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Local sports roundup: Napoli, Evans, Dickey garner top seeds in Class AAA
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Article RatingDistrict 3 announced the seedings for this weekend’s individual wrestling tournament Sunday evening.
Here’s a look at Class AAA, which doubles as the PIAA South Central Regional:
Cumberland Valley’s Joey Napoli (40-2) was seeded first at 145 and teammate Mike Evans (19-1) earned the top seed at 160.
Cedar Cliff senior 189-pounder Keith Dickey (37-6) is the top seed for his bracket.
Returning PIAA third-place finisher and Big Spring senior Mallie Shuster (33-2) was handed the second seed at 152. Central Dauphin’s Tony Dallago is the top seed.
At 135 Carlisle freshman Jayshon Wilson (27-8) is the No. 2 seed for a bracket that includes four other local entries.
Bryce Busler, CV junior, is seeded second at 140 with a 33-7 mark.
Mechanicsburg heavyweight Danny Estricher (38-3) pulled in the fourth seed at 285.
Class AAA is idle next weekend before the PIAA individual finals at Hershey’s Giant Center.
Starner, Kuhn perched atop weights in Class AA
With 13 Boiling Springs wrestlers advancing to this weekend’s District 3 Class AA individual tournament at Hersheypark Arena, two earned top seeds.
Ean Starner (22-7) gained the top spot at 103 and meets Northern Lebanon’s Anthony Sowa on Friday.
Boiling Springs’ senior 140-pounder Dakota Kuhn (31-4) was the other Bubbler to pocket a top seed. Kuhn meets Fleetwood’s Dane Moyer on Friday.
Susquenita’s Joe Harper, who picked up his 100th win Saturday, is seeded third at 145 as he tries to stay perfect (28-0) and defend his district title.
No Class AA bracket boasts more than three local wrestlers.
Mount Olive sweeps doubleheader from Shippensburg
MOUNT OLIVE, N.C. — Michael Williams pitched seven scoreless innings, while Josh Harrison and Alex Vertcnik combined for nine RBIs to spark the offense as nationally-ranked Mount Olive defeated Shippensburg, 13-0, in game one of a non-conference baseball doubleheader Sunday at Scarborough Field. The Trojans, ranked No. 2, completed a four-game sweep with another shutout as Casey Hodges tossed six scoreless innings in a 5-0 victory. The wins extend the Trojans’ winning streak to 10.
Kasey Kuhns and Tyler Redick led Shippensburg (0-4) with two hits apiece. The weekend series marked the season openers for the Raiders.
Redick and Justin Garber each had two hits for Shippensburg.
Mount Olive returns to action Thursday as the Trojans play host to Shaw in a non-conference match-up. First pitch is 2:30 p.m. at Scarborough Field. Shippensburg travels to Anderson, S.C., next weekend for a three-game series against Anderson.
Messiah takes to road to hand Eastern Mennonite two losses
Bridgewater, VA — Despite having yet to practice or play outdoors in the calendar year, the 2008 season got off to a pretty good start for the Messiah College baseball team Saturday, as the Falcons swept Eastern Mennonite University by 5-3 and 3-2 scores.
Playing in sunshine and 45-degree temperatures at nearby Bridgewater College’s Jopson Field — EMU’s playing surface was in less-than-ideal condition — first-year head coach Bryan Engle made his coaching debut count, as Messiah committed just two errors on the day while picking up timely hits in a pair of come-from-behind victories.
Messiah (2-0) exhibited a mid-season-like composure early on Saturday, as Engle’s team found itself down 2-0 following two complete innings in the opening contest. A monster five-run third inning changed the game’s complexion entirely, as smart base running began the onslaught. With sophomore Jon-Mike Richards on second base and senior Ben Jordan on first via a single, classmate Craig Mease hit a deep fly ball to center field.
After a catch from EMU’s Chris Harpine, Jordan bluffed a tag-up at first, yielding a throw from center field.
In the day’s second contest, Messiah took a brief, 1-0 lead following a series of miscues from the Royals (0-5, 0-0) in the opening stanza. Ranck reached base after being hit by a pitch, and came all the way home following a single from Witmer and a subsequent throwing error by the EMU defense.
The host Royals were able to tie the score up in the bottom of the first following a double and a single, however, as senior Jeremy Stoltzus took a moment to get settled on the mound. The right hander would give up four more hits and EMU’s second run in the fourth inning before being removed in favor of freshman Travis Thome, who would put up a “phenomenal” performance, according to Engle.
Thome (1-0) would eventually pitch four and two-thirds scoreless innings, striking out two and walking none. He would get the needed run support in the seventh inning, as a pair of walks and two singles equated to the tying and go-ahead scores for the Falcons.
After forcing two ground outs in the bottom of the ninth, EMU’s Jameson Jarvis reached base on a hard hit down the first base line — drawing a questionable error ruling on Falcons’ senior first baseman Kyle Stuckey.
With the tying run on first, Engle went to hard-throwing junior pitcher Kurt Heim (1), who promptly struck out the Royals’ Zach Polloni to end the game and collect his first save of the season.
Ranck was the offensive star in the second game, going 3-4 from the plate with two runs scored. Witmer drove in a run on a 2-5 performance, while Richards finished 1-3.
Messiah will return to the practice field — most likely indoors — before heading to perennial national-power University of Mary Washington next Saturday for another doubleheader. Game time for the first of two is set for noon.
