Towamensing won the District 18 8-10 softball title with a victory Saturday over Weatherly/Hazleton.

DISTRICT 18 SOFTBALL

8-10 YEAR-OLDS

Towamensing-

Weatherly/Hazleton

Towamensing captured the District 18 8-10 softball championship on Saturday by edging Weatherly/Hazleton, 2-1.

Isabella Marques pitched a two-hitter and struck out 16 in her six innings of work to lead Towamensing to the title.

Tied at 1-1 in the top of the fifth inning, the winners scored the go-ahead run on a stolen base.

Marques also collected a hit at the plate for Towamensing, which didn’t commit any errors on defense. Vivian Zalik had 17 chances in the field, the most on the Towamensing squad.

Speed on the bases also proved to be a key to the victory. Three Towamensing players stole at least two bases, with Adalyn Gulla swiping three.

Elsie Gower was the hard-luck loser for Weatherly/Hazleton. Gower allowed just the one hit to Marques and also fanned 16. She also had two stolen bases in the contest.

The title allows Towamensing to advance to Sectionals, which begin Wednesday in Palmerton.

DISTRICT 18 BASEBALL

8-10 YEAR-OLDS

Franklin Twp.-Valley East

Franklin Township was one out away from capturing the District 18 8-10 championship on Saturday, but Valley East rallied to tie Game 2 of their best-of-three series and then won the contest in the eighth inning, 6-5.

Colby Hill’s RBI single in the sixth scored Jude Astorino with the tying run, and Hill tallied in the eighth on a wild pitch to knot the series at one game apiece.

The deciding third game was scheduled for Sunday, but rain postponed the contest until this evening.

East jumped out to a 2-0 advantage in the first before Franklin tied it with a pair of unearned runs.

A two-run third frame allowed FT to gain a 4-2 lead, but East cut the deficit in half in the fourth.

Franklin regained its two-run advantage, but couldn’t hold it as Valley East came back to force extra innings.

Gabe Tidwell earned the pitching win, shutting out FT over the final three innings and striking out seven.

Franklin had four hits in the contest, singles from Myles Meek, Miles Mann, Dean Kuhns and Christian Snyder. Valley East finished with nine hits, including two each from Tidwell, Astorino, and Hill.

9-11 YEAR-OLDS

Tamaqua-Valley West

Valley West exploded for eight runs in the second inning and cruised to a 14-2 victory Saturday to claim the District 18 9-11 title.

Tamaqua was held to just three hits, singles by Tavin Makovec, Jaxon Faneck and Adilynn O’Gurek.

Makovec and Chayse Barron scored the two runs for Tamaqua.

Valley West 382 1 - 14 9 1

Tamaqua 200 0 - 2 3 4

LEHIGH VALLEY LEGION

Northern Valley-Lower Mac

Lower Macungie eliminated Northern Valley from the Lehigh Valley Legion playoffs with a 5-3 victory on Saturday.

The Chargers grabbed a 3-0 lead in the fourth inning, but Lower Mac answered with four runs in the home fourth to go ahead.

Northern Valley couldn’t muster any more offense the rest of the way off pitchers Anthony McWhinney and Drew McGeehan.

Shaun O’Donnell snapped a scoreless tie in the fourth with a two-run triple. Cole Hausman followed with an RBI double to up the margin to 3-0.

The Chargers couldn’t get a shutdown inning, though, as Lower Mac came right back. McWhinney’s two-run double was the key hit in its comeback.

Hausman and Andrew Diehl both had two hits for Northern Valley, while Diehl also scored a run.

McWhinney and Logan Ravier each had a pair of hits for the winners.

Northern Valley 000 300 0 - 3 7 3

Lower Mac 000 401 x - 5 6 1

W - McWhinney. L - O’Donnell. S - McGeehan.