Whitney Tyler excelled at the plate and in the circle Thursday while leading the way when Elk Lake shut out Forest City, 8-0, in a Lackawanna League Division 4 game, giving coach Tony Blaisure his 500th career softball victory.
Tyler threw a one-hitter and struck out 11 without walking a batter.
As the leadoff hitter, she went 3-for-3 and scored three times.
Elk Lake used the win to end the week at 5-1, tied for first place in the division with defending champion Montrose, the only team is has lost to in league play this season.
Blaisure reached 499 the day before with a 6-2 win over Carbondale in a crossover game that is not part of the division standings.
WEEK IN REVIEW
Montrose won the boys’ team title and Susquehanna’s Skyla Williams was one of the most impressive girls’ performers Friday night during the Lasagna Invitational track and field meet at Wyalusing.
The meet drew a field of 26 teams.
Colin Mondi won the discus with a throw of 135-2, finished second in the shot put to teammate Devin Nash and took third in the pole vault to lead Montrose to the title.
Wilson won both hurdles races and finished second in the 200-meter dash for Susquehanna.
Montrose had already clinched at least a tie for the Lackawanna Track Conference Division 4 boys’ title and was in position to take in outright on the final day of the regular season Monday.
The Meteors also got a Lasagna Invitational win from Zach Mead, who ran 4:32.22 in the 1600, and a strong effort from its relay teams.
Montrose won the 1600 relay and finished second in both the 400 and 3200.
Brennan Gilhool was second in the 200. Collin Chichester was third in both the triple jump and 300 hurdles as well as fourth in the 110 high hurdles, one spot behind teammate Harley Mullins.
Elk Lake’s Cody Oswald was second in the 400.
Wilson’s win in the 300 hurdles was by more than two seconds in 44.18, setting a meet record and posting the second-best time in the state this season by a Class 2A hurdler.
Sisters Sarah and Jenn Korty, Forest City athletes competing for Carbondale as part of a cooperative sponsorship of the sport, each posted wins.
Sarah Korty set a school record while winning the discus in 116-6 and took second in the shot put.
Jenn Korty won the 800 in 2:21.59 and was second in the 1600.
Montrose’s Hannah Perkins won the 1600 in 5:17.82 and took third in the 800.
Other third-place finishers include Montrose’s Chalice Guyette in the 100, Elk Lake’s Keri Jones in the 3200 and Elk Lake’s Lydia Ofalt in the 400.
The Lasagna Relays also featured age group competition in the most high-profile events.
Mountain View’s Brianna Spriggs won the girls’ 16-and-under, 100-meter dash.
Montrose’s Nick Coy and Blue Ridge’s Jack Condon were first and second in the boys’ 16-and-under, 1600-meter run.
Susquehanna and Elk Lake were each 4-0 to share the LTC Division 4 girls’ lead going into their meet, which was scheduled for Monday, to decide the division title.
In baseball, Forest City suffered its first loss, 7-6, to Lackawanna Trail Friday, but still has a half-game lead on Blue Ridge in Lackawanna League Division 5.
In boys’ volleyball, Charlie Randall had 17 kills Thursday when Blue Ridge improved to 8-0 in the Lackawanna League with its third straight three-game sweep, 20-10, 20-5, 20-20, over visiting Susquehanna.
In professional hockey, the best record in the American Hockey League regular season went to waste when the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins lost in the first round of the Calder Cup Playoffs.
Zane McIntyre made 50 saves Sunday to help the Providence Bruins edge the Penguins, 2-1, in the fifth and deciding game of their series.
The Penguins had a 21-9 shot advantage in the first period but still trailed, 1-0.
Jean-Sebastian Dea cut into the 2-0 deficit with 5:23 left, but the Penguins were unable to come up with the tying goal.
The Penguins took a 2-1 series lead with a 2-1 victory Thursday, moving within a game of advancing, but started slow Friday in a 4-2 loss, setting up the deciding game.
COLLEGE CORNER
Mountain View graduate Samantha Krisa is a freshman pitcher/outfield on the softball team at Concordia University in Bronxville, N.Y.
