HS SOFTBALL: Stalica lifts Abington Heights past West Scranton
May 9—S. ABINGTON TWP. — Seemed like West Scranton spent most of the afternoon battling back from behind in the count.
Not a formula for success, especially with left-handed sophomore Lauren Stalica dealing like she was in Monday's Lackawanna League Division I encounter.
Stalica allowed only two hits, both to West Scranton counterpart Mia Butka, and fanned 13 as the Lady Comets dealt West a 5-2 reversal to remain a game back of Valley View in the division standings.
"I was trying to change their eye level," said Stalica, who also swatted a first-inning homer to give Abington Heights an early lead. "Go with my rise and then going low fastball out. And obviously having a changeup in the dirt and low out kept it effective, I guess.
"That's my spot, low outside. They can hit it if they want, but they're going to have to beat me to it."
Except for Butka, there wasn't much of that. The senior looped a single to right in the first and then hammered a two-run homer to dead center in the sixth.
It was the only blot on Stalica's masterpiece.
"Her changeup's been really good," said Abington Heights catcher Riley Knott, putting her finger on Stalica's success.
Everything, it seemed, was really good as Stalica painted the corners.
"She was really on today," Abington Heights coach John Kelly said. "She threw the ball hard.
"Today she had a couple other pitches that were moving and working. The last couple games, she struggled. She basically had a fastball and she was trying to spot it. Today, she had a nice riseball that was working, her changeup was working. When she has all three, she's tough."
West found that out early as six of the first eight hitters went down on strikes.
"We always say, get ahead and stay ahead, and Lauren was getting ahead and staying ahead, and we were 0-and-2 a lot at the plate," West Scranton coach E.J. Dougher said. "Trying to make something happen, but we aren't executing.
"Five runs, we're capable of scoring five runs. I just thought we were pretty flat today. It's extremely disappointing. This is such a big game for us, such a big game district-wise, and to come out flat and Mia Butka pitched a fantastic game. We've got to get a little production from the second half."
The win tightened the battle between Abington Heights and the Invaders for the second seed in the upcoming District 2 Class 5A playoffs, and home field advantage in the first two rounds.
"We had some really big hits," said Knot, who singled home a run in a three-run third, and doubled home the final run in the fifth. "Just like last time, we did it again against West.
"We've really been good at timing our pitches. I believe in the girls. We can hit anything."
Stalica started things quickly, lining a two-out solo homer, her seventh of the season, to left center.
"Off the bat I can tell if it's a line drive and it's going to go out," Stalica said. "It was good because the first inning I'm a little on the edge, but once I get the lead I'm usually pretty effective."
Ninth-place hitter Izzy Wilmont doubled the lead when she roped a solo homer to almost the same spot as Stalica's blast to open the third.
"Izzy's got some pop," Kelly said. "She's more of a contact hitter, but when she hits it square like she did today, she's got the power to hit it out."
Bryn Stiles' liner to right dropped for an RBI single before Knott drove a single to left to spot Stalica to a 4-0 cushion.
"We've been working a lot on our swings and trying to hit more line drives," Kelly said. "At the beginning of the season, we were getting under everything and trying to hit it out. They've really worked on line drive, line drive. We've been harping on them and they've been listening.
"It's made a huge difference and even our outs are solid outs now. We're not just hitting lazy fly balls, and that's the difference."
Abington Heights 5, West Scranton 2
West Scranton 000 002 0 — 2
Abington Heights 103 010 x — 5
WP: Lauren Stalica 7IP, 2H, 2R, 2ER, 2BB, 13SO
LP: Mia Butka 6IP, 8H, 5R, 4ER, 1BB, 5SO
2B: Riley Knott (AH).
HR: Mia Butka (WS), Lauren Stalica (AH), Izzy Wilmont (AH).
Records: WS 11-5, 6-5; AH 10-6, 9-2.
North Pocono 17, Wallenpaupack 6
At North Pocono, winning pitcher Ella Salak had a double and a home run, scored twice and drove in four to lead the Lady Trojans.
Kylie Mastillo had a single and a double, two runs and two RBIs for North Pocono.
Emily Sterner singled and drove in two runs for Wallenpaupack.
North Pocono 17, Wallenpaupack 6
Wallenpaupack 03 3 00 — 6
North Pocono 23(11) 1x — 17
WP: Ella Salak 3IP, 5H, 3R, 3ER, 2BB, 2SO
LP: Gabby Hieber 2IP, 8H, 9R, 7ER, 2BB, 0SO
2B: Ainsley O'Donnell (NP), Kylie Mastillo (NP), Ella Salak (NP). HR: Ella Salak (NP).
Valley View 12, Scranton Prep 1
At Valley View, Natalie Borosky had two hits, a run and five RBIs to lead the Cougars.
Kalli Karwoski had two hits, two runs and two RBIs for Valley View.
Abby Wilce had a single and an RBI for Scranton Prep.
Valley View 12, Scranton Prep 1
Scranton Prep 10 0 00 — 1
Valley View 10(10) 1x — 12
WP: Abbi Call 5IP, 4H, 1R, 1ER, 1BB, 10SO
LP: Nina Barrouk 2 2/3IP, 8H, 11R, 5ER, 2BB, 3SO
2B: Zoie Krupovitch (VV).
Delaware Valley 19, Scranton 9
At Scranton, Shannon Eby had three hits, including a double, and six RBIs to lead Delaware Valley.
Emily Henn doubled, scored twice and drove in five for the Lady Warriors.
Alana Carachilo had three hits, including two doubles, two runs and four RBIs for Scranton.
