Scranton Lady Lions Softball Falls to Mont Alto

By: Ross Turetsky, Penn State Scranton Athletics

On a hot spring Friday afternoon, the Penn State Scranton Lions softball squad dropped both ends of their road doubleheader to conference foe Penn State Mont Alto by the scores of 21-1 and 19-0 respectively. With the pair of defeats, Scranton sees their overall record go to 7-18 and their all-important league mark moves to 2-10 with a week left in their 2023 regular season campaign.

In the game one five inning affair, Mont Alto scored early and often as they coasted to their 21-1 dominant home triumph. After being held scoreless in the first inning, Mont Alto put up a quartet of runs in the bottom half of the second, a big eight spot in the third, and tallied a robust nine runs in the fourth frame to ensure their victory. Scranton's lone run to avoid the dreaded shutout on offense came in the top half of the third inning. Overall Mont Alto out hit Scranton by an 18-3 margin in the contest.

The Lions from Scranton got their base knocks from sophomore right fielder Alicia Gagner, who went 1-2 and drove home her club's only run with a nice single to score freshman shortstop Rachel Murray to cut the deficit to just 4-1 in the third, stand-out sophomore Olivia Shimonis was also 1-2 at the plate, and Murray went 1-1, with a run, and a stolen base to boot.

Meanwhile, Mont Alto had an awe-inspiring seven players put up stellar multi-hit performances, as freshman Abigail Cunningham, junior center fielder Kirsten Dell, senior pitcher Delaney Glazer, junior second baseman Emily Sicinski, freshman shortstop Sierra Sims, junior pinch hitter Skye Herring, and fellow junior, first baseman Haley Dawson set the pace for their ball club. Cunningham went 3-4, smashing a double, stole a base, drove home a game-high four runs, and scored three times. Dell was 2-4, with a trio of RBI, and walked once. Glazer went 2-3, with an RBI, and scored a run. Sicinski also was 2-3, crushed a home run, stole a base, walked once, scored a hat trick of runs, and collected an RBI. Sims was a perfect 2-2 at the dish, drilling a triple, scored a pair of runs, and knocked in two. Herring came off the bench and also was flawless 2-2 at the plate, scoring a pair, and nabbed an RBI. Last but certainly not least, Dawson went 2-2, ripping a double, scored twice, and knocked in a couple. Honorable mention goes to left fielder Rachel Alleman who went 1-3, crushed a three run home run over the left field fence in the bottom of the third, walked once, scored two runs, and had a trio of RBI in the contest.

On the pitching side of things, Scranton started Shimonis on the mound and she picked up the loss, tossing a gritty four innings and struck out a batter. Meanwhile, Mont Alto had Glazer toe the slab first for their club, as she earned the win on the bump, throwing a sparkling four innings, while only allowing one earned run, three base hits, walked none, and struck out a robust 11 Scranton hitters in her start. Freshman Dani-Lynn Barklow came in relief out of the pen to finish up the festivities, as she threw the last inning, giving up no runs, hits, or walks, and struck out a pair of batters in her outing.

In the game two nightcap five inning affair, Mont Alto slugged their way to another big win, as they tallied a hat trick of runs in the bottom of the first, an eight spot in the second, and eight more in the third frame, as they cruised to a dominant 19-0 shutout triumph. Scranton was outhit in the second game by a 19-1 margin.

The road warrior Scranton Lions had their one lone base knock in the contest by Gagner who went 1-2 at the dish. The other base runner for the Lions came from freshman center fielder Sara McNichols who drew a walk in the matchup.

Meanwhile, Mont Alto had an impressive six players put up multi-hit performances in the nightcap, as freshman Ella Andras, Glazer, junior third baseman Destiny Hall, Sicinski, junior outfielder Chloe Sullivan, and sophomore catcher Jaylin Belton led the way on offense. Andras was a perfect 4-4 at the plate, with a triple, three stolen bases, a trio of runs scored, and knocked in three. Glazer went 2-3, with a walk, a hat trick of runs, and drove in a pair. Hall also was 2-3 and tallied a run. Sicinski was 2-2 at the dish, with a stolen base, a pair of bases on balls, two runs scored, and a couple of RBI. Sullivan went 2-3, with a walk, two runs scored, and picked up an RBI. Finally, Belton was 2-2, hammering a pair of doubles, walked once, scored twice, and drove in a trio.

In the pitching department, Scranton started sophomore hurler Ashlyn McNally and she picked up the loss on the mound, tossing two gritty innings and struck out a hitter. Shimonis came in relief out of the pen for her squad and she threw the last couple of innings, allowing eight earned runs, 11 hits, one lone walk, and fanned a batter in her outing. Meanwhile, Mont Alto started Dell and she earned the victory on the bump, with her dominant three shutout innings, giving up no hits or walks, and struck out four Scranton hitters on the day. Barklow came in relief for her team once again and she threw the last two innings to wrap up the long day of softball festivities, allowing no runs, just one base hit, one walk, and fanned a batter in her appearance.

Now veteran head coach Mar Tsakonas and her 7-18 Penn State Scranton softball squad will look to bounce back and snap their eight game losing skid when they next go on the road to take on conference foe Penn State Du Bois this Saturday afternoon in a key doubleheader, with first pitch scheduled for 1pm. Meanwhile, head coach Heath Newell and his Penn State Mont Alto ball club, who with these pair of victories over Scranton see their overall record improve to 18-9 and a red hot 10-2 in crucial league play games, will look to now extend their three game winning streak when they next host Penn State Hazleton in a doubleheader this Saturday starting at 11am.