High school roundup for May 25, 2021: South Park surges into 3A baseball finals

By: Tribune-Review
Tuesday, May 25, 2021 | 11:00 PM

Austin Lafferty homered and drove in two runs and Derek Kalafatis went 2 for 2 with two RBIs as No. 3 South Park took a 5-0 lead after three innings and rolled to an 8-2 WPIAL Class 3A baseball semifinal victory over No. 2 Avonworth on Tuesday afternoon.

Winning pitcher Zach Lemansky gave up two hits and struck out six in five scoreless innings. Dylan Orth drove in a run for the Eagles (15-4), who will meet No. 1 Hopewell in the WPIAL finals June 1 or 2 at Wild Things Park. Jake Osborn and Mason Monroe singled and scored for No. 2 Avonworth (15-8), which will face No. 4 McGuffey in the consolation game.

Hopewell 15, McGuffey 0 – Roman Gill threw a four-inning, two-hit shutout with six strikeouts as top-seeded Hopewell (16-5) rolled into the Class 3A WPIAL finals. Anthony LaSala homered and drove in four runs and Chris Mullins had a home run and two RBIs for the Vikings. Gill, Luke Kerec and Joey Asvestas had two hits apiece. Jake Orr and Logan Seibert had base hits for No. 4 McGuffey (13-5).

New Castle 7, Blackhawk 4 – Winning pitcher Anthony Miller had an RBI ground out in the third inning and an RBI double in the sixth to lead No. 7 New Castle to a Class 4A semifinal victory. Logan Gibson had an base hit and an RBI for the Red Hurricanes (13-9), who will meet No. 1 Montour in the WPIAL finals June 2 or 3. Josh Reed had two hits and an RBI for No. 3 Blackhawk (15-5), which will face Laurel Highlands in the consolation game.

Montour 8, Laurel Highlands 1 – Mason Sike doubled twice and drove in four runs and Aidan Deluca had two hits and two RBIs as top-seeded Montour scored two runs in four innings to roll into the Class 4A finals. Ryan Gallagher tripled and Brock Janeda, Nick Walker and Matt Luchovick had base hits for Montour (15-5). Kadin Early had two hits and Carson Damico singled and drove in a run for No. 5 Laurel Highlands (15-6).

Shenango 7, Carmichaels 6 – Braeden D’Angelo hit a tie-breaking RBI single in the sixth inning to lead No. 2 Shenango to victory in a Class 2A semifinal thriller. Shane Cato singled, doubled and drove in three runs and Tyler Kamerer had a double, triple and two RBIs for Shenango (19-2), which will meet No. 1 Seton LaSalle in the WPIAL finals. Drake Long, Gavin Pratt and Joel Ferek homered for No. 3 Carmichaels (17-2), which will meet No. 4 Serra Catholic in the consolation game.

Union 12, Eden Christian 1 – Tyler Staub doubled, tripled and drove in four runs and Brennan Porter had a single, double and three RBIs as No. 4 Union jumped out to a 5-1 lead in the second inning en route to a Class A semifinal win. Nick Vitale singled and drove in a pair for the Scotties (10-5), who will meet No. 7 Riverview in the WPIAL finals June 1 or 2. Winning pitcher Tyler Staub didn’t allow an earned run in six innings. Andrew Prouty had two hits and an RBI for No. 1 Eden Christian (16-5), which will face No. 6 Jefferson-Morgan in the consolation game.

Softball

North Hills 3, Chartiers Valley 0 – Maria Chutko doubled and drove in two runs and winning pitcher Sophia Roncone threw a four-hit shutout with eight strikeouts to lead No. 8 North Hills (16-5) into the WPIAL finals. Madison Crump had two hits and Jenna Bonneysteele fanned eight for the No. 5 Colts (14-8). North Hills will meet No. 7 Armstrong in the WPIAL finals June 2 or 3 at Cal U.

West Greene 5, South Side 3 – Jersey Wise went 3 for 4 with a double and winning pitcher Kiley Meek didn’t allow an earned run as No. 1 West Greene picked up a Class A semifinal win. Meek, Olivia Kiger, London Whipkey and Katie Lampe drove in runs for the Pioneers (17-2), who will meet No. 3 Union in the WPIAL finals June 2 or 3. Ashley Trillow doubled and drove in a pair for No. 4 South Side (13-4), which will face No. 2 Leechburg in the consolation game.

Highlands 10, Montour 2 — Kylie Zourelias homered and Kassidy Cambal went 3 for 3 as No. 5 Highlands scored five runs in the first two innings in the Class 4A quarterfinals. Winning pitcher Jaycee Haidze allowed three hits and struck out 10. Haidze, Zourelias, Abbie Deiseroth and Jessica Cekada had two hits apiece for the Golden Rams (15-4), who will meet No. 1 Elizabeth Forward in Wednesday’s semifinals. Angelina LaMarca doubled and drove in a run for No. 4 Montour (12-6).

Boys volleyball

North Allegheny 3, Hempfield 0 – Top-seeded North Allegheny (14-0) continued its undefeated run to the WPIAL Class 3A finals with a 25-10, 25-11, 25-18 victory over No. 4 Hempfield (12-3). The Tigers will meet No. 2 Seneca Valley in Wednesday’s finals.

Seneca Valley 3, Penn-Trafford 0 – No. 2 Seneca Valley (16-2) defeated No. 3 Penn-Trafford (14-3) in three games, 25-16, 28-26, 25-19. The Raiders fended off a game point in the second game. The Warriors will meet No. 4 Hempfield in Wednesday’s consolation game.

Seton LaSalle 3, Hopewell 1 – Top-seeded Seton LaSalle (21-1) won the first two games, 25-22 and 25-17, dropped the third, 25-18, then roared into the Class 2A finals with a 25-10 win in Game 4 over No. 4 Hopewell (12-5). The Rebels will meet No. 2 North Catholic in Wednesday’s finals. Hopewell will face Ambridge in the third-place match.

North Catholic 3, Ambridge 0 – The second-seeded Trojans moved into the Class 2A finals with a 25-19, 25-11, 25-22 victory over No. 3 Ambridge (10-3).