Moniteau punches ticket to District 9 baseball title game; Slippery Rock, North Catholic softball lose: Roundup
Dawson Cook was up to his old tricks again, firing a complete-game, 11-strikeout gem to send Moniteau baseball into the District 9 Class 2A championship game.
Cook’s effort stalled No. 3 Curwensville in a 5-3 win in Thursday’s semifinals. The No. 2 Warriors will face top seed Redbank Valley at DuBois’ Showers Field on Monday at a time to be determined.
The Golden Tide scored three runs in the sixth to briefly scare Moniteau, but it was too little, too late. Cook scattered six hits, and at the plate he went 1-for-4 with a run.
James Gillen went 1-for-2, walked twice and scored two of the Warriors’ runs. Moniteau led 3-0 by the end of the third innings.
Slippery Rock took an early lead, but Harbor Creek rallied to rock the Rockets 12-2 in the District 10 Class 4A semifinals.
Freshman Sophia Lawrence, the hero in a first-round walk-off win, singled in a run, and Aubrie Knight grounded out to drive in Savannah Smith and give Slippery Rock a 2-0 lead. But 10 errors undid the Rockets, and HC scored six runs in the third inning to take a 7-2 lead and eventually win in five innings.
Addison Lucas settled down after the first inning and didn’t allow another hit to the Rockets.
Blackhawk 13, North Catholic 4 — The No. 7 Trojanettes’ Cinderella season is not quite done yet after a loss in the semifinals, but a WPIAL Class 4A title is no longer in the cards.
Despite 3-for-4 efforts from Mary Kotwica and Kennedy Brown at the top of the order, with Kotwica scoring a run and Brown driving one in, North could not scratch across enough runs to threaten the No. 3 Cougars. Blackhawk blitzed to a 9-0 lead in the second inning and never looked back.
Olivia Kaminski (1-for-3, two RBIs) and Juliana Lehman (1-for-2, run) each doubled from the eight and nine spots in the lineup.
The Trojanettes will face No. 4 Hampton in the third-place game Tuesday at a site and time to be determined, with the winner qualifying for the PIAA tournament.
Blackhawk will face top seed Elizabeth Forward in the championship game next week.
