Pine Grove's Callee Leffler, left, scores on Hannah Aungst's squeeze bunt in the first inning of Wednesday's game against Blue Mountain at Stump Field. At right, Aungst runs to first base. Also pictured is Blue Mountain catcher Courtney Cavadini. (Photo by Bob Lipsky)

PINE GROVE — Coach Ryan Leffler’s Pine Grove teams always work hard. That’s a Cardinals trademark.

So, when they suffered a loss to North Schuylkill two weeks ago, Pine Grove cranked up the intensity and focus at practice and during games. The result has been five straight wins in dominating fashion. That was the case again during a blustery Wednesday evening at Susan Y. Stump Field; the game-time temperature was a chilly 47 degrees — but 32 degrees “real feel” with the wind chill.

Nevertheless, Pine Grove scored early, added on through the middle innings, got lights-out pitching from Chelcy Clark and played strong defense to shut out Blue Mountain 5-0 in a Schuylkill League Division I first-place showdown. With the win, the Cards (10-1, 6-1 D-I) took sole possession of first place in the division, a game up on Blue Mountain (6-2, 4-1), North Schuylkill and Tamaqua.

“A lot. We really locked it in now since that loss,” junior center fielder Callee Leffler said of her team’s work ethic. “We’ve been working really hard just to come together as a group to really contribute to our wins.”

Clark proved nearly untouchable, hurling a one-hitter with nine strikeouts and one walk. Avery Hudock’s clean single to center field in the sixth inning was the Eagles’ only hit. For the season, Clark and Jamie Dinger, a pair of sophomore right-handers, have combined to shut out seven of the Cardinals’ 11 opponents.

“Jamie Dinger and Chelcy Clark are just dealing right now for me,” Ryan Leffler said. “We’re playing great defense behind them, and we’re trying to get one run an inning. I thought we did a good job manufacturing runs today. We left some out there, but we’ll work on it. The kids did a really good job today.”

During the five-game winning streak, Pine Grove has outscored its opponents 48-2.

The Cards needed just two batters to take the lead in the bottom of the first inning. Callee Leffler roped the second pitch she saw just inside the foul line and into the right-field corner. She sped to third base with her sixth triple of the season. Hannah Aungst followed with a squeeze bunt. Blue Mountain tried to get the out at home, but Leffler beat the play at the plate.

“The key was the first inning.  That was the key to get the 1-0 lead there,” Ryan Leffler said.

Added Callee Leffler: “The first at-bat was key tonight, just be a spark plug, just staying in my zone and driving a ball. It really helped get our team on top.”

Mixing good velocity with excellent movement, Clark recorded four 1-2-3 innings and at one point retired 13 batters in a row.

While Clark strung zeros on the scoreboard, Pine Grove went to work adding on to its 1-0 lead.

In the third, Meadow Umbenhauer led off with a bunt single, stole second and advanced to third on Callee Leffler’s groundout. Aungst then got hit by a pitch and stole second. Madison Shiffer plated a run with a groundout, and Aungst scored on a passed ball. Classic Pine Grove small ball: Two runs without hitting a ball out of the infield.

In the fifth, Callee Leffler worked a one-out walk and stole second base. Aungst followed with a shot to center field that hit the fence on the fly and went for an RBI double. It was Aungst’s 10th double this season. Shiffer followed with an RBI single to center field to make it 5-0.

“Learn from it. That’s how we always kind of approach it, especially with such a young team,” Blue Mountain coach Paul Leonard said. “Yes, it’s a loss, but let’s take something from it. What did we learn? I just asked the majority of our starters, ‘What did you take from today? What did we learn today?’ As long as we can take it, learn and grow and move on, it’s still early in the season, all of our goals that we have set for ourselves are still ahead of us.”

Game Summary

BLUE MOUNTAIN (0) — Fishburn cf 3 0 0 0, Hudock ss 3 0 1 0, Frie 3b 3 0 0 0, Cavadini c 3 0 0 0, Koch 1b 3 0 0 0, Reilly rf 2 0 0 0, Leonard p 2 0 0 0, Brown p 0 0 0 0, Peel lf 2 0 0 0, Manbeck 2b 2 0 0 0. Totals 23 0 1 0.

PINE GROVE (5) — Leffler cf-3b 2 2 1 0, Aungst ss 1 2 1 2, Shiffer 1b 3 0 1 2, Zimmerman rf 3 0 0 0, Dinger dp 3 0 0 0, Clark p 3 0 2 0, K. Umbenhauer cr 0 0 0 0, Schaeffer cr 0 0 0 0, Bohr c 3 0 1 0, Flynn 2b 3 0 0 0, M. Umbenhauer 3b-lf 2 1 1 0, Morgan lf-cf 0 0 0 0. Totals 23 5 7 4.

