Apr 27, 2019 6 min read

Waynesburg repeats as PAC champion

Waynesburg University women’s track and field team won its fourth consecutive Presidents’ Athletic Conference championship Friday night at the two-day league meet held at Grove City.

Waynesburg totaled 148.5 points during the 19-event championship. The title was Waynesburg’s fifth (2013, 2016-19) overall. The championships streak is the longest since Grove City won seven straight from 1999-2005.

Grove City was the runner-up with 120.5 points and was followed by Westminster in third place with 118.5 points. Washington & Jefferson was fourth (94), Chatham was fifth (93.5), Geneva was sixth (76), Bethany was seventh (54), Saint Vincent was eighth (22) and Thiel was ninth (4).

The Yellow Jackets were led by sophomore Katherine Fair, who earned an individual gold medal and was part of the first-place 1,600-meter relay team. Fair bested the field in the 400-meter hurdles with a time of 1:08.14. Fair added the second-place time (15.72) in the 100 hurdles. She crossed the finish line in 15.72 seconds.

Freshman Aubrey Wingeart was first in the 1,500 (4:59.52). She also placed second in the 5,000 (18:33.67) and third in the 10,000 (39:55.77).

The Yellow Jackets were paced in the field events by junior Jordan Simpson, a Chartiers-Houston graduate, who won the javelin with a throw of 121-0.

For the second year in a row, Waynesburg’s Michelle Cross was named PAC Women’s Coach of the Year.

W&J’s Hannah Lacey, a Beth-Center graduate, won the conference title in the 400 with a winning time of 1:00.54. Lacey added a second place finish in the 400 hurdles.

The Presidents’ Samantha Tipton won the shot put.

W&J earns top seed

The Washington & Jefferson baseball team clinched the top seed in the upcoming PAC tournament with two wins over Grove City, 4-1 and 11-2, Saturday in Grove City.

With the doubleheader sweep, the Presidents widen their lead to six games over the next best team in the conference with four PAC bouts left on the season. W&J is now 19-1 in conference and 25-9 overall, while the Wolverines drop to 13-7 in league play and 23-13 overall.

High school baseball

Winning pitcher Kevin Vaupel and reliever Zach Lemansky combined on a three-hitter and Jake Mittleider drove in three runs as South Park defeated visiting Belle Vernon 9-2 in a Class 4A Section 3 game.

Both teams scored a run in the first inning, but South Park (5-3, 9-5) took the lead in the second and broke the game open with a four-run fourth.

Vaupel gave up three hits over 5 2/3 innings and struck out nine. Lemansky threw 1 1/3 innings of hitless relief.

The loss drops Belle Vernon to 5-3 in the section and 6-5 overall.

• Joe Ehland drove in four runs to help Peters Township rout Brashear, 13-1, in a five-inning Section 3 game in Class 6A.

Jackson McCloskey doubled twice, knocked in two runs and scored three times for the Indians (7-1, 10-4). Sam Quinn drove in two runs. Mark Edeburn struck out seven in five innings.

Brashear (0-8, 0-10) had one hit.

• Jace Cappellini singled in Angelo Doyle with two outs in the top of the ninth as Albert Gallatin handed Trinity its fifth straight loss, 5-4, in a Section 3 game in Class 5A.

Doyle opened the seventh with a walk and was sacrificed to second base. A wild pitch put him at third.

Jackson Miller drove in two runs and Chandler Goodwin and Braeden Moody one for AG (2-5, 3-6).

Michael Parrish doubled in a run and score another for the Hillers (3-5, 7-8). Clarence Pomykayla and Brandon Robaugh each had an RBI.

High school softball

Mt. Lebanon unleashed a 15-hit attack on Belle Vernon and defeated the Leopards 16-3 in a six-inning non-section game Saturday.

Mt. Lebanon (4-8) led 4-2 when it broke open the game by scoring six runs in the fourth inning. Emily Amato and Madeline Ritenour each had two doubles for the Blue Devils.

Ashley Joll doubled for Belle Vernon (5-11).

College baseball

In a matchup of regionally ranked teams, California University split a PSAC West Division doubleheader at Gannon on Saturday. The Vulcans won the opener 22-9 but lost the second game in walk-off fashion, 9-7.

Cal is 32-10 overall and 16-6 in the division. Gannon also is 16-6 in the West and 26-12 overall.

In the opener, Cal’s Kristian Webb was 4-for-5 with two RBI and three runs, while Eric Fairman went 3-for-5 with a two-run homer, four RBI, three runs and two stolen bases. Nico Marchetti also went 3-for-5 with a three-run homer and three runs.

Cal and Gannon continue the series today at Wild Things Park.

W&J wins PAC men’s golf title

Washington & Jefferson secured the Presidents’ Athletic Conference men’s golf championship team title Saturday at Oglebay Resort’s Speidel Golf Club.

The conference championship is W&J’s league-best 19th.

This year’s PAC Championships featured a 54-hole stroke play event, with the 36 holes contested last fall combined with Saturday’s single round. W&J entered the final round with at 612. The Presidents posted a 318 Saturday to finish with a 54-hole total of 930.

Grove City finished as the runner-up with a three-round score of 946. Saint Vincent finished third (952) while Westminster was fourth (959). Thiel was fifth (1,011) and was followed by Waynesburg in sixth (1,028) and Bethany in seventh (1,156).

College softball

Rachel Johnson totaled seven hits and pitcher Kristen Fuertes allowed just one earned run as Washington & Jefferson split a Presidents’ Athletic Conference road doubleheader Saturday against Chatham. W&J rolled to a 10-3 victory in the opener behind a 17-hit attack. The Presidents gained the early lead in game two but fell 4-2 in the season finale.