Thursday was a rough day for West Hills high school baseball teams, as all three of them that saw action – Our Lady of the Sacred Heart, Montour and Moon Area — tasted defeat.
OLSH dropped a 13-7 decision to host Steel Valley, Montour fell 9-0 to Canon-McMillan and Moon nearly erased a six-run deficit in the bottom of the seventh inning before losing 12-11 to Thomas Jefferson.
Thomas Jefferson 12, Moon Area 11
The Jaguars bolted out of the gates with four runs in each of the first two innings and built a 12-6 lead, only to see the Tigers claw their way back to within a run in the final inning.
Trailing 12-6, Andrew Cross doubled home a run, Will Swisher smacked an RBI single and Nick Machusko slammed a three-run homer to make it 12-11 with one out.
After Owen Amey popped out, singles by Giovanni Ciamacco and Nico Marasco put runners at first and third. But Ryan Joyce popped out to end the game.
Thomas Jefferson appeared to be on the way to an easy win, scoring eight runs in the first two innings combined.
Moon pulled to within 8-2 in the bottom of the second on Marasco’s RBI double and Thad Longwell’s run-scoring triple, and Taylor Ebner’s sacrifice fly in the third trimmed the deficit to 8-3.
After the Jaguars increased the lead to 9-3, Moon’s Cross slugged a two-run homer in the fourth to pull the Tigers to within 9-5.
Moon outhit the Jaguars 17-9 with Cross and Marasco each collecting three hits and Savario Vandetti, Machusko and Longwell contributing two hits each.
Canon-McMillan 9, Montour 0
The Big Macs wasted no time jumping ahead, scoring twice in the first inning and then adding four in the third frame to build a big lead in a non-section win over the Spartans.
Blake Simmons’ two-run single was the big blow in the first inning, and he added a RBI double to start the scoring in the third inning. Massimo Falconi and Ben Taczak added RBI singles in that inning.
Montour managed just four hits off Canon-McMillan pitching, which struck out 12 hitters and walked only three.
Steel Valley 13, Our Lady of the Sacred Heart 7
Garrett Cherpak went 3 for 3 and drove in four runs to lead the Ironmen past the Chargers in a non-section game at Steel Valley.
Cherpak’s two-run single ignited a five-run first-inning rally for the Ironmen, and Immanual Owens followed with a two-run triple to double the lead to 4-0.
OLSH scored three runs in the second on an error and RBI singles by James Hanna and Ryan DeNinno, cutting the deficit to 5-3.
After the two teams traded runs, Steel Valley struck for four runs in the fourth, with Conner McNutt’s bases-clearing double being the big hit.
Wyatt Walsh finished with two hits and two RBIs for OLSH while Chad Minton had three hits and DeNinno added two hits and two RBIs.
SOFTBALL
Carlynton 18, Northgate 7
Sara Loney went 3 for 4 with a double and two singles and drove in five runs to pace the Cougars’ 14-hit attack in a non-section win over the Flames.
Four other Carlynton players – Danica DeCecco, Carlee Hughes, Ava Kimberling and Kenzi Tomaszewski – each had two hits. Hughes drove in two runs and scored five times, DeCecco added two RBIs and scored twice and Kimberling and Tomaszewski each drove in two runs. Tomaszewski scored three runs and Kimberling two.
BOYS VOLLEYBALL
Our Lady of the Sacred Heart 3, Portersville Christian 0
The Chargers stretched their unbeaten streak to five by posting a sweep in a non-section match at the Angela Activities Center. The Chargers won by set scores of 25-11, 25-7 and 25-21.
Brady Rooney and Paddy Altmar led the way with nine kills each, with Rooney adding seven digs.
Isaac Tarbuk had five kills, three aces and four digs while Ryan Bridge had five kills.
Aiden Curry registered 30 assists and three aces while Marco Buzzard had eight digs. Also contributing to the win were Oliver Tomsic, Mathias Lieb, Cole Miller, Jackson Leslie and Cooper Belcufine.
Montour 3, Canon-McMillan 2
Isaiah Henderson and Gaige Schoff combined for 36 kills as the Spartans outlasted the Big Macs, 26-28, 26-24, 25-23, 18-25, 15-7, in a non-section match.
Henderson finished with 20 kills and two aces while Schoff wound up with 16 kills and three aces.
Wyatt Bucek and Dom Lach each contributed seven kills for the Spartans.
Pine-Richland 3, Moon Area 0
The Rams rolled to a sweep of the Tigers, 25-13, 25-18, 25-14, in a Class 3A Section 1 match at Moon.
Ayden Anderson-Simmons led the Tigers with seven kills, one block and one ace while Logan Anderson-Stewart had six kills and six digs.
Kingston Brown had three blocks while Shane Johns contributed 11 digs for Moon.
FLAG FOOTBALL
Moon Area 51, Bishop Canevin 0
The Tigers’ defense was all over the field – including the end zone – in a Section 4 win over the Crusaders.
Reese Keslar, Gianna Reynolds, Maria Cortes and Madi Wilson each picked off a pass and returned it for a touchdown for Moon.
Kendall Dydek scored two rushing touchdowns to lead the Tigers offense and Maelen Hess and Keslar each converted extra points.
Ambridge 27, Our Lady of the Sacred Heart 12
Lola Garner and Jordyn Velmire connected on a pair of touchdown passes but the Chargers fell to the Bridgers in a WPIAL Section 4 contest.
Garner and Shae Trombetta each picked off a pass and Jules Goshen registered one sack on defense.
BOYS LACROSSE
Bethel Park 16, Moon Area 2
The Blackhawks met with little resistance in picking up a Class 2A non-section win over the Tigers. Bethel Park established an early lead and maintained it as the game progressed. Moon fell to 0-4 overall and 0-1 in section play with the loss.
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