Times Express campus clippings: Gateway grad honored for strong softball season at Waynesburg

By: Michael Love
Sunday, June 5, 2022 | 11:01 AM

Gateway graduate Kayla Gratton, a sophomore on the Waynesburg University softball team, enjoyed a strong season at shortstop, and she was rewarded for her efforts with selection to the Presidents Athletic Conference all-star team as an honorable-mention pick.

Nine players in all were selected after helping lead the Yellow Jackets to the program’s first conference title since 1993.

Gratton was right in the mix as she achieved season highs of three hits against Franciscan on April 30, two RBIs at Grove City on April 19 and two runs scored against Penn State DuBois on March 18.

Gratton, who started all 38 games for Waynesburg, finished the season batting .272 (22 for 81) with three doubles, 12 runs batted in and 15 runs scored.

She struck out just six times.

Waynesburg finished 27-11 overall and was 13-5 in PAC play. It swept through the PAC tournament, taking two games from No. 1 Westminster, 4-1 and 3-1, to claim the championship.

The Yellow Jackets competed in the NCAA tournament and gave No. 3 Eastern Connecticut State all it could handle before falling 4-3 on May 13. Waynesburg was eliminated by Alfred University the next day.

Caleb Lehman

The senior catcher on the Chatham baseball team finished his season with a .331 batting average (45 for 126) over 38 games played.

He recorded 13 multi-hit games with a season best of three hits in a game three times.

Lehman delivered 11 extra base hits – seven doubles, two triples and two home runs – to go along with 21 RBIs and 28 runs scored.

He knocked in a season-best four runs in a March 17 victory at Juniata.

The Cougars concluded their season 13-25 overall.

Shelly Jones

The junior thrower on the Clarion women’s track and field team had a big performance in the shot put at the PSAC championships May 14 at Millersville. She achieved a personal best with a top attempt of 12.98 meters (42 feet, 6 inches) and landed in eighth place overall.

The distance shattered her previous outdoor PR of 12.81 meters set at last year’s conference championship. It also moved her from fifth to fourth in the program’s all-time performance list.

Jones added a 12th-place finish in the discus (38.22/125-4).

Jaired Lehman

The sophomore outfielder on the Mt. Union baseball team appeared in 26 games this season for the Purple Raiders and started 25. He batted .259 (22 for 85) with five doubles, two triples, nine RBIs and 23 runs scored.

Lehman went a combined 3 for 6 with two doubles, a triple, two RBIs and two runs scored in a split with Hiram on May 2. He had a season-best three hits (3 for 5) with a double and an RBI in a win over Wilmington (Ohio) on April 15.

Mt. Union finished its season 23-19 overall and 11-7 in the Ohio Athletic Conference. The Purple Raiders went 1-2 in the OAC Tournament, falling to Baldwin Wallace in the semifinals.

Justin Stancovich

The senior infielder on the La Roche College baseball team had quite a three-game stretch later in the regular season.

He went 7 for 12 with two home runs and seven RBIs in a doubleheader sweep of Hilbert College on May 8 and a loss at Penn-State Behrend on May 13.

Stancovich finished his season with five home runs, 18 RBIs and 15 runs scored in 27 games for the Redhawks, who went 15-20 overall and 8-9 in the Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference.

Sarah Corrie

The Slippery Rock junior placed 10th in the shot put at the PSAC championships with a distance of 12.40 meters (40 feet, 7 inches). The now five-time PSAC qualifier owns a personal best of 12.88 meters set in taking fourth at last year’s outdoor finals.

Michael Love is a TribLive reporter covering sports in the Alle-Kiski Valley and the eastern suburbs of Pittsburgh. A Clearfield native and a graduate of Westminster (Pa.), he joined the Trib in 2002 after spending five years at the Clearfield Progress. He can be reached at mlove@triblive.com.

Tags: Gateway