Elk Lake’s Luke Jones added to his state medal collection while watching a familiar rival win the gold Saturday at Shippensburg University.
Jones placed fourth in the Class AA boys' 3200-meter run during the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association Track and Field Championships.
Rico Galassi from Holy Cross, a District 2 rival of Jones, won the state championship in 9:12.48. Jones was fourth in 9:21.85.
Jones had one of three medal-winning performances by Susquehanna County athletes.
Elk Lake’s Megan Bush finished sixth in the shot put and the Montrose 1600 relay team was seventh in Class AA girls.
Galassi and Jones finished 1-2 in the state Class A cross country championships in Hershey in November.
In all, District 2 had four of the top 11 finishers in the Class AA boys' 3200.
Lake-Lehman’s Kieran Sutton and Domenic Hockenbury finished ninth and 11th.
The distance running efforts were again the highlight for District 2 during the state championships.
District 2 also had two of the top four in Class AAA girls. Tessa Barrett of Abington Heights, coached by Susquehanna graduate Frank Passetti, was second while Regan Rome of Dallas was fourth.
Another Elk Lake runner was part of a pack of three from District 2 to finish in succession in 12th through 14th place out of 26 runners in the Class AA girls’ field for the 3200.
Kenzie Jones finished 14th in 11:45.38.
Bush went into the state meet seeded 12th in the shot put. Her 38-10 effort Saturday afternoon allowed Bush to finish sixth, less than four inches out of fourth place. She joined Luke Jones in setting school records during the state meet.
Myra Lattimore, Madelyne Pasteka, Allison Lewis and Samantha Bennici formed the Montrose relay team that placed seventh with a time of 4:11.21 in the finals. The Lady Meteors ran a 4:07.18 Friday to qualify for the finals as the sixth seed.
Montrose had three athletes finish between 10th and 13th in field events Friday. The top eight in each event earn state medals and points for their teams.
Pasteka finished tied for 10th in the girls high jump after clearing 5-0.
Brandon Russell tied for 11th in the boys pole vault with a height of 12-6.
John Lawson threw 160-8 to finish 13th in the boys javelin.
The Elk Lake girls finished 11th in the 3200-meter relay Saturday with a time of 10:01.92. The Lady Warriors ran 9:57.01 during Friday’s qualifying to grab the last of 12 spots in the final.
Montrose’s Lattimore advanced to the semifinals in the 200-meter dash but was eliminated there to finish 15th. She ran 26.88 in qualifying for the 16th-best time of 25, then was 15th of 16 semifinalists in 26.97.
Lewis was unable to advance from Friday’s qualifying in the 400. She had the 18th-best time out of 27 runners, finishing in 1:01.31.
The Montrose girls were disqualified in the 400 relay.
WEEK IN REVIEW
KINGSLEY – Mountain View pulled off one comeback and was a victim of another in the District 2 Class AA softball tournament.
The Lady Eagles used a six-run sixth inning to rally past visiting Lakeland, 6-4, on a three-run homer by Cassidy Kastawa May 20 in the opening round.
Mountain View then carried a lead into the bottom of the sixth of the quarterfinals May 22 only to fall, 9-6, when undefeated Holy Redeemer put together four runs.
Lakeland pitcher Alissa Steier finished with 10 strikeouts in the first-round game. She fanned the first six and eight of the first nine.
“In the first three or four innings, we barely could get a bat on the ball,” Mountain View coach Tom Rudzinski said. “Our girls have been resilient. We’re a good hitting team and our two power hitters came through.”
Sam Krisa broke the shutout with a bases-loaded single.
Megan Stenzhorn was held to a single on a bases-loaded blast to the fence down the left-field line to drive in two runs and cut the lead to 4-3. Kastawa followed by sending a ball over the left-field fence.
Lakeland scored four runs between the third and fifth innings, but winning pitcher Catlin Tague shut the Lady Chiefs down over the final two innings. Shortstop Rebecca Tiffany had an outstanding defensive game, twice making plays to end innings and strand runners in scoring position, and catcher Ariana Gabriel threw out two runners.
Stenzhorn had two hits and Gabriel was 1-for-2 with a double and a walk.
Jen Ringsdorf’s two-run single with one out in the sixth put Holy Redeemer ahead to stay in the quarterfinal game.
Holy Redeemer opened a 5-0 lead after two innings.
Mountain View then scored three times each in the third and fourth innings while Tague retired nine straight batters from the top-seeded Lady Royals.
Krisa opened the scoring for Mountain View with a two-run double.
Tague, Krisa and Stenzhorn delivered consecutive run-scoring singles in the fourth.
Krisa finished 3-for-4 with three RBI. Stenzhorn had two hits. Gabriel and Sarah Nichols each had a hit and two runs scored.
Lackawanna League Division 4 champion Montrose was also eliminated in the quarterfinals when it was shut out by Dunmore, 7-0.
Elk Lake was knocked out in the first round May 20 with a 4-1 loss to Riverside.
Forest City and Blue Ridge won quarterfinal games in Class A before falling in the semifinals.
Forest City edged Susquehanna, 3-1, May 21 and lost to Old Forge, 10-2, Thursday.
Blue Ridge defeated MMI Prep, 10-0, May 20 and lost to Lackawanna Trail, 12-2, Thursday.
In high school baseball, Blue Ridge and Mountain View each won District 2 quarterfinal games before falling in the semifinals.
