May 6, 2021 10 min read

High school baseball

Kyle Clayton pitched seven strong innings and hit a pair of doubles, Easton Hanko drove in three runs and Jefferson-Morgan dealt Class A Section 2 champion Greensburg Central Catholic its first league loss, 6-3, Thursday.

The teams split their two-game series.

GCC (9-1, 12-2) had its 12-game winning streak end. The Centurions led 2-1 in the fourth, when Jefferson-Morgan erupted for five runs. A run-scoring double by Clayton gave J-M (6-2, 9-5) a 3-2 lead. Bryce Bedilion followed with an RBI-single and Hanko drove in two with a single that gave the Rockets a 6-2 lead.

That was enough support for Clayton, who needed only 86 pitches to go seven innings. He struck out three and did not issue a walk.

Liam Ankrom had a double for J-M.

• Carmichaels clinched the Class 2A Section 1 title by defeating visiting Washington 10-0 in five innings.

The Mikes are 8-0 in the section and 13-1 overall. Carmichaels leads second-place California (7-2, 10-3) with two league games remaining. The Mikes swept the two-game series against California.

Jacob Fordyce hit a home run, Zach Hillsman scored three runs and Drake Long had a double, all in support of winning pitcher Gavin Pratt, who struck out 10 over the five innings. Pratt allowed three singles.

Carmichaels led 4-0 through four innings and then scored six times in the sixth.

Washington is 1-6 in section and 3-6 overall but only a half-game out of fourth place and the final playoff berth from the section.

• Landan Stevenson pitched six strong innings before his pitch count ran out as Mapletown shut out Monessen 6-0 in a Class A Section 2 game.

Stevenson allowed two hits, struck out six and walked four for the Maples (1-6, 1-7), who won their first game of the season. Stevenson had four hits and two runs. Aidan Delanski had a double, single and scored. Clay Menear had two hits, an RBI and a run.

Monessen is 1-5, 1-9.

• Pitchers Brandon Adams and Nathan Vidmar combined on a three-hitter, Zane Freund drove in two runs and Mekos Mantalis scored three times as Canon-McMillan defeated Baldwin 8-1 in a Class 6A Section 2 game at Wild Things Park.

Canon-Mac (3-6, 5-10), which stopped a five-game skid, was tied 1-1 when it scored five times in the bottom of the third inning and tacked one more an inning later.

Mantalis and Mason Fixx each had a double for the Big Macs.

• Adam Wolf hit two home runs, including a grand slam, powering Fort Cherry to an easy 17-1 victory in three innings over visiting Carlynton in Class 2A Section 4.

Wolf hit both of his home runs in the second inning. He started the inning with a solo home that made the score 9-0 and added the grand slam two outs later to push the Rangers’ lead to 16-0.

Ryan Craig matched Wolf by hitting a grand slam, a shot in the first inning that gave Fort Cherry a 6-0 lead.

Henry Karn had a double for the Rangers (5-4, 8-5).

• Ben Shields pitched six innings and Charleroi scored five times in the second inning en route to an 11-3 win at Brownsville in Class 3A Section 4.

Charleroi (3-7, 5-8) had 11 hits, all singles, to back Shields, who allowed four hits and struck out five.

Brownsville fell to 5-5 in section and 6-9 overall.

• Class 2A Section 4 leader Seton LaSalle scored in every inning and defeated host Burgettstown 17-0 in five innings.

The Rebels (10-0, 15-1), who clinched the outright section title, wasted no time, scoring 10 runs in the first inning.

Burgettstown (6-4, 9-5) was held one hit, a leadoff single in the first inning by Nathan Klodowski.

• West Mifflin swept a doubleheader from Belle Vernon 9-6 and 11-4 in Class 4A Section 3.

First-place West Mifflin improved to 8-1 in section and 9-4 overall. The Titans overcame an early 6-0 deficit to win the opener, scoring five runs in the bottom of the second and four more in the sixth. West Mifflin scored in each of the first six innings in the second game.

Zane Griffaton was the winner pitcher in both games, throwing two innings of relief in the opener and starting the nightcap.

Logan Pfeuffer pitched a three-hit shutout and Tucker Ferris drove in three runs as Peters Township blanked visiting Trinity 8-0 in Class 5A Section 4.

The Indians (4-5, 6-8) scored in each of the first three innings to forge a 5-0 lead. That was enough for Pfeuffer, who struck out three and did not walk a batter.

PT’s Sam Miller had the game’s only extra-base hit, a double.

• Waynesburg scored four runs in the bottom of the seventh to force extra innings, then used a two-out bases-loaded walk to score the winning run in the ninth as the Raiders edged McGuffey 9-8 in a Class 3A Section 4 game at Wild Things Park.

It as the first section loss for McGuffey (9-1, 11-3).

Winning pitcher Mason Switalski threw four innings of relief and drew the game-winning walk.

High school softball

Abbey Girman’s bat powered South Fayette to a Class 5A playoff berth Thursday.

Girman, the No. 6 hitter in the Lions’ lineup, belted three home runs and drove in five as South Fayette defeated Moon 12-7 in Section 4 and clinched a playoff berth.

