Slattery fights through for Lock Haven
Pitcher from Daniel Boone carries Eagles in PSACs
BEKAH SLATTERY (DANIEL BOONE) >> Lock Haven’s standout pitcher Bekah Slattery started the softball season with a 0-5 record but she bounced back to finish the season 16-11 including a valiant effort in the PSAC Tournament.
Sophomore Slattery, from Douglassville and a Daniel Boone High grad, pitched in all five tourney games for the Bald Eagles who finished 3-2. She pitched in relief in the opener, a 10-2 loss to Seton Hill on May 3 which pushed the team into the loser’s bracket of the double elimination affair.
The left-hander was credited with the victory in all three games on May 4, a complete-game 6-1 triumph over California, three innings of sparkling relief in an 8-4 win over Gannon and starting and working six innings in a 6-5 victory over Shippensburg. Slattery ran out of gas in the fifth game on May 6. She lasted just 0.1 innings, giving up a hit and walking three in a 7-5 loss to Bloomsburg, Lock Haven finishing 28-21.
“Bekah is a competitor and when she needs to come through, she typically finds a way,” coach Kelly Shannon said. “She had a very strong day fighting through the loser’s bracket and gave us a chance to win in every game.”
Slattery pitched in 30 games with 25 starts on the season with 21 complete games and three shutouts and had a 3.34 earned run average. In 172.1 innings, she gave up 168 hits and 90 runs, 64 earned, with 65 walks and 134 strikeouts. As a freshman, she was 22-9 with two saves and nine shutouts and struck out 187 batters.
RACHEL ENGLER (BOYERTOWN) >> The senior was named to the PSAC first team after she led the Lock Haven women’s lacrosse team with 57 goals. She also had five assists for 62 points, third best on the team. Engler, who scored at least one goal in every game, had eight goals and an assist in a 22-2 victory over Findlay on March 11 and seven goals and two assists in a 20-10 league victory over Bloomsburg on April 18. The Bald Eagles, who finished 9-8 overall and 6-6 in league play, also got solid play from three other Boyertown Area athletes. Sophomore Karli Gilbert had 20 goals and two assists, junior Alex O’Herrick had eight goals and five assists and junior Emily Gerhart started all 17 games on defense and had a team-high 17 caused turnovers. named to the PSAC East first team after a sparkling season with the East Stroudsburg baseball team. The 6-foot-3, 200-pound right-hander was 7-0 with a 2.70 earned run average for the Warriors who finished 26-21-1 and saw the season end with two losses in the league tourney. Eckman made 11 starts and had two complete games. In 66.2 innings, he gave up 69 hits and 25 runs, 20 earned with 15 walks and 46 strikeouts. He finished with a 3,29 earned run average in 50 career games with 26 starts and had a 14-8 record with nine saves with 139 strikeouts.
CORY FOX (BOYERTOWN), TYLER COMPORT (BOYERTOWN)
>> The pair of Penn StateBerks juniors were named to the All-NEAC first team last week. Fox, a center fielder, sparked the Nittany Lions from the leadoff spot while batting .367 with nine doubles, 26 RBI, 43 runs scored and 15 stolen bases. Fox leads the NEAC in runs scored, ranks second in walks and stolen bases, and is fourth in the conference with a .494 on-base percentage. Comport served as the team’s ace pitcher, going 4-1 with a 2.34 ERA in 11 appearances (six starts). He had 52 strikeouts in 42.1 innings. He is batting .295 with 13 RBI.
Penn State-Berks (2019) won the North Eastern Athletic Conference championship on May 14 with a 7-4 win over Penn College, its third NEAC title in four years and earned a fourth straight trip to the NCAA Regional Tournament. In the final, Brandon Griesemer (Boyertown) was the winning pitcher, Seth Endy (Boyertown) had a hit and scored three runs, Austin Madeja (Boyertown) had a hit and two RBI and Troy Salerno (Owen J. Roberts) went 3-for-3 with three RBI.
LAUREN MENGEL (BOYERTOWN) >> The senior was named to the East Coast Conference second team after a standout season with the Bridgeport women’s lacrosse team. Mengel was second in goals (29), added 10 assists and tied for first in points (39). She also led the Purple Knights in ground balls (41) and draw controls (42) and was second in caused turnovers (26). Bridgeport dropped its final game, 10-9 in overtime to Roberts Wesleyan and finished 9-6 overall and 3-5 in ECC play. Mengel had two goals and four ground balls in the game.
KAITLYN DEHAVEN (BOYERTOWN) >> The Duquesne women’s lacrosse team suffered through a 2-15 season with a 0-9 mark in the Atlantic 10 Conference but the senior battled all season long. The 5-foot-10 midfielder had 19 goals and eight assists for 27 points and also had 16 ground balls, 15 draw controls and 10 caused turnovers. In 61 career games, DeHaven had 47 goals, 17 assists and 64 points to go along with 41 ground balls, 40 draw controls and 22 caused turnovers.
SAVANNAH TOTH (DANIEL BOONE) >> The sophomore catcher was named to the MAC Commonwealth second team for her play with the Lebanon Valley softball team. Toth started all 40 games and hit .298 (36-for-121) with six doubles, two home runs, 19 runs scored and a teamhigh 31 runs batted in. She was outstanding behind the plate making six errors on 217 chances (.972). The Flying Dutchmen finished 2515 overall and 0-2 in the league tournament, losing 2-0 and 4-3 to Widener.
JAMES BLEMING (POPE JOHN PAUL II) >> The junior leadoff man hit .268 (51-for-190) for the 21-29 Lehigh baseball team with nine doubles, two triples and four home runs. He had 21 runs batted in and was second on the team with 35 runs scored. He also walked 23 times and was 4-for-4 in stolen bases. Bleming hit .310 (18for-58) in the final 14 games for the Mountain Hawks. At shortstop, he made 18 errors on 215 chances (.912).