Light back in PAC Singles semifinals with three newcomers

Top seeds Graham Light of Phoenixville and Malchu Pascual of Spring-Ford were joined by a pair of surprise semifinalists after Day 1 action of the Pioneer Athletic Conference Singles Tournament Friday at Perkiomen Valley.

Harsha Santhanam, Methacton’s No. 3 singles player during the regular season, rose up to take his place in the last four, as did Upper Merion’s Jaden Mayer.

Mayer defeated Methacton No. 1 Krishna Suraesh, the No. 3 seed, 6-3, 4-6, 6-3, in the quarterfinals, reversing the result of two days prior when Suraesh topped Mayer 6-4, 6-2 in their league match.

Santhanam topped Spring-Ford No. 2 Nolan Schweitzer, 6-4, 6-3, in their quarterfinal.

No. 1 seed Light, the lone returning semifinalist from a year ago, needed to rally in his semifinal to defeat Methacton’s Adam Zhang. Light prevailed, 3-6, 6-2, 6-4, and will meet Santhanam in the semifinals.

No. 2 Pascual, conversely, reached the semifinals without dropping a game thanks to a pair of 6-0, 6-0 wins.

The semifinals begin at 9 a.m. Saturday at Perkiomen Valley with the finals to follow.

Baseball

BOYERTOWN 7, METHACTON 6» Despite going into the sixth inning down 6-2, the Bears battled the Warriors to complete a comeback victory in their PAC Liberty Division game.

Austyn Levengood drove in three runs with help from a home run as Boyertown scored three times in the sixth and added two more in the seventh. Drew Hartman, the third of four Bears seeing action on the mound, got the win with 1-2/3 innings of one-hit, two-strikeout relief. PHOENIXVILLE 8, UPPER PERKIOMEN 7 » The Phantoms also went the comeback route in their PAC Frontier Division game with the Indians, a five-run output in their final two atbats making the difference.

Devon Goryl drove in three runs for Phoenixville, which trailed UP by a 7-5 count going into the seventh. Trip Shoemaker (3for-4) was the beneficiary of Phoenixville’s late run production, getting the decision. UPPER MERION 15, POTTSGROVE 7 » Michael Hutchinson and Sal Costello each hit home runs in the Vikings’ PAC Frontier win over the Falcons.

Hutchinson finished 3-for-5 with two doubles, two runs scored and six RBI while Costello had two hits and two runs scored to power UM’s 13-hit offense. Matt Choi scored three times and had two RBI out of the leadoff spot. Anthony Swenda pitched four innings in the win. Alex Stump was 3-for-3 with a double and two RBI for Pottsgrove. SPRING-FORD 14, NORRISTOWN 0 » Coy Walters hit a grand slam and the Rams racked up 14 hits on the way to a six-inning rout of the Eagles in PAC Liberty Division play.

Walters finished 3-for-4 with a double, three runs scored and five RBI on the day while Chase Simmons finished 2-for-2 with a double and a run scored. Cooper Webb pitched five innings in the shutout, limiting Norristown to just four hits and striking out

before turning it over to Kevin Hynes for the final frame. PERKIOMEN VALLEY 10, OWEN J. ROBERTS 2 » The Vikings banged out 15 hits and used a four-run outburst in the fifth inning to dispatch the Wildcats in PAC Liberty Division play.

Brock Helverson drove in two runs off 3-for-4 batting, and Mike Gama had another two RBI. Helverson was the winning pitcher with five innings of two-hit action, touched only for Owen J’s first run in the third inning. PERKIOMEN SCHOOL 15, RENAISSANCE ACADEMY 0 » The Panthers needed just three innings to rack up nine hits and 15 runs during a Tri-County League win over Renaissance.

David Smith and Chris Pow each finished 2-for-2 with two runs scored and two RBI while Carlos Torres had a two-run double. Marc Molnar earned the pitching win striking out five in two innings of work. WILSON 9, DANIEL BOONE 4 » The Bulldogs racked up 11 hits — five for extra bases — and handed the Blazers a loss in Berks Conference I play.

Kris Perez was 2-for-3 with an RBI double and two runs scored while Brady Dallas picked up the pitching win with four innings of work. Boone’s Matt Henderson was strong in relief with 1-2/3 innings of work and one hit to his credit. WEST-MONT CHRISTIAN 15, CONCORD

CHRISTIAN 0 » The Wings picked up a win in Atlantic Coast Christian Conference play behind Tyler Fox’s ninestrikeout performance.