Girman hit a two-run homer in the third inning, led off the fifth with a solo blast and added another two-run shot in the sixth.

The game was full of offense as Macy Vignolini hit two home runs, including a grand slam, for Moon (3-7, 4-10).

Rylee Rohbeck homered and doubled for South Fayette (6-3, 10-5) and Lexie Vetter tripled.

• Aubrey Krivax’s double scored Madison Monaghan in the top fo the 10th inning and gave Burgettstown a 3-2 victory over Fort Cherry in Class 2A Section 1.

The win keeps Burgettstown (7-3, 7-7) in the hunt for second place in the section. Fort Cherry slipped to 5-4, 8-6.

Much of the game was a pitching duel between Burgettstown’s Julia Jazstrezbski and Fort Cherry’s Macey Roble. Jazstrezbski scattered nine hits, walked only one and struck out seven. Roble gave up just five hits, walked five and struck out 15.

Both teams scored two runs in the sixth inning and neither team scored again until the Blue Devils’ run in the 10th.

FC’s Trista Fehl-Gariglio was the only player with more than one hit. She was 2-for-5 with a triple.

• Sydney Kirkwood’s single in the bottom of the seventh scored Lily Dranko with the winning run as South Allegheny edged Waynesburg in a Section 3 game in Class 3A.

Kyle Goodman hit a solo home run and Meghan Braun doubled and drove in two for the Raiders (5-3, 10-4). Brooke Coss singled and drove in two.

• McKenna DeUnger hit two home runs and drove in five, Sofia Celaschi blasted a grand slam and Charleroi rolled to an 11-1 win over Bentworth in six innings in Class 2A Section 3.

DeUnger was 4-for-5 with four runs and five RBI. Celaschi was 3-for-3 and Madalynn Lancy had a double. Winning pitcher Kylie Quigley tossed a three-hitter and struck out five as Charleroi improved to 5-3 in section and 8-7 overall.

Jessica Rothka and Sydney DiNardo doubled for Bentworth (4-7, 5-9).

• Rylee Evans hit a grand slam and two doubles, powering Frazier to a 17-0 win in four innings over California in Class 2A Section 3.

Evans finished with six RBI to lead the Commodores. Jensyn Hartman had a home run, double and four RBI.

• Leadoff hitter Clara Barr hit two home runs and a double, driving in six runs in McGuffey’s 15-3 win over visiting Beth-Center in Class 3A Section 3.

McGuffey inched closer to .500 at 3-4 in the section and 4-5 overall. The Highlanders have won three in a row.

McGuffey had a first-inning hiccup when Beth-Center’s Jen Zelenick smacked a three-run homer to put the Bulldogs (2-7, 4-7) up 3-0. The Highlanders led 4-3 before erupting for 11 runs in the fifth inning, when Barr belted a pair of two-run homers, including a three-run shot that ended the game.

Winning pitcher Shelby Dobrzynski struck out eight and helped her cause by going 2-for-3 with a double.

• Olivia Kolowitz went 4-for-4 with three doubles and four runs to lead Belle Vernon to a 7-4 win at Ringgold in Class 4A Section 2 and clinch a playoff berth.

Belle Vernon (6-4, 9-7) led by only 3-2 before scoring four runs over the final two innings. Mauren Metikosh had three singles and Sophie Godzak drove in a pair for the Leopards.

Ringgold (1-8, 2-11) received a triple from Peyton Loflash and Olivia Vecchio drove in two runs.

College softball

No. 4 seed Washington & Jefferson had its season end with a 6-0 loss to No. 5 Grove City in the Presidents’ Athletic Conference Tournament at Brooks Park Thursday afternoon.

Grove City, which defeated Chatham 7-5 in the first single-elimination game, built an early lead against W&J and advances to play No. 1 seed Geneva today.

The Presidents finish with a 17-15-1 record and the program’s first winning season since 2014.

In the NHL

Michael McLeod scored the tiebreaking goal late in the second period, Mackenzie Blackwood stopped 32 shots and the New Jersey Devils beat the playoff-bound New York Islanders 2-1 Thursday for their fifth win in six games.

• The New York Rangers in less than 72 hours lost their best player to injury, fired their president and general manager, and had another player suspended. They are also out a quarter-million dollars in the aftermath of the storied franchise’s latest chaotic chapter.

The NHL fined the Rangers an extraordinary $250,000 on Thursday for what commissioner Gary Bettman called demeaning personal comments made publicly about head of player safety George Parros. It’s believed to be the largest publicly announced fine of its kind in NHL history.

In golf

Phil Mickelson has gone nine months since he finished among the top 20, and it looks as though that streak is about to end at the Wells Fargo Championship.

The 50-year-old Mickelson kept his focus Thursday at Quail Hollow and blistered the course for a 7-under 64 to build a two-shot lead after the opening round. All but one of his eight birdies were inside about 5 feet.

Mickelson ran off five birdies in a six-hole stretch around the turn. He closed with two birdies and a superb par save on the par-4 ninth for his best score since a 63 in the second round of the Travelers Championship last June.

K.H. Lee had a 66 in the morning, while Innisbrook runner-up Keegan Bradley had a 66 in the afternoon.