PINE GROVE — Blue Mountain stepped into a playoff atmosphere Tuesday night — and thrived.

Under the lights at Pine Grove Area’s Susan Y. Stump Field. Huge crowd ringing the ballpark. A powerful Cardinals opponent in the opposite dugout. And with the inside track to the Schuylkill League Division I championship on the line.

The Eagles handled all of that with maturity, enthusiasm and boundless energy, cheering and singing throughout. With everyone chipping in something positive, Blue Mountain built a comfortable lead and hung on to defeat Pine Grove Area 5-2 to take over first place in the division standings. The Eagles (18-1, 12-1 D-I) still have a game at Pottsville remaining, but they took a big step toward the division title.

“It’s what we expected coming out here. They’re no strangers to this environment,” Blue Mountain coach Paul Leonard said. “We kept it light and fun today, had a little hitting after school with the music blasting, and they were dancing. I said, ‘It’s Game 19. Don’t make it bigger than it is.’ It’s easy to say, tough to do. I don’t think they blinked. We came here with a plan, and they executed. I’m proud of them.”

Sophomore right-hander Emily Leonard pitched a complete game for the Eagles, holding the Cardinals to two hits and no runs through six innings. Pine Grove Area bunched a little offense in the seventh on Callee Leffler’s RBI single and Hannah Aungst’s sacrifice fly, but it wasn’t enough.

Scoreless into the third inning, Leonard helped herself with an RBI triple to drive in the first run of the game.

In the fourth, Blue Mountain added a run when Da’Shawna Vincent, the flex player, took an at-bat and promptly laced an RBI single to double the lead to 2-0.

The Eagles bunched four hits, a walk and two stolen bases in the fifth to score three times and push the advantage to 5-0. Blue Mountain’s bunt game and aggressive baserunning proved too much for Pine Grove Area to handle on this night.

“I think they believe in each other,” Paul Leonard said. “The girl to the right and left of them, they believe in. The bottom of the lineup tonight was outstanding. That’s awesome, and they have so much confidence in each other.”

Blue Mountain had seven different girls notch a hit. Five different girls scored one run apiece. Five different girls had one RBI apiece. The Eagles stole eight bases as well.

“When you’re playing well, it becomes contagious, that self-belief in one another and themselves,” Paul Leonard said. “That’s a powerful thing. They’re so much fun to be around. They love each other. They’ve taken on that ‘family’ mantra. It’s not just a word. They live it every day, so it’s pretty cool to see.”

 

Game Summary

BLUE MOUNTAIN (5) — Fishburn cf 4 1 1 0, Reilly 3b 4 0 1 1, Borden 1b 4 1 1 0, Place ss 3 1 0 0, Koch rf 4 1 1 1, Frie c 3 0 1 1, Phillips cr 0 0 0 0, Av. Hudock 2b 1 1 0 0, McKee dp 1 0 0 0, Leonard p 3 0 1 1, Manbeck cr 0 0 0 0, Vincent lf 1 0 1 1. Totals 28 5 7 5.

PING GROVE AREA (2) — Leffler cf 2 0 1 1, Aungst ss 3 0 0 1, Dinger p 4 0 0 0, Flynn 2b 4 0 0 0, Jessman rf 3 0 0 0, Umbenhauer 3b 3 0 1 0, Bohr c 3 0 1 0, Clark dp 1 0 1 0, Morgan cr 0 1 0 0, Schneck lf 2 1 1 0, Behrent 1b 0 0 0 0. Totals 25 2 5 2.

Teams	123	456	7	—	Runs
BM (18-1, 12-1)	001	130	0	—	5
PGA (18-2, 12-2)	000	000	2	—	2

 

E — Blue Mountain 1, Pine Grove Area 1

DP — Blue Mountain 1

LOB — Blue Mountain 6, Pine Grove Area 8

3B — Leonard

SB — Fishburn, Borden, Place, Koch, Hudock 2, Vincent 2, Umbenhauer

CS — Reilly

SAC — Schneck

SF — Aungst

Blue Mountain

Pitcher	IP	H	R	ER	BB	K
Leonard W,15-1	7	5	2	2	4	3

Pine Grove Area

Pitcher	IP	H	R	ER	BB	K
Dinger L,11-2	4	6	4	4	1	2
Clark	3	1	1	1	1	2

Dinger pitched to 3 batters in the 5th.

HBP — by Dinger (Av. Hudock), by Clark (Vincent). WP — Clark 2. T — 1:52.

