Thought for the day: The Kansas City Royals roll on and have provided the best story of the baseball postseason. Let us recall a former Royal great, submarining pitcher Dan Quisenberry (remember him?) who said of his unorthodox, but effective, pitching style: “I found a delivery in my flaw.”
HEY Awards
Lebanon Valley College senior outside linebacker Frank Gaffney of Blue Mountain picked up two Player of the Week awards and is this week’s first Higher Education Yahoo! honoree.
Gaffney was first named Middle Atlantic Conference Defensive Player of the Week and quickly followed with the same award from the ECAC Division III Southeast.
Gaffney, an LVC co-captain, earned the awards for his play against Misericordia, in which he recorded 10 tackles, two sacks and three tackles for loss in the Dutchmen’s 44-16 win.
Gaffney leads the team in tackles with 59 and has 3½ sacks. He’s also the long snapper on punts.
An aside ...
Let’s take a moment to look at Gaffney’s local teammates. Senior quarterback Brian Murphy of Schuylkill Haven and starting offensive tackle Tyler Dean of North Schuylkill are also co-captains. Murphy has a 120.7 efficiency rating and has tossed 11 touchdown passes with six interceptions.
Two other senior defensive starters are inside linebacker Tyler Laudeman (24 tackles, half a sack and an interception) of North Schuylkill and nose tackle Clayton Williard (18 tackles, half a sack and two QB hurries) of Tri-Valley.
Other locals seeing regular action are junior fullback Billy Powanda (9-37, 3 TDs) of Minersville, senior defensive end Adam Soltys (four tackles) and junior center
Trent Mars (long snapper on extra points), both of Pine Grove, and sophomore center Robert Van Horn of Mahanoy Area.
Freshman players for the Dutchmen include inside linebackers Guy Zimmerman (Pine Grove) and Tom Gallagher (North Schuylkill), tailbacks Ryan Heim (Pine Grove) and Anthony Agosti (Marian), defensive end Mark Williams of Panther Valley and cornerback Mike Gilger of Lourdes.
Say HEY again
The next HEY Award recipient is Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute junior linebacker Anthony Pilla of Marian. Pilla was named Liberty League Defensive Performer of the Week for his play in a 45-14 win over the Merchant Marine Academy. Pilla led all tacklers with 11 stops, including eight unassisted tackles and two for loss. He also forced a fumble. In five games this season, Pilla has 20 tackles, two sacks, two forced fumbles and a fumble recovery.
• Holy Family University women’s soccer goalkeeper sophomore Sienna Smith of Pottsville earns the next HEY Award. Smith, in her first action back from a nearly month-long injury, was named to the Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference Women’s Soccer Weekly Honor Roll. Smith made three saves in a 1-0 win, her second shutout of the season and ninth of her career. This season, she has 33 saves, a 1.93 goals-against average and a .767 save percentage.
• Penn College freshman volleyball player Samantha Pogash of Nativity earns a HEY after being named her school’s Athlete of the Week for Oct. 5. She is an outside hitter and middle blocker for the Wildcats and has a team-high 232 digs, has recorded 143 kills and has 24 service aces.
• Lebanon Valley junior cross country runner Kelsey Patrick of Tamaqua received the MAC Cross Country Runner of the Week award for the second time this season when she ran third in a very competitive field at the Paul Short Run. Patrick was the MAC’s top finisher and second D-III runner overall. Saturday, Patrick was eighth at the Gettysburg Invitational.
• Misericordia junior cross country runner Mikael Hause of Mount Carmel was named the school’s September Male Athlete of the Month after winning the Misericordia Invitational and Cougar Classic and finishing third at Lebanon Valley. He also set a school record at the Lock Haven Invitational and led his team with a 16th-place overall finish at the Paul Short Run.
He has been Misericordia’s top finisher in every event this season.
More cross country
Patrick’s teammate, junior captain Alyssa Keich of Tamaqua, led LVC to a second-place finish at the Misericordia Cougar Classic, finishing a career-best sixth. Patrick was 58th at Saturday’s Gettysburg Invitational. Also on LVC’s women’s roster is sophomore Jeannette Tropp of Nativity.
• Bloomsburg sophomore Jake Plachko of Pottsville finished eighth overall to help the Huskies to a second-place finish at the Husky Invitational. Plachko was Bloom’s fourth finisher at the Louisville Cross Country Invitational.
• Widener junior Taylor Englert of Pottsville was the Pride’s third finisher and was 24th overall as Widener finished third (of 13) at the DeSales Invitational.
Tee time
Lebanon Valley senior Kory Lopata of Panther Valley shot a career-best 80 at the Muhlenberg Invitational to tie for 41st, as the Dutchmen finished 15th.
Lopata also shot an 85 (third on the team and 30th overall) to help LVC to a sixth-place finish at the Alvernia Fall Invitational.
Soccer shorts
Penn State Altoona’s women’s soccer team, behind sophomore Shannon Zimmerman’s goal (the only goal scored), got its first win of the season over D’Youville. Zimmerman (Pine Grove) also has an assist this season.
• Meanwhile, Alvernia sophomore forward Jess Bernd of Tri-Valley scored her first goal of the season in a 3-2 win over that Penn State Altoona club.
• Wilkes freshman forward Shelby Trumbo of Schuylkill Haven recorded her fourth goal of the season to help Wilkes to a 3-0 win over FDU-Florham.
• In LVC’s 3-1 men’s soccer win over Albright, Hamburg alumni and fellow freshmen Austin Freeman and Matt Prince each scored a goal each. Prince, a midfielder, has two goals on the year while Freeman, a forward/midfielder, has a goal and an assist. They are joined on the Dutchmen team by another Hamburg alum, junior defenseman Cody Manmiller.
• Blue Mountain graduate Jonathan Heim is a senior defenseman for Trinity International University in Illinois.
Volleyball vignettes
Lebanon Valley is 18-4 on the season and has gotten good play from sophomore outside hitter Taylor Troutman of Tri-Valley. Troutman has played in 19 matches and has 91 kills, 23 blocks, 44 digs and nine service aces.
• At Marywood (7-5), senior middle hitter Kathleen Reilly of Marian has 43 kills and 24 blocks, while freshman setter Lexi Hammer of Blue Mountain has 27 digs and nine service aces.
• Wilkes outside hitter Grace Boyle of Marian has recorded 44 digs, 17 kills and seven service aces in her freshman season.
(MacLaughlin’s college notebook appears biweekly during the collegiate calendar. Send items to him in care of Sports Editor Leroy Boyer at Lboyer@republicanherald.com)