BM (6-2, 4-1)                000      000   0 — 0

PG (10-1, 6-1)              102       020   x — 5

E — Blue Mountain 0, Pine Grove 1

DP — Blue Mountain 2

LOB — Blue Mountain 3, Pine Grove 3

2B — Aungst

3B — Leffler

SB — Aungst 2, M. Umbenhauer, Leffler, Hudock

SAC — Aungst

Blue Mountain

                                       IP     H      R       ER    BB    K

Leonard L,1-2          4.1     6       5        4        1       1

Brown                       1.2     1       0       0        0       0

Pine Grove

                  IP     H      R       ER    BB    K

Clark W,6-0            7       1       0         0       1       9

HBP — by Leonard (Aungst). PB — Cavadini 2. T — 1:44.

Tri-Valley 19, Shenandoah Valley 1

HEGINS — Myah Schwalm pitched a one-hitter and had a huge day at the plate to lead Tri-Valley to a Division II victory over Shenandoah Valley.

Schwalm hit a grand slam and an RBI single in Tri-Valley’s 14-run first inning and a two-run single in the second. She finished the day 3-for-3 with seven RBIs and two runs scored.

Cassi Snyder went 2-for-2 with a three-run home run and two runs scored. Savanah Stiely went 2-for-3 with a double, two RBIs and a run scored for the Dawgs.

In the circle, Schwalm struck out six, walked none and allowed one unearned run.

SV (3-8, 1-5)                  0  1  0  —  1        1       3

TV (8-2, 5-2)                   (14)5x — 19      13     1      

McNulty, Labosky (1) and Castro; My. Schwalm and L. Rodichok, Wehry. W— My. Schwalm (2-1). L — McNulty (0-1).

HITS: Shenandoah Valley — Monaghan. Tri-Valley — C. Snyder 2, A.  Snyder, Witmer, My. Schwalm 3, L. Rodichok, Wehry, K. Rodichok, Stiely 2, Tobin.

2B — Tobin, A. Snyder, Stiely, Witmer. HR — C. Snyder, My. Schwalm.

Panther Valley 18, Executive Education 3

ALLENTOWN — Janessa Prudente slugged a home run, drove in four runs and scored three as Panther Valley routed Executive Education in a non-league game at Patriots Park.

Prudente pitched two scoreless innings to pick up the win in the circle.

Also for the Panthers, Kyla McQuillen went 2-for-3 with a double, two runs scored and an RBI; Isabella D’Ancona went 2-for-2 with a double, three runs and one RBI; and Megan O’Brien knocked in three runs.

PV (4-4)                   (10)17 — 18      11       0      

EE (2-5)                  0   0 3 —  3        3       5

Prudente, Goida (3) and McQuillen; Perez and Ramos. W— Prudente (4-4). L — Ramos.

HITS: Panther Valley — McQuillen 2, Breslin, Prudente, Me. O’Brien, Mika, D’Ancona 2, Alabovitz, Krapf, Blazosky. Executive Education — Perez, Diaz, Ramos.

2B — McQuillen, D’Ancona, Krapf, Perez. 3B — Diaz. HR — Prudente.

Game postponed

The Lourdes at Mahanoy Area game was postponed and rescheduled for May 8 at 4:30 p.m.

Schuylkill League Softball

Through games of April 16

Division I

Team (overall)                      W     L       Pct.    GB

Pine Grove (10-1)                 6       1         .857    —

Blue Mtn. (6-2)                     4       1         .800      1

North Sch. (6-2)                    4       1         .800      1

Tamaqua (7-3)                      4       1         .800      1

Pottsville (5-5)                      2       3         .400      3

Panther Val. (4-4)                 2       4         .333      3½

Lourdes (0-5)                        0       5         .000      4½

Mahanoy Area (3-7)             0       6         .000      5½

Division II

Williams Val. (11-1)            7       0       1.000     —

Sch. Haven (8-2)                   6       1         .857      1

Tri-Valley (8-2)                    5       2         .714      2

Minersville (4-6)                   4       3         .571      3

Marian (3-5)                          1       4         .200      5

Nativity (2-7)                        1       5         .167      5½

Shen. Valley (3-8)                1       5         .167      5½

Weatherly (3-7)                     1       6         .143      6