TYRONE - A 13-run explosion in the top of the fifth inning was the punctuation of a dominating performance by the Lewistown offense in a 21-0 Mountain League softball victory over Tyrone Tuesday.
The game ended after five innings under the 10-run rule.
Brooke Morningstar led the onslaught for the Panthers, going 4-for-4 with a double, a home run and five RBIs as seven Lewistown players registered multiple hits. Maddie Amspacker picked up the win in the circle.
Lewistown (3-1, 3-0) hosts Bellefonte Thursday.
Softball
Indian Valley 8,
Central Mountain 6
HIGHLAND PARK - Erica Kauffman's three-run homer in the bottom of the seventh was the game winner for Indian Valley, which needed the comeback for an 8-6 Mountain League softball victory over Central Mountain Tuesday.
In the final turn, Macie Lucas and Linzee Ruby each singled to put the runs on base, and Kauffman's shot made the difference. The Warriors were up 2-0 before Central Mountain scored, and had a 5-2 lead after four, but the Wildcats scored four in the seventh to take their first lead.
"We needed to win this game because CM has been one of the better teams in the league," Indian Valley coach Greg Evans said.
The Warriors benefited from a 12-strikeout performance by Dani Treaster in the circle.
"Her ball was popping tonight. She's going to keep us in games," Evans said.
Both teams managed seven hits, but each also committed seven errors - a real problem, Evans said.
"But those are going to happen because we have some young kids and some kids playing new positions," he explained.
Central Mountain won the JV game, 2-1.
The Warriors (2-2, 1-2) travel to Huntingdon Thursday.
Mount Union 16, West Branch 6 (6 inn.)
MORRISDALE - Mount Union softball coach Matt Fiscus calls West Branch the "best all-around team" in the Inter-County Conference.
His players may vote otherwise.
The Trojans pounded out 15 hits including a 4-for-4, five-RBI day at the plate for Kassandra Atherton as Mount Union crushed West Branch 16-6 in a game that ended after six innings under the 10-run rule.
"We had a good night," Fiscus said. "I don't want to talk any junk until we beat them a second time, but we did a lot of things well tonight."
Atherton's 4-for-4 performance was at the epicenter of a Mount Union barrage offensively. The Trojans scored in every inning and put up a five-spot in the opening frame.
"Kassandra really hit in the clutch tonight," Fiscus said. "She is one of our team leaders and she showed it tonight. We knew we were going to have to put up a number against West Branch."
Kendall Aurand was 2-for-2 on the day and Brittany Cox enjoyed a 3-for-4 day hitting.
Mount Union (6-0, 4-0) is at Juniata Valley Thursday.
Line Mountain 11, Greenwood 4
MANDATA - Greenwood jumped out to a 2-0 lead on an Autumn Pellman double, but Line Mountain stormed back with a six-run second, and the Eagles finished 11-4 winners in their Tri-Valley League softball game Tuesday.
Pellman ultimately was responsible for all four runs, driving in the other two on a base hit in the third. The Wildcats were unable to muster enough offense, but more important, gave away too much, coach Krista Pontius said.
"We gave up 13 walks tonight and nine of those walks scored," she said. "We have all the pieces, we just need to keep on work on putting them together."
Greenwood (1-4, 0-2 TVL) travels to Newport Thursday.
Baseball
Philipsburg-Osceola 4, Lewistown 1
PHILIPSBURG - Still in search of what coach Ray Hoppel calls the "complete game," Lewistown's baseball team fell to Philipsburg-Osceola 4-1 Tuesday in a Mountain League contest.
The Panthers managed just four hits and a lone run in support of pitcher A.J. Scheffel.
"We're struggling at the plate in the early part of the season," Hoppel said. "But I'm confident things will come around. We have to get good pitching and defense every game to give ourselves a chance."
The Panthers earned their run in the fifth inning with three of their four hits coming in that span. With two out, Cole Welham, Scheffel and Chris Wilson all singled, with Wilson's being the hit that put Lewistown on the board, scoring Welham.
The only other hit came on a second-inning triple by Mitch Welham, but he was stranded there.
"Part of our problem at the plate is experience, but I think we also have some confidence issues as well," Hoppel said. "Once we get our feet wet throughout the course of this year, I'm confident the hitting will come around."
The Mounties also won the JV game, 11-1 in five innings.
Lewistown (1-2, 1-2) hosts Tyrone today.
Shikellamy 15, East Juniata 3 (5 inn.)
SUNBURY - An 11-run second inning by Shikellamy Tuesday made Wade Truitt's two-run home run in the fifth inning a bit too little, too late in East Juniata's 15-3 non-league loss.
"We started (Shane) Erickson and he struggled in the first inning," Tigers coach Kerry Peck said. "So we brought up a JV kid and he was a little nervous in that situation. He had trouble finding the strike zone.
