-4) the lead with a two-run homer in the second inning. Three PT pitchers held the Black Hawks scoreless the rest of the way.

The Indians scored twice in the fourth on RBI hits from winning pitcher Stephen Laurence and Vinny Sarcone.

Neither team scored again until Lutte’s one-out home run. The win evens PT in the section at 3-3. The Indians are 6-5 overall.

High school softball

Delaney Warnick went 3-for-4 with a triple and four RBI to spark Class A Section 3 leader Frazier to a 15-0 win over Monessen in four innings on Thursday.

Frazier (6-0, 7-1) pitcher Grace Bednar threw a two-hitter and was supported by two doubles from Grace Vaughn and a triple by Emilia Bednar.

• Albert Gallatin scored 23 runs in the second inning for a 25-2 victory at Ringgold in Class 4A Section 2.

The Colonials’ Amber Wallace hit a three-run homer in the second and knocked in four runs.

Emma Nolff doubled for the Rams (0-8, 1-10).

College softball

Strong pitching, error-free defense and timely hitting propelled the Washington & Jefferson to a pair of shutout victories Thursday in a non-conference sweep of visiting Pitt-Greensburg, 5-0 and 8-0.

Kaylee Witner recorded her first collegiate complete-game shutout in a 73-pitch effort in the opener. Witner struck out four, walked none and scattered five hits.

Jordan Hinz logged her first complete game shutout of the season in the second game. The junior matched her season-high with eight strikeouts and allowed only two hits.

Pirates add to Hall of Fame

Elroy Face, Bob Friend, Dick Groat and Kent Tekulve were outstanding players who became All-Stars and World Series champions as members of the Pittsburgh Pirates, and Thursday the team announced that the foursome will comprise the 2023 class of inductees into the Pirates Hall of Fame.

The Pirates Hall of Fame was established last year with a 19-member inaugural class.

Face, Friend, Groat and Tekulve will be inducted into the Pirates Hall of Fame on Aug. 26, and they will be honored during on-field ceremonies prior to the game against the Chicago Cubs at PNC Park.

In golf

Peiyun Chien shot a 5-under 67 on a rainy Thursday in the transplanted Chevron Championship to take the first-round lead in the LPGA Tour’s first major of the year.

Unable to find a sponsor willing to add to the half-century run at Mission Hills, the tournament – best known as the Dinah Shore – bolted the California desert for the woods of suburban Houston under a six-year deal with Chevron.

The 32-year-old Chien, who is from Taiwan, had six birdies – including four in a five-hole span on Nos. 4-8 – at The Club at Carlton Woods.

Second-ranked Nelly Korda was among six players and three Americans tied for second at 68. Korda is fully healthy after missing four months and a lot of momentum last year with a blood clot in her arm that required surgery.