Sports

Host Montrose solidified its lead in Lackawanna League Division 3 softball by stringing together five straight hits in the fourth inning Wednesday on the way to a 6-4 victory over defending champion Elk Lake.

The Lady Meteors, who followed it up with a 15-0, three-inning rout of Forest City Thursday, are 7-0 in the division and 7-2 overall. Elk Lake entered this week at 6-2 and 7-5.

Montrose broke a scoreless tie on an Isabella Owen RBI groundout to begin the scoring in a four-run fourth.

Cara Evans, Libby Bush, Allison Jennings, winning pitcher Alayna Mott and Ally Legg then followed with consecutive hits.

Evans scored on an error on Bush’s hit. Jennings doubled in a run and Mott singled in another.

The Lady Meteors added runs in the fifth and sixth innings for a 6-0 lead.

Mott, who walked three and struck out seven, took a two-hitter into the seventh.

Cara Evans had two hits.

Anna Evans had an inside-the-park homer in the sixth.

Elk Lake rallied with four runs on five hits in the seventh.

Lydia Howell, who had a triple, and Brynn Warriner finished with two hits and each drove in a run in the seventh to lead the Elk Lake offense.

Montrose wrapped up Thursday’s victory by scoring 12 runs in the third inning.

Mott was perfect, striking out seven of the nine batters she faced.

Kyleise Kublo had a home run, double, two runs and two RBI.

Owen was 2-for-2 with a double, triple, three RBI and two runs scored.

Anna Evans singled, doubled, scored twice and drove in two runs. Legg also had two hits and scored twice.

MycKenna Kublo scored three runs.

Elk Lake, which had a six-game winning streak broken by Montrose, bounced back to defeat Blue Ridge, 8-2, the next day.

WEEK IN REVIEW

The Elk Lake distance runners, Montrose boys’ sprinters and Montrose girls’ field performers all shined Friday night in the Lasagna Invitational Track and Field Meet at Wyalusing Valley High School.

Montrose was second in the girls’ standings out of 25 teams that scored and finished fourth out of 30 boys’ teams. Elk Lake was third in the boys’ standings and 10th among girls’ teams.

Abington Heights, coached by Susquehanna graduate Frank Passetti, outscored Montrose, 112-82, for the girls’ title.

Sadie Jones led the way for the Lady Meteors, winning the long jump with 17-3½ and the triple jump with 36-11½ along with taking second in the javelin with 114-8.

Anna Tillotson took second in the shot put while Erin Tillotson was third in the discus.

Avery Kerr was second in the 800-meter run and Addison Stephens third in the 3200. They joined Carly Frey and Ava Rebello to form the second-place 3200 relay team.

Elk Lake’s Kendel Weisgold won the 800 in 2:18.42 and finished second in the 1600 in 5:09.16. Kylee Pond joined her to give the Lady Warriors two of the top four in the 800.

Weisgold and Kylee Pond joined Chelsea Grosvenor and Madison Kerr for third place in the 1600 relay.

Riverside won the boys’ title, 79-75, over Dallas.

Elk Lake had 67 points and Montrose 51. Mountain View was 11th with 24 points, Susquehanna tied for 15th with 18 and Blue Ridge tied for 18th with 14.

Kendel Jones won the 3200 in 9:32.50 and 1600 in 4:13.77 with Cody Adams following him to the finish line. Adams was second in the 3200 in 9:35.51 and third in the 1600 in 4:22.60.

Trevor Upright and Brent Drost joined Jones and Adams for a win in the 1600 relay in 3:28.56. Drost was also third in the 400 and fourth in the 200 in an event where the top eight scored points for their teams.

Montrose swept the sprints with Nicolo Christian winning the 200 in 22.16 and 400 in 50.42 while Max Kuwaye won the 100 in 11.06.

Carl Nolt and Gabriele Blasi joined Christian and Kuwaye in the 400 relay where Montrose was second, just four-hundredths of a second behind Dallas.

Jacob Ficarro led the way for Mountain View, taking second in the triple jump and fourth in the long jump, along with leading off a fourth-place 400 relay team.

Susquehanna’s Maxx Kelly won the 800 in 1:57.18. The Sabers got their other points from Preston Wolf taking fifth in both hurdles.

All of Blue Ridge’s points came from Chance Davis, who was second with a high jump of 6-2 and third in the triple jump.

Earlier in the week, Montrose and Elk Lake went head-to-head for the Lackawanna Track Conference Division 4 leads.

The Elk Lake boys and Montrose girls clinched at least first-place ties with wins.

Elk Lake pulled out a 76-74 boys’ victory. Montrose rolled, 113-27, in the girls’ meet.

All four teams entered the day with 3-0 division records.

In baseball, Mountain View, Elk Lake and Montrose all went 2-0 in the division during the week.

Mountain View also added a third win in non-league play, outscoring opponents 33-3 for the week. The Eagles improved to 5-2 in the division and 6-6 overall, one-half game out of a three-way tie for first.

Elk Lake, Montrose and Lackawanna Trail are all 6-2 in Lackawanna League Division 3.

Jordan Jagger doubled twice and drove in three runs when Mountain View defeated Blue Ridge, 8-2, April 20. He doubled, homered and drove in three runs Thursday in a 15-0, three-inning rout of Susquehanna in which the Eagles scored 12 times in the top of the first.

Jagger struck out seven in three innings of hitless relief in a 10-1, non-league victory over Tunkhannock Saturday. Josh Miller and Hudson Bain had three hits each in the top two spots in the batting order.

Elk Lake defeated Forest City, 13-6, and Blue Ridge, 14-4.

Aiden Felker and Brayden Miller each had a triple and three RBI against Forest City. Both had two hits with Miller’s other hit being a double.

Miller struck out seven and did not allow an earned run while going the distance in the six-inning victory over Blue Ridge.

Montrose defeated Carbondale, 7-1, and Forest City, 10-8, before falling to Valley View, 7-2, in a Sunday non-league game.

Adam Sorensen pitched 5 2/3 no-hit innings along with providing a double, single and two RBI to the offense against Carbondale.

Kasey Carey finished off the combined one-hitter.

Sorensen went 3-for-4 with a triple and two runs scored against Forest City.

Starting pitcher Chase Harman struck out eight and allowed just two unearned runs on two hits while working five innings to get the win.

COLLEGE CORNER

Layla Weaver is a sophomore outfielder/catcher playing National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I softball at Niagara University.

The Elk Lake graduate has appeared in 11 games this season, making nine starts. She is 2-for-20 (.100 average) with a double, two walks and two sacrifices.

Weaver was 1-for-14 with two runs and an RBI last season when she played in 10 games and made four starts as a freshman.

Niagara is 5-19 in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference and 6-31 overall.

THE WEEK AHEAD

Elk Lake is facing an important week in its attempt to defend the Lackawanna League Division 3 baseball title.

The Warriors are at Montrose Thursday in a game between two of the three teams that entered the week tied for the division lead with 6-2 records. The Warriors were already scheduled to face Mountain View, the team that trails the leaders by a half-game, Monday in a game that would have been contested after presstime for this edition.

Elk Lake then hosts Lackawanna Trail, the other team tied for first at the beginning of the week, Monday, May 4.

In softball, second-place Elk Lake is at first-place Montrose in Lackawanna Division 3 Thursday.

In track and field, the Jordan Relays are scheduled for Thursday at Scranton Memorial Stadium.

The stadium will also be the site of the Robert Spagna Lackawanna Track Conference Championship Meet Tuesday, May 5.

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.