Tri-Valley 9, Williams Valley 8 

TOWER CITY — Back and forth they went, Tri-Valley building a big lead, Williams Valley chipping away and challenging to steal the victory in the bottom of the seventh.

Finally, with the tying and winning runs on first and second, Bulldogs first baseman Amber Lettich dove to the base to beat Liv Hand on a groundout that ended a classic Schuylkill League Division II showdown between the long-time rivals. And with the win, Tri-Valley (14-4, 11-2 D-II) moved into sole possession of first place in the division standings. The Dawgs have a game at Weatherly remaining on their league schedule. Williams Valley (15-4, 10-3) will still make the Schuylkill League playoffs, but the division title appears unlikely.

Tri-Valley followed its offensive game plan to perfection, attacking strikes early in the count, squaring up a lot of balls, scoring first and adding on.

Lydia Rodichok’s RBI single in the top of the first inning gave the Dawgs a 1-0 lead.

That lead grew to 5-0 in the third inning when Liv Lupole smashed a grand slam over the left field fence. Lupole added a two-run single in the fourth inning as the Dawgs’ lead grew to 7-1.

Williams Valley cut the deficit to 7-2 in the bottom of the fourth inning when Cierra Brill doubled and scored on Mallory Mace’s two-out double.

In the fifth, Tri-Valley’s Alina Leonard kept the inning alive by hustling for an infield single. Summer Cupsta followed with a two-run home run over the center field fence to make it 9-2. Cupsta finished 4-for-4 with four runs and two RBIs. In the last two days (the Dawgs played Marian on Monday), Cupsta has gone 8-for-8 with six runs and three RBIs.

The Vikings, though, wouldn’t go down without a fight.

In the fifth, Quin Smeltz’s sacrifice fly and RBI singles by Brill and Megan Perhach closed the gap to 9-5. In the sixth, Hand delivered an RBI single to make it 9-6.

Perhach led off the bottom of the seventh with a solo home run to deep left, trimming the margin to 9-7. Kamri Koppenhaver and Mace reached base on errors, and after Ella Kobularik’s one out single loaded the bases, Delaney Bixler hit a sacrifice fly to plate a run that made it 9-8.

Myah Schwalm on in relief of winning pitcher Leonard, got that final ground ball for the 21st out and the hard-fought victory.

Game Summary

TRI-VALLEY (9) — Leonard p-ss 5 1 1 0, Cupsta 2b 4 4 4 2, Witmer 3b 2 2 0 0, Schwalm ss-p 4 0 1 0, Rodichok c 3 0 1 1, E. Snyder cr 0 0 0 0, Stiely lf 3 1 0 0, Lupole cf 3 1 2 6, Tobin rf 3 0 0 0, A. Snyder dp 2 0 0 0, Lettich 1b 0 0 0 0. Totals 29 9 9 9.

WILLIAMS VALLEY (8) — Kobularik ss 5 1 2 0, Bixler rf 4 1 1 2, Hand 3b-p 4 1 1 1, Smeltz c 3 0 0 1, Brill 2b 4 1 2 1, Perhach 1b 4 1 2 2, Koppenhaver p-3b 3 0 0 0, McAloose 0 2 0 0, Mace cf 3 0 1 1, Stakem dp 4 0 1 0, Shomper lf 0 1 0 0. Totals 34 8 10 8.

Teams	123	456	7	—	Runs
TV (14-4, 12-2)	104	220	0	—	9
WV (15-4, 10-3)	001	131	2	—	8

 

E — Tri-Valley 5, Williams Valley 1

DP — None

LOB — Tri-Valley 7, Williams Valley 10

2B — Brill, Mace

HR — Lupole, Cupsta, Perhach

CS — Tobin

SF — Smeltz, Bixler

Tri-Valley

Pitcher	IP	H	R	ER	BB	K
Leonard W,3-2	5	5	5	1	2	4
Schwalm	2	5	3	2	0	0

Williams Valley

Pitcher	IP	H	R	ER	BB	K
Koppenhaver L,5-1	5	9	9	9	6	1
Hand	2	0	0	0	1	2

HBP — by Koppenhaver (Rodichok), by Leonard (Mace). T — 2:06.

Marian 9, Minersville 0

HOMETOWN — Emily Upanavage pitched a six-hit shutout as Marian defeated Minersville in a Division II game.

Upanavage struck out three and walked none in the complete-game effort.