Delaware Valley 19, Scranton 9
Delaware Valley 282 25 — 19
Scranton 001 26 — 9
WP: Lauren Donnelly 5IP, 12H, 9R, 8ER, 3BB, 2SO
LP: Joan Bergman 2IP, 3H, 10R, 7ER, 8BB, 2SO
2B: Emily Henn (DV), Alana Carachilo (SCR) 2, Hope Polishan (SCR), Shannon Eby (DV).
Riverside 4, Dunmore 0
At Riverside, winning pitcher Lexi Kostoff struck out 12 in a 3-hit shutout and had two hits, including a home run to lead the Lady Vikes to a Division II win.
Kyleah Edwards had a two-run double in the third inning and Leah Pfieffer added a solo home run in the sixth inning.
Morgan Quinn, Bella Pascke and Natalie Mecca had the hits for Dunmore.
Riverside 4, Dunmore 0
Dunmore 000 000 0 — 0
Riverside 102 001 x — 4
WP: Lexi Kostoff 7IP, 3H, 0R, 0ER, 6BB, 12SO
LP: Rachel Walsh 6IP, 4H, 4R, 4ER, 0BB, 8SO
2B: Kyleah Edwards (RIV). HR: Lexi Kostoff (RIV), Leah Pfeiffer (RIV).
Old Forge 11, Honesdale 0
At Miles Street Park, Karen Sickle threw a six-inning no-hitter with seven strikeouts to lead Old Forge.
Talia Piragas had three hits, including a double and a home run, and scored three runs for the Blue Devils and Eliza DiStasi had three hits and three RBIs.
Old Forge 11, Honesdale 0
Honesdale 000 000 — 0
Old Forge 320 015 — 11
WP: Karen Sickle 6IP, 0H, 0R, 0ER, 2BB, 7SO
LP: Sarah Decker 5 1/3IP, 14H, 11R, 11ER, 3BB, 2SO
2B: Talia Piragas (OF), Mazzie Musgrave (OF). HR: Talia Piragas (OF).
Holy Cross 11, Western Wayne 0
At Western Wayne, Mia Galella had two doubles, two runs and four RBIs to lead Holy Cross.
Winning pitcher Mia Scalese threw a two-hitter with 14 strikeouts and also had a triple and three RBIs for the Lady Crusaders.
Holy Cross 11, Western Wayne 0
Holy Cross 326 00 — 11
Western Wayne 000 00 — 0
WP: Mia Scalese 5IP, 2H, 0R, 0ER, 1BB, 14SO
LP: Trinity Graboske 5IP, 10H, 11R, 9ER, 4BB, 5SO
2B: Mia Galella (HC) 2. 3B: Mia Scalese (HC).
Mid Valley 15, Lakeland 0
At Mid Valley, Katrina Davis had three hits, including a triple, two runs and five RBIs to lead the Spartanettes.
Winning pitcher Maranda Runco threw a one-hitter and had a single and a home run, scored twice and drove in three for Mid Valley.
Emilee Bruno had the hit for Lakeland.
Mid Valley 15, Lakeland 0
Lakeland 0 00 — 0
Mid Valley (10) 23 — 15
WP: Maranda Runco 3IP, 1H, 0R, 0ER, 3BB, 7SO
LP: Riley Arzie 2 1/3IP, 8H, 15R, 15ER, 13BB, 1SO
2B: Madison Kizer (MV). 3B: Katrina Davis (MV). HR: Maranda Runco (MV).
Elk Lake 16, Lackawanna Trail 1
At Lackawanna Trail, Amanda Voll threw a five-inning no-hitter and had three hits, including a home run, three runs and four RBIs to lead Elk Lake to a Division III win.
Leah Traver had a single and a double, two runs and two RBIs for the Lady Warriors.
Elk Lake 16, Lackawanna Trail 1
Elk Lake 350 35 — 16
Lackawanna Trail 100 00 — 1
WP: Amanda Voll 5IP, 0H, 1R, 1ER, 2BB, 6SO
LP: Madison Pietrzak 5IP, 13H, 16R, 8ER, 0BB, 0SO
2B: Layla Weaver (EL), Leah Traver (EL). HR: Amanda Voll (EL).
Carbondale Area 10, Forest City 5
At Carbondale, Julia Gorel and Madison Kelsch both homered to lead the Chargerettes.
Maureen Newcomb had two doubles and two RBIs for Carbondale Area.
Kim Graham had two hits, a run and an RBI for Forest City.
Carbondale Area 10, Forest City 5
Forest City 000 320 0 — 5
Carbondale Area 112 042 x — 10
WP: Madison Kelsch 2 2/3IP, 1H, 0R, 0ER, 1BB, 5SO
LP: Riley Bossick 6IP, 9H, 10R, 4ER, 5BB, 6SO
2B: Kierra Borosky (CAR), Maureen Newcomb (CAR) 2. HR: Julia Gorel (CAR), Madison Kelsch (CAR).
Montrose 18, Mountain View 3
At Mountain View, Violet Conning singled, scored twice and drove in four runs to lead Montrose.
Nicole Zahora went 3 for 3 with a double, two runs and two RBIs for the Lady Meteors.
Lily Sedlak singled and drove in two runs for Mountain View.
Montrose 18, Mountain View 3
Montrose 1(12) 5 — 18
Mountain View 2 0 1 — 3
WP: Jocelyn Traver 3IP, 4H, 3R, 3ER, 2BB, 0SO
LP: Lily Sedlak 2 1/3IP, 8H, 11R, 9ER, 6BB, 3SO
2B: Nicole Zahora (MON), Elizabeth Green (MON). 3B: Chloe Smith (MON).
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