Panthers, Lady Wolverines Both Advance in PIAA Opening Rounds

Skyla Greco didn’t allow a single run as Wolverines defeated Ligonier Valley 6-0 on Tuesday in its PIAA Opening Round contest.

Greco struck out seven batters and allowed just four hits.

The WPIAL champs broke the game open in the bottom of the fifth with three runs. Breonna Streit knocked in a run, and Megan Siegfried drove in a pair. Reagan Mittler rounded out the scoring by driving in Anna Ferrucci in the bottom of the sixth.

Wolverines had nine hits in the game. Streit and Ferrucci each collected multiple hits for Wolverines. Ferrucci and Streit each managed three hits to lead Wolverines.

A lone bright spot for the Ligonier Valley (20-4 overall) offense was a double by Abi Cmar in the second inning. Ligonier Valley pitcher Jane Garver struck out 12 but allowed nine hits and walked three.

Ellwood City advances to play WPIAL third-place finisher South Park in the quarterfinals Thursday at a time and site to be determined.

WALK IT OFF: Riverside Defeats Fairview

Anthony Tollari’s walkoff single in the bottom of the seventh inning capped off a Riverside come-from-behind victory in the first round of the PIAA Class 3A Playoffs on Tuesday.

Tollari’s shot fell over the right fielder’s head, allowing pinch runner Ben Hughes to score the winning run in a 5-4 Panthers victory.

In a game featuring two pitchers with a combined ERA of 0.15 on the season, it was the offenses that jumped to the early advantage. Fairview took a 1-0 lead in the top of the first inning on Chris Hudson’s two-out RBI single off of Riverside starter Adam Jeannette (3-0, 0.00 ERA). The Tigers extended their lead in the second after back-to-back walks and a single brought the top of the lineup to the plate with the bases loaded. Leadoff hitter Travis Chorney struck out, but the pitch got away from catcher Gunner Boehm, allowing a run to score. After Ryan Cedzo was intentionally walked, Zack Peterman drew an RBI base on balls. Jeannette was then pulled after 1 2/3 innings, and Boehm took over on the hill. He walked the first batter he faced to make the score 4-0 Tigers.

Riverside responded in a big way off of Fairview ace Ryan Cedzo (8-0, 0.15 ERA) in the bottom of the second. Christian Cicchinelli led off with a double to start the rally, and then with bases loaded and two outs, Ricky Wass delivered a two-RBI single to cut the Fairview lead in half. The next batter, Ty Thellman, followed with a two-RBI single to right to tie the game at 4-4 after two innings.

Both pitchers settled down and got in a groove for the next innings, putting goose eggs on the scoreboard. Each team had chances to take the lead, with Fairview leaving the bases loaded in the fourth and with Riverside leaving bases loaded in both the fifth and sixth.

After the Tigers left two runners in scoring position in the top of the seventh, Riverside began their rally with another Cicchinelli leadoff hit. His pinch-runner Hughes was sacrificed to second and made it to third on a Danny Fox single. After an intentional walk loaded the bases, Anthony Tollari delivered the game-winning hit.

District 10 runner-up Fairview (15-4) sees their season come to a close, while Riverside (19-1) advances to the PIAA Quarterfinals on Thursday against Martinsburg Central at a site and time to be determined. That game will be a rematch of last year’s 2-0 Riverside victory over Central in the PIAA Quarterfinals.

source: msasports.net