MILLERSBURG - Cassidy Pinchorski fired a one-hitter and hit a solo, inside-the-park homer for the only run as Williams Valley opened the season with a thrilling 1-0 non-league softball victory over Millersburg on Saturday.
Pinchorski, who struck out 10 and walked one, hit her game-winning homer with one out in the top of the eighth to left field as the ball bounced off the fence.
The Indians rallied in the bottom of the eight and had a runner on third with two outs but shortstop Hannah Nestor made a diving catch of a hump-back liner over second base to end the game.
Kate Whelski, Haley Nestor and Pinchorski had two hits apiece for the Vikings, last year's PIAA Class A champs.
Hamburg 1 Harrisburg 0
HAMBURG - Paige Lesher tossed a three-hitter, while Ashtyn Epting scored the game's only run as the Hawks opened the season with a non-league shutout of the Cougars on Hawk Hill.
Lesher struck out nine and walked three.
Epting scored her run in the fourth inning. She singled, Hamburg's only hit of the game, went to second on a passed ball and stole third. Epting came home when the throw to third went into left field.
Tri-Valley 7 Upper Dauphin 2
ELIZABETHVILLE - Winning pitcher Katie Rabuck had four hits as the Dawgs scored four runs in the seventh inning to pull away from a one-run lead in a non-league victory over the Trojans.
Taryn Wilson tripled and Jordyn Ebersole doubled for Tri-Valley during the decisive rally. The two combined for five RBIs in the game in support of Rabuck, who struck out seven.
Upper Dauphin was led by three hits from losing pitcher Taylor Brown. Kate Boyer added an RBI for the Trojans.
Schuylkill Valley 5 Blue Mountain 2
ORWIGSBURG - Ashley Rice hit an RBI triple in the top of the ninth inning to bring home the winning run and lift the Panthers over the Eagles in a non-league game.
Lauren McEwen had an RBI double - one of her three hits - in the top of the seventh for Schuylkill Valley to cut the Eagles' 2-0 lead in half.
Megan Tothero pitched for Blue Mountain and led the Eagles offensively with two hits and an RBI.
H.S. Baseball Williams Valley 4 Millersburg 2
TOWER CITY - Jared Matter tossed six scoreless innings and struck out five as the Vikings held off the Indians in a non-league game.
Travis Graeff had a two-run double and Matter added an RBI single in Williams Valley's four-run fourth inning that put the Vikings in front. Tristen Merwine had two hits for the Vikes.
Blue Mountain 15 Schuylkill Valley 0
ORWIGSBURG - Shane Grapsy had three hits, a double and two RBIs to lead the Eagles to a non-league, three-inning rout of the Panthers.
Austin Krammes added a triple and two RBIs for Blue Mountain. Dean Stramara drove in three runs and Troy Moyer added two hits.
Sean Greenawalt pitched three innings for the Eagles, adding two hits and two RBIs at the plate.
Brandywine Heights 13 Pine Grove 3
PINE GROVE - Michael Hunter struck out five in three innings and added two hits for the Bullets in a non-league trouncing of the Cardinals at Stump Stadium.
Brandon Miller added two hits, a double and three RBIs for Brandywine Heights.
The Bullets benefitted from seven errors by Pine Grove, which was led by Brian Reichert's two hits.
Marcus Brown and Matt Hasenauer each added doubles for the Cardinals.
H.S. Track and Field 8 area athletes win titles at Pirate Invite
KINTERSVILLE - It was a strong afternoon in the field events as Tamaqua's Paige Demetriades, Vanessa Solt, Rebecca Minehan, Rylee Devlin, Jason Sylvester, Zach Zucatti and Jacob Wenzel, along with Jim Thorpe's Rayan Green, all won championships during the season-opening Pirate Invitational at Palisades High School.
Demetriades won the javelin with winning throw of 125 feet, 10 inches, Solt (76-8) was first in the discus, Devlin (29-4) the shot put and Minehan (9-6) the pole vault.
On the boys' side, Sylvester finished with a 121-6 in the discus to get past Honesdale's Ryan Keen (111-10), while Zucatti (141-8) won the javelin, Wenzel (43-11.5) the shot put, and Green (6-0) the high jump.
College Baseball Penn State Schuylkill drops 2 to Dickinson
CARLISLE - Brett Kreiser had two hits for Penn State Schuylkill in a 7-2 loss to Dickinson College in the first game of a doubleheader, and then were one-hit by Dickinson pitcher Harley Moore in the nightcap, a 3-0 shutout for the Red Devils.
In the first game, Kreiser added an RBI for Penn State Schuylkill, which broke up the shutout bid of Dickinson pitcher Ryan Kramer with two runs in the seventh. Wesley Waite had Penn State Schuylkill's other hit.
In the second game, Moore struck out 14 and walked four, facing 26 batters.