Hailey Treskolasky and Malina Letcher had identical lines — 2-for-4 with two RBIs and one run scored — to spark the Fillies’ offense. Chloe Cannon added a single and two RBIs for Marian.

Bella Cruz went 3-for-3 for Minersville.

 

Teams	123	456	7	—	Runs	Hits	Errors
Min (12-8, 9-5)	000	000	0	—	0	6	3
Mar (11-8, 7-7)	105	120	x	—	9	10	5

O’Brien, C. Laudeman (3) and McGrath; Upanavage and Treskolasky. W – Upanavage (5-4). L – O’Brien (3-7).

Hits: Minersville – Brennan, McGrath, Cruz 3, Herb. Marian – Pugh, Sendatch, Treskolasky 2, Letcher 2, Upanavage, Cannon, Wolfgang, Hopeck.

2B – Herb.

Schuylkill Haven 18, Shenandoah Valley 1 

SHENANDOAH — Braelynn Strenkoski went 3-for-3 with three doubles, five RBIs and a run scored to power Schuylkill Haven to a Division II victory over Shenandoah Valley at Bicentennial Park.

Alli Scherer added a 2-for-2 day with three runs and one RBI for the Hurricanes, who scored 12 runs in the third inning. Joie Schoffstall had a double and three RBIs.

Schoffstall also pitched two innings, striking out five, to earn the win in the circle.

 

Teams	123			—	Runs	Hits	Errors
SH (14-6, 11-3)	60(12)			—	18	10	2
SV (1-19, 0-14)	010			—	1	1	1

Schoffstall, Randazzo (3) and Strenkoski; Monaghan, Zulkowski (3) and Chagolla. W – Schoffstall (8-2). L – Monaghan (1-7).

Hits: Schuylkill Haven – Scherer 2, Russo, Schoffstall, Jenan, Mull, Strenkoski 3, Suprock. Shenandoah Valley – Burke.

2B – Schoffstall, Jenan, Strenkoski 3.

Pottsville 11, Mahanoy Area 1 

POTTSVILLE — Cadence Borger went 3-for-4 with two doubles, four RBIs and two runs scored to lead Pottsville to a Division I win over Mahanoy Area at the CACL Complex.

Peyton Eckert pitched a two-hitter, striking out seven and walking one. The run she allowed was unearned.

Megan Yost went 2-for-3 with two runs scored; Reese Ketner finished 2-for-2 with a run scored; Olivia Wessner went 2-for-2 with one run and one RBI; and Izzy Kunstek went 2-for-2 with a run scored. Ava Ciavarella doubled and knocked in two runs for Pottsville.

 

Teams	123	45		—	Runs	Hits	Errors
Mah (8-11, 4-10)	100	00		—	1	2	2
Po (11-8, 8-5)	009	02		—	11	15	1

Poslosky, Carl (5) and Kowalick; Eckert and Wessner. W – Eckert (10-8). L – Poslosky (2-3).

Hits: Mahanoy Area – Kowalick, Davis. Pottsville – Barnhart, Yost 2, Borger 3, Eckert, Ketner 2, Wessner 2, Kunstek 2, Ciavarella, Skripko.

2B – Ciavarella, Borger 2.

Tamaqua 8, Panther Valley 7 

TAMAQUA — Nico Conahan went 2-for-2 with three stolen bases, three runs and one RBI as Tamaqua edged Panther Valley in a Division I contest.

Ceanna Gormley singled and drove in two runs for the Blue Raiders.

Peyton Faust pitched 1.2 innings of no-hit, no-run relief to pick up the win. She added a double and an RBI to the offense.

Ava Alabovitz went 4-for-4 with two runs and one RBI for the Panthers. Janessa Prudente added a 3-for-4 day with a double and a run scored. Megan O’Brien went 2-for-3 with a run scored, and Sadie May Fretz went 2-for-3 with one run and one RBI.

 

Teams	123	456	7	—	Runs	Hits	Errors
PV (9-11, 3-11)	051	100	0	—	7	13	3
Tam (10-10, 5-9)	106	010	x	—	8	6	0

Goida and Breiner; Bumbulsky, C. Gormley (2), Faust (5) and Evans. W – Faust (6-3). L – Goida (1-8).

Hits: Panther Valley – K. Breslin, Prudente 3, Alabovitz 4, O’Brien 2, Breiner, Frets 2. Tamaqua – Conahan 2, Faust, C. Gormley, Bumbulsky, Zrinski.

2B – Prudente, Faust.