"But one of the bright spots was Kyle Peck throwing three scoreless innings. He got out of a bases-loaded jam in the second and shut them out in the third and fourth."
East Juniata (0-4, 0-3) is at Line Mountain Thursday.
Line Mountain 19, Greenwood 7
MILLERSTOWN - Greenwood continues to show improvement, but the Wildcats gave up too many walks against Line Mountain, which took a 19-7 edge in their Tri-Valley League baseball game Tuesday.
Greenwood coach Mark McCoy said the two extra-base hits by the Eagles - a double and a triple - were harmful because his staff had issued walks to put runners on base.
"We're getting better," he said. "The main problem was our pitchers gave up 12 walks."
Greenwood fell behind early when Line Mountain scored five in the second; the Eagles put it away with another five-run frame in the seventh.
Zach McCoy had a double and two RBIs for the Wildcats. Cameron Hinkel had a triple and an RBI.
Greenwood (0-5, 0-3) is scheduled to host Newport Thursday.
Mount Union 11, West Branch 0 (6 inn.)
MORRISDALE - Mount Union's Brock Goodling had an alright day for himself.
The Trojan junior tossed a three-hit shutout, struck out 10 on the mound and blasted a pair of two-run home runs at the plate to lead Mount Union to an 11-0 Inter-County Conference baseball win over West Branch Tuesday.
"Brock had an outstanding fastball, breaking ball and had total command," Mount Union coach Nick Imperioli said. "He actually started a bit slow. The first two runners got on and then they bunted them over with just one out and then he struck next two out.
"That's definitely the sign of a maturing pitcher. He gets into trouble, but a lot of good ptichers get that inner resolve that they come up with good pitches when they have to. That's a good sign. That's part of his maturing as pitcher."
It took a bit for the Mount Union offense to get going as well, but it was the first of Goodling's two bombs - in the fourth inning - that ignited the Trojans' offense.
"We weren't hitting the ball real well to start," Imperioli said. "But we picked up a run in the third and then Brock's homer in the fourth and then we started hitting the ball well after that. That's something I'm really encouraged by - for us to start hitting better."
Mount Union (4-0, 4-0) is at Juniata Valley Thursday.
Track and field
Boys: Lewistown 88, Bellefonte 61
Girls: Lewistown 83, Bellefonte 65
ALTOONA - Lewistown's boys and girls track and field squads picked up Mountain League wins over Bellefonte Tuesday in a meet run at Altoona's Mansion Park.
The boys won 88-61 and the girls topped the Red Raiders 83-65.
Much of the success for the Panther boys came because the team was able to use more athletes, keeping fresh legs for more events. The girls rode event sweeps in the 100-meter dash, triple jump, and long jump, taking first in most of the events.
"It was an awesome job by a lot of young ladies," coach Al Hepner said. "We were able to move some people around, and a lot of girls were helping out in different spots."
Of the boys, he said, "They worked extremely hard again."
Lewistown travels to Central Mountain to run a tri-meet with Bald Eagle Area Thursday.
Tennis
Tyrone 4, Indian Valley 3
TYRONE - A close Mountain League tennis matchup Tuesday went the way of Tyrone - a 4-3 win over Indian Valley that included all but two of the seven matches going to a third set.
Zane Waddell and Sunny Parmar earned singles victories for the Warriors while the doubles pairing of Nihar Suthar and Derek Powers notched a win there.
But it wasn't enough as Tyrone took three of the singles contests and the final doubles match to seal the win.
"Tyrone has become a lot better team in the league from last year," Indian Valley coach Denny Simonetti said. "We took one on the chin tonight. We were hoping to be on the winning side of 4-3. ... Zane and Sunny gave us a chance in the doubles to try to win. We came up short but hats off to Suthar and Powers in the No. 1 doubles. They brought home a doubles victory for us."
Indian Valley (1-4, 0-2) is at Juniata today.
Huntingdon 5, Lewistown 2
LEWISTOWN - How close was Huntingdon's Mountain League tennis win over Lewistown Tuesday?
Try 87-86 in total games won. Try all five singles matches going to a third set.
The difference was that Huntingdon won the points and games it needed to win the match - a greuling 5-2 victory.
"I've coached 10 years and I've never had five singles matches go three sets," Panthers coach Doug DeArment said. "You can't get any closer."
The two Lewistown players that managed three-set singles victories were Anthony Frock and David Boozel. But DeArment says that the heat and the long matches took its toll on everyone.
"Most of the third sets that were played, kids weren't moving that well," he said. "They were kind of pushing the ball back to the middle of the court and it just came down to who wasn't bothered as much by the heat."
Lewistown (0-4, 0-3) hosts rival Indian Valley Thursday.
