Pine-Richland walk-off downs Central Catholic
Josh Johnson might not have been the first player
Pine-Richland would have looked to for an extra-inning walk-off home run, but the Rams were more than happy to take it.
Johnson, the No. 9 hitter in the Rams lineup, took Vikings reliever Marshall McGraw deep in the bottom of the ninth to give Class 6A No. 1 Pine-Richland (7-1, 1-0) a 2-1 home victory against Central
Catholic (4-2, 1-1) in its Section 1 opener.
“I didn’t think it went at first because our field is so big and we’re 360 [feet] dead center and he hit it a little to the right of center,” Pine-Richland coach Kurt Wolfe said.
“I was yelling at him to keep running and then I was looking at the reaction of the center fielder and he just put his head down and the place erupted.”
It’s the fifth time in eight games that Pine-Richland has been held to three runs or less, including a 3-0 loss to Moon last week.
“I think we can get better, especially offensively,” Wolfe said. “I think we’re getting better at-bats and I think, once we start putting it together, we’re going to be a very strong offensive team.”
Other baseball
Andrew McClymonds scattered five hits and struck out 12 in six innings to help Class 4A No. 1 Blackhawk (7-0, 3-0) to a 3-0 home win against Section 2 rival Hopewell (5-5, 2-2).
Anthony Roth went 3 for 5 with two runs scored and one RBI as Ellwood City (53, 3-0) got all 10 of its runs in the fifth and sixth innings in a 10-5, Section 2 victory at Class 3A No. 3 Avonworth (31, 2-1).
Jeremy Lazzari singled home John Lucchitti with the winning run in the seventh inning to give Class 6A No. 5 host Bethel Park (6-1, 3-0) a 3-2 victory against Upper St. Clair (2-7, 0-3) in a Section 3 matchup.
California pitcher Nate Luketich went 3 for 3 with four RBI, scored three runs and had a stolen base, while Tyler Jacobs had two hits and drove in the other six runs to lead the Class 2A No. 4 Trojans (6-1, 4-0) to a 10-2 road win against No. 5 Carmichaels (41, 2-1) in a Section 1 game.
Class 1A No. 5 Rochester (3-3, 3-0) reeled off its third consecutive victory — all in Section 3 play — as Rams starter Lucas Mansueti struck out nine in 61⁄ innings to give them a 5-2 road victory against Avella (1-2, 0-1) in the Eagles’ section opener.
Senior infielder John Kozarian had three hits, including two home runs and drove in all five of the Highlanders runs, but it wasn’t enough as host Baldwin (3-3, 1-3) dropped its second consecutive Class 6A Section 3 game, 8-5, against Canon-McMillan (4-4, 3-0).
Senior Christian Fedko, a Connecticut recruit, tripled and scored three runs to help Class 1A No. 1 and defending state champion Vincentian (2-2, 1-0) to a 12-2 win at Springdale (0-3, 0-1) in the Section 1 opener for both teams.
Softball
Penn-Trafford (5-1, 5-0) reeled off its fifth consecutive victory as senior Bre Ginther went 1 for 4 with two RBIs and Samantha Schickel allowed one run in five innings of relief as the Class 5A No. 2 Warriors got past visiting Section 1 rival No. 3 Franklin Regional (5-3, 4-1), 4-3, in eight innings.
Junior infielder Ava Gnibus went 4 for 4 with a double, two runs scored and drove in the game-winner in the eighth to give Class 4A No. 4 Mount Pleasant (2-1, 2-1) a 4-2 victory at No. 3 Knoch (3-1, 2-1) to tie the Knights for first place in Section 1.
Kiski Area sophomore starter Megan Andree struck out 14 and did not walk a batter while Sarah Clever went 3 for 3 with two RBI as the host Cavaliers (4-1, 4-1) knocked off Greensburg Salem (1-4, 1-4) in a Class 5A Section 1 tilt.
Albert Gallatin (4-1, 3-1) won its fourth consecutive game and third in a row in Class 5A Section 2 as Maddie Flowers picked up the win and drove in the deciding run on a sacrifice fly in a 9-8 12-inning victory at Thomas Jefferson (3-4, 1-2).