VanWormer lifts Oilers past Lancers, 55-54

SHARPSVILLE — Lily Palko homered twice and winning pitcher Breanna Hanley also went deep as Sharpsville held on for a 5-4 victory over Franklin in a non-region softball matchup on Wednesday.

For the second time this season, Kenny Lavrich belted a pair of home runs in a game and finished with four RBIs to lead Cranberry to a 12-2 win over North Clarion in a KSAC baseball matchup on Wednesday.

FAIRVIEW — Caleb Doyle ripped a bases-clearing double in the top of the fourth inning and three pitchers combined to throw a two-hitter as Franklin recorded a 7-4 victory over Fairview on Tuesday in Region 4 baseball action.

After rallying for seven runs in the fourth inning to beat Saegertown back on April 25, Rocky Grove’s baseball team had an opportunity to clinch the Region 3 title on Tuesday with another win over the Panthers on the Orioles’ diamond.

HERMITAGE — Trinity Edge and Brandy Atwell each slugged a solo home run while Edge also earned the win on the mound as Franklin’s girls softball team rebounded from its first loss of the season for a 7-5 victory over Hickory in Region 4 action on Tuesday.

Still trying to unearth that odd 40-point game in Venango County basketball from an era that not only didn’t produce many points but nobody remembers anyway.

KNOX — Emma Gruber went 3-for-3 while Natalie Bowser and Leah Exley combined on a three-hitter Monday as homestanding Keystone outlasted Redbank Valley, 4-1, in a Keystone Shortway Athletic Conference softball matchup.

Franklin’s softball team came out on the short end of the scoreboard for the first time in the 2022 campaign on Saturday with a 13-4 loss to visiting Reynolds in non-region play.

MILLERSVILLE — Slippery Rock University’s Cecily Greggs leaped her way to a Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference title on Saturday, taking first place in the high jump at the track and field championships held at Millersville University.

Luke Guth ripped a pair of doubles and drove in five runs on Friday as Franklin routed visiting Seneca on Senior Night, 13-3, in a five-inning Region 4 baseball clash.

Clarion’s Payton Simko and Kylee Beers each belted home runs and Noel Anthony had three hits and was the winning pitcher on Friday as the Bobcats won a non-region slugfest with homestanding Oil City, 14-10, in softball action.

Sydni Hoobler belted a triple and a single to go along with three RBIs as Franklin remained unbeaten with a 10-1 victory over visiting Grove City on Thursday in Region 4 girls softball action.

Jakub Obman, Branson Carson and Cooper Boozel drove in a pair of runs each as Moniteau upended homestanding Cranberry, 13-4, in KSAC baseball action on Thursday.

NEW BETHLEHEM — Franklin senior Ashley Alcorn and Redbank Valley freshman Mylee Harmon each won two events on Thursday to lead the local athletes in the Redbank Valley Track and Field Invitational.

Keelie Schneider and Cassie Scarbrough had three hits apiece while Alaina Hogue and Alisha Beggs combined on a four-hitter Wednesday as Cranberry rolled to an 11-1 five-inning home win over Keystone in a Keystone Shortway Athletic Conference softball matchup.

Despite playing for a third straight day and outhitting Grove City, 12-10, Oil City’s baseball team fell at home to the Eagles on Wednesday, 9-5, in a Region 2 contest.

Trinity Edge hurled a four-inning one-hitter and also enjoyed a big day at the plate by drilling three doubles as Franklin rolled to a 17-0, four-inning victory over homestanding Oil City on Tuesday in Region 4 girls softball action.

Paced by triple winners Kaiden Shreve and Jack Mumford, Oil City’s boys track and field team clinched the Region 3 championship on Tuesday with an 82-68 home win over Corry. It was the first Oilers’ boys team to win a region title since 2011. Corry wound up earning a split by taking the girl…

Rocky Grove’s boys volleyball team dropped to 4-8 on the season and 3-6 in Region 1 as it suffered a 25-23, 25-21, 25-22 defeat to Cambridge Springs at the Nest on Tuesday.

ALBION — Carson Wible and Kyle Alexander each cracked a pair of doubles while Zach Boland and Kadin Karns combined to throw a five-inning one-hitter on Tuesday as visiting Franklin cruised to a 14-2, five-inning win over Northwestern in Region 4 play.

Rocky Grove’s lone senior, Sierra Toland, drilled a game-winning two-run single in the bottom of the seventh inning during Senior Night on Monday as the Orioles rallied for a 7-6 win over Eisenhower in Region 2 softball action.

Isaac Clayton blasted a home run and Eli Moreland fired a complete-game shutout as homestanding Rocky Grove rolled to a 10-0, five-inning victory over Cochranton on Monday evening in Region 3 baseball play.

Several area track and field stars took home victories on Saturday at the 33rd Annual Oil Country Invitational, but it was Cranberry’s Laiyla Russell and Franklin’s Ashley Alcorn who shined the brightest, winning two events each in the girls meet.

Arguably, mankind’s greatest invention was the bow and arrow. After all, he no longer had to get close enough to wooly mammoths and saber-toothed tigers to smell their breath before he could slay them. Same with dragons, too, we guess. Gathering food became a whole lot easier when humans cou…

MEADVILLE — Franklin junior Luke Guth continued his mastery on the mound and at the plate, tossing a complete game two-hitter with 19 strikeouts while going 2-for-4 at the plate, as Franklin recorded a 4-1 victory over Meadville Thursday in non-region baseball action.

Abigail Boland singled home Trinity Edge in the bottom of the 10th inning on Thursday as Franklin’s girls softball team rallied to remain unbeaten with a 7-6 win at home over Jamestown in a Region 4 showdown.

Led by triple winners Drew Wilkinson, Caleb Prettyman and Jay Prettyman, Franklin High School’s boys track and field team rolled to a 94-52 win on Thursday over visiting Warren in a Region 3 meet. The Dragons earned a split, however, by claiming the girls meet, 91-59.

Franklin High School senior Easton Fulmer and Rocky Grove senior Isaac Clayton are well-known basketball players throughout western Pennsylvania as they’ve thrilled many home fans with their skill and talent and tortured the opposition with their clutch play and desire to win while carving o…

FRILLS CORNERS — Sophie Babington and Gia Babington each were three-time winners on Tuesday as the North Clarion girls track and field team came away with an 88-57 win over visiting Union/Allegheny-Clarion Valley in a KSAC meet. The Falcon Knights earned a split as Doug Huffman and Hayden Sm…

CLARION — Clarion University head wrestling coach Keith Ferraro announced Tuesday that Dakota Geer, a graduate of Franklin High School and three-time All-American, will join the Golden Eagle program as a volunteer assistant coach. He recently finished his own collegiate wrestling career earl…

SLIPPERY ROCK — Franklin hit the road and made short work of Slippery Rock, plating 18 runs in the top of the first inning en route to a 22-2, three-inning victory in a Region contest on Monday evening.

WATERFORD — Alex Zinz and Wyatt Gregory combined to serve for 35 points and six aces as Rocky Grove’s boys volleyball team breezed to a 25-15, 25-11, 25-20 Region 1 road win over Fort LeBoeuf.

RUSSELL — Freshman Aaron Wetjen put together a perfect day at the plate while pitcher Aaron Burkhardt nearly put together a no-hitter as Rocky Grove’s baseball team hit the road to take down Eisenhower, 11-1, in a six-inning Region 3 showdown on Monday.