HS Softball: Host Pine Grove wins Cardinal Classic
With two victories, Pine Grove captured the championship Saturday at the Cardinal Classic at Stump Field. (Submitted Photo)
PINE GROVE — Behind stellar pitching performances by Jamie Dinger and Chelcy Clark, Pine Grove defeated Greater Nanticoke and Williams Valley to capture the Cardinal Classic championship Saturday at soggy Stump Field.
Despite intermittent rain much of the day, all four games of the tournament were completed.
In the semifinals, Dinger hurled a no-hitter as the host Cardinals routed Greater Nanticoke 12-0 in five innings. Williams Valley then advanced to the final by thumping Upper Perkiomen 17-3 in five innings.
Upper Perkiomen defeated Greater Nanticoke 14-4 in the consolation game.
In the final, Pine Grove topped the Vikings 9-2. Clark took a no-hitter to the seventh and had two outs and two strikes before Quin Smeltz broke up the bid with a single.
After a rain delay to start the day, Dinger walked the first batter she faced, then struck out the next 15 Greater Nanticoke batters in a row.
While she took care of things in the circle, the Cardinals jumped out to a 5-0 lead after two innings, then added seven in the fourth to win by the 10-run rule.
Hannah Aungst stayed hot at the plate by going 2-for-3 with a double, three RBIs and two runs scored. Clark went 2-for-2 with a double, while Callee Leffler walked four times, stole two bases and scored three runs.
Williams Valley followed with a dominating performance of its own against Upper Perkiomen, building an 8-1 lead after three innings, then erupting for a nine-run fourth. Sage Smeltz pitched a five-inning complete game, struck out eight and helped herself by going 3-for-4 with a home run and five RBIs.
Delaney Bixler went 1-for-1 with two runs scored and four RBIs. Other top hitters for the Vikes included Kayla Hand, single, four runs and one RBI; Quin Smeltz, double and two RBIs; and Audrina Fry, single and two RBIs.
In the final, Clark took her no-hitter to the seventh. After Quin Smeltz’s single, Fry and Olivia Hand followed with RBI doubles. By then, though, Pine Grove had taken a 9-0 lead. Clark got the final out to finish with a three-hitter and four strikeouts.
Aungst again sparked the Cardinals’ offense, going 2-for-4 with a double, a triple and two runs scored. In four games this week, Aungst went 8-for-12 (.667) with six doubles, a triple, eight runs scored and five RBIs.
Madison Shiffer added a 2-for-4 day with a double, two RBIs and a run scored for Pine Grove, which led 7-0 after three innings.
Dinger doubled and drove in three runs, and Tailyn Bohr had a single and two RBIs for Pine Grove.
Cardinal Classic
At Stump Field, Pine Grove
Semifinals
GN (0-5) 000 00 — 0 0 3
PG (6-1) 140 7x — 12 7 0
Emel, Spencer (4) and Schneider; Dinger and Bohr. W— Dinger (3-1). L — Emel.
HITS: Greater Nanticoke — None. Pine Grove — Aungst 2, Clark 2, Shiffer, Zimmerman, Bohr.
2B — Clark, Aungst.
UP (3-5) 010 20 — 3 6 0
WV (8-0) 422 9x — 17 8 1
Sledgen, Davidheiser (4) and Deeble; S. Smeltz and Q. Smeltz. W— S. Smeltz (5-0). L — Sledgen.
HITS: Upper Perkiomen — Davidheiser, McCormick 2, Gehringer, Berg, McKeehan. Williams Valley — K. Hand, S. Smeltz 3, Q. Smeltz, Fry, Brill, Bixler.
2B — Q. Smeltz. 3B — McCormick. HR — S. Smeltz.