Krisa has played in 21 games for the 7-21 team.
At the plate, Krisa has nine hits and is batting .164 with one RBI.
Krisa has made four appearances, including one start, as a pitcher. She is 0-1 with an 8.56 earned run average, giving up 22 hits and three walks while striking out one in nine innings.
THE WEEK AHEAD
The 62nd Jordan Relays are scheduled for Thursday night at Scranton Memorial Stadium.
The competition includes six relays, including some that are not contested during regular-season events.
The Robert Spagna Memorial Lackawanna Track Conference Championship Meet is scheduled for Tuesday, May 9 at Memorial Stadium.
TOM ROBINSON writes a weekly local sports column for the Susquehanna County Transcript. He can reached online at RobbyTR@aol.com or followed on Twitter at @tomjrobinson.
JOHNSON GETS SECOND WIN
Jimmie Johnson Gets Second Win
BRISTOL, Tenn.--Bristol's rain-postponed Cup race went to Jimmie Johnson. The race was originally scheduled for Sunday, but had to be postponed until Monday because of rain.
Johnson put on a dominating performance in the last 100 laps of the 500-lap race to claim his second Cup win of the season. He took the lead on lap 392 from Joey Logano. He lost it after pitting for fresh tires on lap 459, but once the race was restarted, it didn't take him long to regain it from Kevin Harvick. For the last 20 laps, the other drivers could only watch as Johnson increased his lead.
“We hit on something Saturday that really helped us out today,” said Johnson. “It was an interesting race. I watched the 42 (Kyle Larson) run the low groove. When I tried it, it didn't seem to work well. When I moved up the track, it was better, and that's where I stayed.”
Clint Bowyer didn't lead any laps but came on strong near the end to finish as runner-up.
“We've come a long ways,” said Bowyer. “To put it in perspective, we didn't win, but it was a great race for us.”
Bowyer's teammate Kevin Harvick was third. Matt Kenseth was fourth, and Joey Logano rounded out the top-five finishers.
The sixth-place finisher, Kyle Larson had a rocket ship at times, and at other times, he wasn't able to run with the leaders.
“We had some setbacks,” said Larson. “The pit road speeding penalty set us back, but there were two different times, the car just didn't want to handle well. We made adjustments, which corrected it, but then we got a bad set of tires.”
Chase Elliott was seventh, followed by Martin Truex Jr., Ricky Stenhouse, and Denny Hamlin.
Kyle Larson won the first Race Segment, while Martin Truex took the second one.
Dale Earnhardt Jr. was involved in an accident on lap 218 and finished 38th.
Danica Patrick drifted up the track during lap 320 and into David Ragan. She was unable to continue and finished 36th.
Brad Keselowski had engine problems and was 34th.
Top-10 leaders after 8 of 36: 1. Larson-360, 2. Elliott-333, 3. Truex-323, 4. Logano-291, 5. Keselowski-277, 6. Johnson-244, 7. McMurray-244, 8. Bowyer-239, 9. Harvick-239, 10. Blaney-228.
JONES BUMPS TO BRISTOL WIN
Erik Jones put a bump and run move on Ryan Blaney with 22 laps to go in Saturday's 300-lap Xfinity Series race, and held on for his second Bristol win.
Blaney was leading after a restart, while Jones, who led 27 laps moved into second. As the field of cars entered turn-3, Jones gave Blaney a nudge, causing Blaney to wiggle. This allowed Jones to take over the lead, while Blaney slipped back to fourth.
“We were racing hard and I was able to get by and hang on there at the end,” said Jones.
There were two more restarts during the last 16 laps, and Blaney was able to work his way back up to second.
“He got under me and I wasn't going to back out,” said Blaney. “I'm not going to say what happened, I guess we just have to let it go as one of those racing deals.”
Daniel Suarez was third, followed by Elliott Sadler, Daniel Hemric, Ty Dillon, Kyle Larson, Brennan Poole, Blake Koch, Michael Annett.
Things became heated in the pits after Ross Chastain and Jeremy Clements confronted each other on pit road during a red flag period brought out by rain.