Blue Ridge blasted Forest City, 16-1, May 20 in the Class A quarterfinals.
The Raiders then took top-seeded Lackawanna Trail into extra innings before falling, 5-4, in the semifinals May 22.
Blue Ridge scored one for a 4-3 lead in the top of the eight, but the Lions came back with two in the bottom of the inning.
Mike Gathany had three hits while Matt Laubach had two hits and drove in two runs for the Raiders in the loss.
Mountain View handled Nanticoke, 8-3, in the May 21 quarterfinals, then fell to Lakeland, 9-2, in Thursday’s semifinals.
The Eagles scored four runs in the first inning against Nanticoke.
Winning pitcher Chris White, Nate Goodenough and Noah Pepper all had two hits. Colby Thomas hit a two-run homer and Owen Flaherty also drove in two runs.
Dylan Thomas struck out six while allowing just one hit in three scoreless innings for the save.
Mountain View became the first of three Lakeland playoff opponents to manage a hit, but was eliminated in the semifinals.
Montrose was knocked out with a 12-2 loss to Mid Valley in the quarterfinals.
In professional hockey, the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins made American Hockey League history on their way to the Calder Cup Eastern Conference Finals.
The Penguins became just the third team in the AHL’s 77-year history to win a series after losing the first three games. They were the first in that group to win Game Seven on the road when they shut out the Providence Bruins, 5-0, May 22.
Wilkes-Barre/Scranton earned its fourth trip to the conference finals. The Penguins made the Calder Cup Finals each of those previous times, only to lose in the 2001, 2004 and 2008 finals.
Brad Thiessen made 34 saves in the shutout to finish the series with 177 saves on 181 shots for an 0.70 goals against average and .977 save percentage.
The Penguins killed off 20 straight Providence power plays while outscoring the Bruins, 14-2, in the final four games.
The Game Six win came in overtime, 2-1, with the help of 46 saves by Thiessen.
The Penguins then proceeded to the Conference Finals in Syracuse against the Crunch where they split the first two games.
Defenseman Alex Grant had his first two goals of the postseason Saturday when the Penguins opened a 4-2 win over Syracuse.
Syracuse won Game Two, 3-2, Sunday.
MOOSIC – In professional baseball, Rich Thompson stole two bases and scored two runs in his first appearance in northeastern Pennsylvania this season.
Thompson finished with four stolen bases in three games in the series to help the Durham Bulls take three of four International League games from the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders at PNC Field in Moosic.
The Montrose graduate led off in each game he played. He started in center field twice and left field once.
Thompson played his first regional game of the season Thursday night in an 8-5 win. He finished 1-for-5 with two runs and an RBI. He used his speed to beat out an infield single and score, then again to avoid a double play on an RBI fielder’s choice.
After having the night off Friday, Thompson was 1-for-2 with an RBI in an 11-6 win Saturday.
Thompson finished the series by going 1-for-5 with a run and an RBI Sunday when the RailRiders broke a seven-game losing streak with a 7-3 win. He stole a base in each game.
BINGHAMTON, N.Y. – The Binghamton Mets moved to within one game of Eastern League Eastern Division leader with consecutive wins Saturday and Sunday.
Binghamton rallied to tie in the eighth inning and pulled out a 3-2 victory in 10 innings Saturday.
Rafael Montero struck out eight during the first six innings of a combined four-hit shutout in Sunday’s 5-0 win.
COLLEGE CORNER
Karin Mowry received a series of honors after completing the greatest career by a hitter in the history of the Baptist Bible College softball program.
The senior from Elk Lake was named National Christian College Athletic Association East Region Player of the Year and All-American, Colonial States Athletic Conference second-team all-star and National Fastpitch Coaches Association Division III third-team All-Region.
Mowry was a second-team NCCAA All-American the last two seasons before rising to the first time this season. She was CSAC Co-Player of the Year as a junior and second-team all-star each of her other three seasons, including this year as a utility player.
While playing both catcher and shortstop for the Lady Defenders, Mowry led the team by hitting .505 with 50 hits, five triples, 34 runs scored and 17 stolen bases.
Mowry closed out her career by going 9-for-9 in a doubleheader against Notre Dame of Maryland while scoring seven runs and driving in four.
During her four years at BBC, Mowry set school career records in batting average (.458), hits (223), runs (165) while tying for the top spot in triples (16).
Kimberly Caines, another senior from Elk Lake, was an outfielder for BBC, which finished 3-19 in the CSAC and 6-24 overall.
Caines started 28 games and batted .268 while finishing second on the team with 11 stolen bases in 12 attempts.
THE WEEK AHEAD
The Syracuse Crunch and Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins continue the American Hockey League’s best-of-seven Calder Cup Eastern Conference Finals.
The teams are at the Mohegan Sun Arena in Wilkes-Barre Wednesday and Friday for 7:05 games then back to Syracuse for Saturday’s 7 p.m. start. If a sixth game is needed, it will be in Wilkes-Barre Monday, June 3. The seventh game would be June 5 in Syracuse.
In high school baseball, the Field of Dreams all-star game between Lackawanna League and Wyoming Valley Conference seniors is scheduled for Sunday at 1 p.m. at PNC Field in Moosic.
TOM ROBINSON writes a weekly local sports column for the Susquehanna County Transcript. He can be reached online at RobbyTR@aol.com or followed on Twitter at @tomjrobinson.