Softball

SPRING-FORD 11, PHOENIXVILLE 3 » The Rams ripped four home runs, including two from winning pitcher Brianna Peck, in a PAC crossover win over the Phantoms.

Peck (2-for-3, three RBI) was joined on the round-trip parade by Julia Heine (2-for4, two RBI) and Ashley DellaGuardia while Jules Hughes (2for-4) had a double. Peck went six innings, allowing five hits, no earned runs and striking out 10.

Susan Duncan and Hayden Perrone (double) had three-hit games for Phoenixville. METHACTON 16, UPPER MERION 8 » The Warriors countered the Vikings fast start with a faster one, ultimately winning this PAC divisional crossover game by a sizeable margin.

After UM scored five runs in its first at-bat, Methacton countered with six in the third. Sam Weil-Kasper had a threeRBI double while Aubrey Seal and Caroline Pellicano added doubles. Seal went 3-for-5 and Abby Penjuke (2-for-5) drove in four runs. BOYERTOWN 9, POTTSGROVE 1 » Alexa Schaefer limited the Falcons to one run on five hits and five walks during this PAC divisional crossover matchup.

Schaefer got all the run support she needed in the first, when the Bears crossed three runs before adding two more

in the third. Veronica Maryanski was 2-for-3 with a double and two runs scored while Mackenzie Shaner (2-for-2) had a run scored and an RBI. Dayaa Dopwell had two hits and Pottsgrove’s lone run. POPE JOHN PAUL II 10, NORRISTOWN 2 » The Golden Panthers made a big early lead stick as they rolled over the Eagles in their PAC divisional crossover game.

Grace Harvey drove in three runs off 2-for-4 hitting, and Alexandra Szpindor was 2-for-3 with two RBI. Faith Heyser, the third of four PJP pitchers to see action, got the winning decision. DANIEL BOONE 10, WILSON 0 » Sydney Hayes knocked in three runs and Dani Hayes added two RBI as the Blazers defeated the Bulldogs in Berks Conference play.

Boone’s roll was fueled by a six-run second inning. Heather Hall pitched a four-hitter to get the win.

Boys lacrosse

POPE JOHN PAUL II 9, ARCHBISHOP WOOD 6 » PJP earned a non-league win with Matt Cressman, Kyle Donovan and Chris Morgado each scoring two goals. Goalie Noah Balliet made 11 saves. NEW HOPE-SOLEBURY 11, PERKIOMEN SCHOOL 5 » The Panthers lost their non-conference matchup against NHS despite five goals from Harrison Gavin.

Girls lacrosse

SPRING-FORD 12, POPE JOHN PAUL II 11 » The Rams edged PAC Frontier leader PJP while getting three goals from Liv Yeagle.

Other multi-point scorers for Spring-Ford (1-5, 3-5, 5-7) were Cassie Marte (2G), Katie Metzler (2G, 1A), Michaela Haney (1G, 1A), Ashley Hudak (1G, 1A) and Lauren Constantine (1G, 2A). For PJP (5-0, 5-2, 8-3), Monica Rapchinski scored five goals and Kallan Bustynowicz had three goals and an assist. METHACTON 14, POTTSGROVE 3» Julie Byrne’s five goals fueled the Warriors’ PAC crossover win over the Falcons.

Sydney Tornetta and Julia McCann added two goals each for Methacton (3-3, 5-3, 6-6) and Mia Sheldon had a goal and an assist. Pottsgrove (1-3, 1-5, 5-6) got two goals from Emily Williams. POTTSTOWN 16, NORRISTOWN 4 » Christina Butler and Emme Wolfel both had three goals and an assist to lead the Trojans to a PAC crossover victory.

Abbie Krause, Ebony Reddick and Da’zah Regusters added two goals each while Reilly Owens made 11 saves. Norristown got two goals apiece from Brianna McIntyre and Ashley Schools. BOYERTOWN 15, UPPER MERION 4 » Sydney Fox scored four times and added a goal in the Bears’ PAC cross divisional rout of the Vikings.

Kylie Webb added two goals and two assists while Amanda Diachynsky had a hat trick and an assist as Boyertown jumped out to an 11-2 lead by the half. Ashley Dierolf (assist) and Hannah Mitchell scored two goals apiece while Kristi Kada (assist) and Lillian Mauger were each credited with one.