Clements appeared to approach Chastain from behind to initiate a discussion, but when he grabbed Chastain, the driver turned and punched Clements.
Clements went to the care center and emerged wearing sunglasses before he continued the race.
“Somebody grabbed me by my shoulders and kind of pushed me,” Chastain said. “I just turned around and saw who it was. I hope he realizes now that he can talk, we can talk, but you can't grab someone by the shoulders. That happened before and I said right then I wouldn't let it happen again.”
Top-10 leaders after 7 of 33: 1. Sadler-260, 2. Byron-244, 3. Allgaier-200, 4. Reed-184, 5. Hemric-180, 6. Wallace Jr.-180, 7. Koch-164, 8. Poole-163, 9. Tifft-160, 10. Annett-157.
GIBBS AND HENDRICK OFF TO BAD START
Two of NASCAR's biggest and most powerful teams are struggling to live up to expectations. Hendrick Motorsports has two wins after eight races into the season, while Joe Gibbs teams have yet to find victory lane.
Both organizations have almost as much money as god, but money hasn't been able to bring them the sought after wins. But that doesn't mean that money isn't important. There is an old adage in racing, “Money buys speed”.
While NASCAR's most successful teams usually have more of the green stuff than the also-ran teams, it doesn't always equate to success.
Out of the four Hendrick teams (Dale Earnhardt Jr., Kasey Kahne, Chase Elliott, and Jimmie Johnson), only Johnson has visited victory lane.
“We feel confident we are a winning team,” said Earnhardt. “Just because we haven't won doesn't mean we aren't capable. I think we have the potential to win at any track, and I think the wins will come. I don't know where or when, but they are out there.”
Rick Hendrick used some of his pocket change last week to buy the first 2018 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1, bearing the VIN number 001. Hendrick bid $250,000 to claim the car at Barrett-Jackson auction in Palm Beach, Florida.
Joe Gibbs is a hands-on person. He has a great relationship with all his team players, and usually knows how the game plan is going.
“We’re very disappointed in the start to the season,” said Gibbs. “We need to get going.”
Before the season even started, JGR was hit by the unexpected departure of veteran driver Carl Edwards, who decided to step away from NASCAR racing as a driver.
They brought up their 2016 Xfinity Series champion, Daniel Suarez to take over the No. 19 Toyota. Four races into the season, his crew chief, Dave Rogers, left the team on an indefinite personal leave of absence.
Kyle Busch is the highest JGR driver in points. Busch is seventh in the series standings and he’s the only JGR driver with more than one top-five finish through seven races (he has two). Matt Kenseth has one and neither Suarez nor Denny Hamlin have registered a top-five.
Hamlin is 15th in points, Kenseth is 22nd and Suarez is 23rd.
“Looking at just (my team), I think we’ve been off,” said Kenseth. “We haven’t run real well. “We ran good at Atlanta but the rest of the races, we really haven’t run very well. Some things are circumstances, but if we get to running better, that cures a lot of your problems.”
With all the engineers, someone is bound to stumble on the problem.
“We’ve spent probably the last three weeks doing a serious study and there’s probably about five things or areas that we picked out where we can make an improvement,” Gibbs said. “You have different situations at different tracks. I think Kyle has had the opportunity to win a couple times but things didn’t go our way.”
Sometimes all the money in the world can't buy a win.
And when luck returns you're back on top.
Weekend Racing: The Cup and Xfinity teams are at the .75-mile Richmond track. The trucks do not race again until May 12.
Sat., Apr. 29, Xfinity Series race 8 of 33; Starting time: 12:30 pm ET; TV: Foxsports1.
Sun., Apr. 30, Cup Series race 9 of 36; Starting time: 2 pm ET; TV: Fox.
Racing Trivia Question: Which former NASCAR driving champion once owned part of the Richmond track?
Last Week's Question: How many Cup championships has Jack Roush won? He has two Cup championships, plus five in the Xfinity and one in the Trucks.
You may contact the Racing Reporter by e-mail at: hodges@race500.com.
