Big-game Allison Stugart has struck again.
The South Williamsport player hit a home run in the bottom of the sixth inning to lead her Lady Mounties to a 2-1 victory over Central Columbia on Monday, as reported by the Williamsport Sun-Gazette.
Stugart, who has three homers, broke the 1-all tie and gave Kayla Eiswerth her third victory of the season after she tossed a complete-game three-hitter of the previously-undefeated Blue Jays. Last season, Central Columbia traveled deep into the state playoffs, falling in the semifinals. This year, South Williamsport is hoping for a similar fate.
"I felt like I was going really slow, but it felt good just coming off the bat, so I was just hoping to get into scoring position," Stugart said to the newspaper. "I was just trying to get a hit for my team. I wasn't even thinking about hitting a home run. I was just worried about getting on base any way I could."
The loss doesn’t take away the effort by Central’s Robyn Klingerman, who held South to only two runs on eight hits. In the opening game of the 2010 season, the Columbia County school knocked off Porshia Wilson and Loyalsock in extra frames.
"It's always a tough game with Central, and to come out with a win is big for us at the beginning of year, especially as young as we are," Eiswerth told the publication. "Everyone is starting to pull together as the games go on. We're starting to mend together more and show what we have."
2. Hollidaysburg wins battle of big schools: Around the landscape in Districts 4 and 6, there is only a handful of Quad-A teams, so when two get the opportunity to meet, it’s a good gauge. Williamsport, this time, came up on the short end as the Millionaires' rally in the late innings wasn’t enough as Hollidaysburg won 10-6 in Lycoming County. The Golden Tigers, reigning champs in District 6, got a big day from Nathan Pope, who had a home run and scored four times in addition to Sidd Amirneni’s 2-for-2, three-run afternoon. The Blair County school built a 10-3 lead before Williamsport plated three in the sixth. Hollidaysburg is 4-0 this season and has plated more than 40 runs in four games.
3. Bellefonte continues to roll forward: District 6’s premier Triple-A school continues to roll forward as Bellefonte picked up big wins over Penns Valley and Central Martinsburg this week. The victory over the Rams, 10-2 on Tuesday, was especially big because the Lady Raiders were 0-6 against its Centre County rivals (Penns Valley, Philipsburg-Osceola and Bald Eagle Area) last season. "Although it is nice to win district and league championships, it is especially nice to win these rivalry games," manager Gregg Kohlhepp said. "After going 0-6 against those teams, I think our kids were looking for some wins over the quality teams we have in our area, if for nothing else, for some bragging rights." The road will be difficult next week. On tap for Bellefonte is a road trip to Philipsburg and a Friday showdown with Bald Eagle.
4. Elk Lake junior dominates: A perfect game in the world of high school softball isn’t so far-fetched compared to baseball. But Elk Lake’s Brooke Darling was almost completely perfect as the junior struck out all but one batter in a 10-0 victory over Susquehanna, according to the Scranton Times. The junior had 20 strikeouts and also went 1 for 4 at the plate with two RBI.
5. Danville stuns Jersey Shore: It wasn’t necessarily a surprise Danville beat Jersey Shore, because the Ironmen have built quite a program. The shocking part was the 12-2 mercy-rule victory Monday that handed the Bulldogs their first loss of the season. Shore, a team that’s rolled through four consecutive opponents, couldn’t overcome an eight-run fourth-inning surge by the 4-2 Ironmen. Zach Russell, Kevin Hahn and Corey Gallagher all had RBI hits, while Jake Gronsky had a two-run triple.
This week’s Top 3 performers
West Scranton’s Ethan Dunn tossed a five-inning no-hitter Monday as the Invaders blanked Wallenpaupack, 10-0, the Scranton Times reported. Dunn only had one free pass, while punching out five batters.
Central Mountain’s Scott Zuback racked up six hits in a two-day span as the Wildcats beat Tyrone and Penns Valley, 14-0 and 13-1, respectively. Zuback, a senior, already has the school record for hits in a career and finished with 33 last season.
Loyalsock’s Porshia Wilson struck out 13 in 11 innings and only allowed three hits as the Lady Lancers beat Warrior Run, according to the Sun-Gazette.
Fox’s Fab 5
High School Baseball
1. Loyalsock (Williamsport), District 4
2. Scranton, District 2
3. Hollidaysburg, District 6
4. Valley View (Archbald), District 2
5. Jersey Shore, District 4
High School Softball
1. Bald Eagle Area, District 6
2. Philipsburg-Osceola, District 6
3. Jersey Shore, District 4
4. Old Forge, District 2
5. South Williamsport, District 4
Fox’s Final Thoughts
A report in the Williamsport Sun-Gazette this week shows that the Wellsboro School Board is talking about the elimination of four sports – wrestling, boys and girls soccer and cheerleading. The newspaper reported it would be a savings of nearly $28,000 to the district; one looking at a nearly $700,000 shortfall in its next budget. Hopefully, the board can come together and find other ways to save the money instead of cutting the athletic programs. You can’t put a value – both physically and socially – on the importance of athletics in a district and community. Unfortunately, in a day and age where gas is nearly $3 a gallon and utilities seem to rise monthly, everything appears to have a price tag.
Tom Fox is sports editor at The Lock Haven (Pa.) Express and covers Central and Northeastern Pennsylvania for MaxPreps. He can be reached at tfox@lockhaven.com.
