Baseball, softball finally swing into action
Lori C. Padilla
Waynesburg Central pitcher Emma Ricciuti winds up as first baseman Tara Staley prepares to play defense during the third inning of Monday鈥檚 WPIAL Class AA preliminary round softball playoff game against South Allegheny at California University of Pa.鈥檚 Lilley Field.
John F. Brothers | 缅北禁地
Carmichaels鈥� Chad Ruse steals second as Jefferson-Morgan鈥檚 Eli Rafail (2) and Zack Gamble attempt to field the throw from the catcher during their non-section game at Carmichaels High School on March 24.
High School baseball and softball seasons are in full swing in Greene County and most squads鈥� section openers were at the start of the week.
Like in most years, teams will have to navigate against their fair share of postponements and cancellations because of Mother Nature and field conditions.
With most teams in the county only playing a handful of games so far this season, here have been some of the headlines so far for the start of the 2017 season on the diamond.
Picking up where they left off
The defending WPIAL Class A softball champion West Greene squad has started the regular season with a 5-0 record as of Wednesday.
The Lady Pioneers opened the 2017 campaign with three wins at the Ripken Experience at Myrtle Beach over University School (Tenn.), 5-3, Eastlake North (Ohio), 14-3 and Northeast Bradford, 8-2.
West Greene then kicked off its Section 2-A schedule with an 11-0 rout of California. On Monday, the Lady Pioneers rallied from a 3-0 deficit through four innings and garnered an 8-4 victory over non-section foe Frazier.
The Lady Pioneers hosted Monessen on Thursday and travel to Mapletown today.
Mikes scoring runs in other ways
The Carmichaels鈥� baseball squad was 4-0 and opened its Section 1-AA schedule against Bentworth on Monday with a 5-1 victory.
The Mikes had wins over Jefferson-Morgan (9-6), Mapletown (16-1) and West Greene (8-0). Despite scoring 33 runs in those games, Carmichaels has only recorded 15 hits.
The Mikes have been patient at the plate by drawing walks and are working the base paths with their speed for steals.
It might not be the prettiest way to score runs, but it sure is effective.
In the win over the Bearcats, Matt Barrish picked up the win and Joel Spishock compiled a double and two RBIs. Carmichaels traveled to Beth-Center on Wednesday.
Who鈥檚 hot!?!
West Greene鈥檚 Madison Lampe has been on a tear to start the year. Through four games, Lampe had a batting average of .733 with eight runs scored and a team-high nine RBIs.
In their 11-0 triumph over California last week, Lampe was 4-for-4 with three doubles, a triple and five RBIs. She has also been playing solid defense for the Lady Pioneers at third base this season.
Who鈥檚 not!?!
The Mapletown baseball鈥檚 pitching staff has had a rough start to the 2017 season. After picking up a 12-8 victory over Clay-Battelle (W.Va.) to start the year, the Maples have given up a combined 30 runs over their next two games.
In a 16-1 defeat to Carmichaels, Mapletown walked 13 batters in the three-inning affair. The Maples were up 5-1 through five innings versus Avella, but the Eagles tallied 13 runs over the final two innings for a 14-6 setback for Mapletown.
The Maples bounced back on Monday and tallied a 15-0 win over Geibel Catholic in their Section 2-A opener. Brian Bogden threw three scoreless innings with five strikeouts.
Some stellar freshmen
Both West Greene and Carmichaels softball teams have relied on some youth in the pitching circle this season, and so far their young hurlers have been able to perform very well in their first varsity action.
Through the first four games of the season, Jade Renner is 4-0 for the Lady Pioneers with a 1.47 ERA and has 22 strikeouts in only 19 innings. In the win against Frazier on Monday, she pitched a complete game and registered seven strikeouts.
Kylie Sinn has gotten the nod to pitch for the Lady Mikes and started her career off with a 12-0 win over Burgettstown. Sinn pitched the full seven innings and worked around seven hits with four strikeouts.
As of Tuesday, Carmichaels was 4-2 overall and 1-0 in Section 2-A. The Mikes went 2-2 last weekend at the Ripken Experience with an 11-8 loss to Grant Community (Ill.), a 6-5 setback to Cambridge Springs, a 13-1 victory over St. John Villa (NY) and an 11-1 rout of West Jessamine (Ky.).
The Lady Mikes also grabbed a 16-1 triumph over California on Monday to open up section play.
Robinson brothers with the shutout
Waynesburg Central is currently 3-1 overall and 1-0 in the section before traveling to section foe Charleroi today.
In one of the biggest wins for the Raiders so far this season, Waynesburg defeated California 4-0.
The Raiders were led on the mound by brothers Hunter and Luke Robinson. Hunter started the contest and went five innings with six strikeouts and a walk. Luke came on in relief and garnered the final six outs with five strikeouts and one base on balls.The brothers limited the Trojans to just two hits.
The Robinsons were at it again in Waynesburg鈥檚 Section 3-AAA opener versus Seton-La Salle on Monday, as both were effective hurlers in a 4-3 victory at Meadowlark Park.
Hunter earned the win with six effective innings and allowed two unearned runs with 13 strikeouts and just two walks. Luke came on in the seventh and secured the win with a three-out save.
A no-no for the Lady Raiders
Senior Emma Ricciuti recorded a no-hitter in Waynesburg鈥檚 13-0 triumph over St. John Villa (N.Y.) last Saturday at the Ripken Experience.
She compiled six strikeouts over five innings in a stellar performance and did not issue a walk in the win. St. John only had two baserunners via two errors.
After their section opening 6-3 win against Southmoreland on Monday, the Lady Raiders are currently 4-1 overall and 1-0 in Section 3-AAA.
Waynesburg is set to travel to Brownsville on Wednesday and hosts South Park today.
Wait 鈥� are we missing something?
The good weather finally broke through last Wednesday and it was a pitch-perfect day for some softball between two foes that are renewing a county rivalry, Carmichaels and Jefferson-Morgan.
The only problem 鈥� there was no umpires at the game. After both teams got their warm-ups in and after fans scattered around the field, the umps never did show up. The game was originally scheduled for Thursday, but a month ago was changed to Wednesday. I guess nobody told the umps!
The contest was supposed to be played on Tuesday of this week, but was postponed to April 17 after rains came in overnight and in the morning that made the field unplayable. Hopefully these two rivals can play each other then鈥nd hopefully the umps will be there too!