HS Baseball Roundup: Williams Valley stays hot, pounds Upper Dauphin
Williams Valley's Cayden Witmer at shortstop (Photo by Eli Doyle).
TOWER CITY — Williams Valley stayed red-hot, rolling to its sixth straight win.
Cayden Witmer and John Rautzahn led the charge as the Vikings pounded Upper Dauphin 14-2 in five innings in a non-league baseball game on Monday at home.
The Vikes answered an early run with a big first inning and then broke the game open in the second, erupting for six runs to take control. Rautzahn and Witmer each delivered key hits during the surge, helping build a commanding lead.
Williams Valley continued to pile on, adding another run in the third before a six-run fourth inning put the game out of reach. Fletcher Thompson added a triple, while Cole Hubler and Witmer each doubled as part of a deep offensive attack.
Rautzahn earned the win on the mound, while Witmer and Rautzahn each collected two hits. The Vikings finished with nine hits and capitalized on timely hitting, rolling to their sixth consecutive victory since falling to Shenandoah Valley 3-2 on March 26.
| Teams | 123 | 45 | — | Runs | Hits | Errors | |
| UD (4-4) | 101 | 00 | — | 2 | 4 | 1 | |
| WV (7-1) | 161 | 6x | — | 14 | 9 | 4 |
Engle; Osenga (2), D. Troutman (4) and Grassmyer; Rautzahn, Berger (4) and Thompson. W — Rautzahn (3-1). L — Engle (1-1).
HITS: Upper Dauphin — Minier, W. Troutman, Jackson, Winstead. Williams Valley — Hubler, Thompson, Witner 2, Rautzahn 2, Deiter, Trawitz, Berger.
2B — Hubler, Witner. 3B — Thompson.
South Williamsport 8, North Schuylkill 7
WILLIAMSPORT — Stephen Minahan powered the offense with a huge day, but North Schuylkill fell to South Williamsport in a non-league walk-off finish.
Minahan delivered the biggest swing of the game with a go-ahead grand slam in the seventh inning, finishing with two hits and four RBIs. Chase Slotcavage added a hit and drew three walks, while Mark Monahan and Minahan each had multiple hits to pace the Spartans.
North Schuylkill appeared to seize control with a six-run seventh, but South Williamsport answered in the bottom half. Kamdyn Bubb homered earlier in the game and reached base in the final inning, while Trace Wertz, Andrew Walter and Levi Butler all contributed to the comeback, with Butler delivering the walk-off hit.
Slotcavage worked deep into the game on the mound, while Hunter Rogers and Joey Groody came on in relief. Despite drawing eight walks and rallying late, the Spartans couldn’t hold the lead in the final inning.
| Teams | 123 | 456 | 7 | — | Runs | Hits | Errors |
| NS (6-3) | 001 | 000 | 6 | — | 7 | 4 | 4 |
| SW (5-3) | 010 | 012 | 4 | — | 8 | 6 | 1 |
