Westmoreland campus clippings: Franklin Regional grad Michael Kemerer a 5-time All-American

Earning All-America recognition one time is an accomplishment in college wrestling.

To do it twice it highly commendable.

But Michael Kemerer took it to another level.

The Iowa redshirt senior wrestled back to claim a fourth-place finish at the NCAA Division I Championships, giving the Franklin Regional alum five All-America accolades in his career.

The 174-pounder is the first wrestler in Hawkeyes’ history to accomplish such a feat.

The No. 5 seed, he scored third-period takedown to clinch a 5-2 win in his first consolation match, then won a 3-1 overtime decision in the consolation quarters. A 12-4 loss ended his season.

Bucknell: Senior Zach Hartman (Belle Vernon) put a cap on a brilliant career after reaching the first consolation round at the NCAA Championships before finishing 2-2 in the 165-pound bracket.

Hartman ended with a 96-26 career record, including a 29-6 mark this year. A two-time All-American, he finished with 28 career pins, seventh-most in program history, and 16 major decisions.

He qualified for four NCAA finals.

Pitt: Redshirt senior Micky Phillippi (Derry) went 3-2 at the NCAA Division I Championships, falling in the third round of the consolation bracket at 133 pounds.

Baseball

Allegheny: Junior Sullivan Schueltz (Ligonier Valley) delivered a pinch-hit RBI single and junior pitcher Bobby Kusinsky (Penn-Trafford) earned his third win of the season, allowing two hits and striking out a career-high 10, as the Gators topped John Carroll, 7-0.

Grove City: Sophomore shortstop Lucca Baccari (Penn-Trafford) went 2 for 4 in a 5-1 win over La Roche, the Wolverines’ sixth straight victory. Buccari has started all 12 games for Grove City (9-3) and has six RBIs.

Mercyhurst: Sophomore outfielder Aidan Shephard (Norwin) hit his fifth home run of the season as the Lakers clubbed Salem, 14-4. He has 12 RBIs and seven runs scored.

Penn State: Redshirt junior Josh Spiegel (Penn-Trafford) reached base three times and scored the game-tying run as the Nittany Lions topped Milwaukee, 4-3. Spiegel, a transfer from Oklahoma State, is hitting .321 with five doubles, a homer and seven RBIs over 16 games, mainly as a designated hitter.

Rutgers: Grad pitcher Jared Kollar (Latrobe) struck out a career-high 10 batters and tossed 7 1/3 scoreless innings, but the Scarlet Knights were clipped by Nebraska Omaha, 1-0. Kollar (3-1) gave up just two hits and did not issue a walk.

The outing followed an eight-strikeout performance in a win over Hawaii.

Seton Hill: The No. 22-ranked Griffins swept a four-game series from Walsh to move to 11-4-1 with PSAC play just around the bend. In the fourth game of the series, junior Owen Sabol (Norwin) and senior Isaiah DiAndreth (Hempfield) homered, and junior Jack Oberdorf (Greensburg Salem) doubled in an 8-2 victory.

Sabol drove in three runs and DiAndreth had two RBIs.

Westmoreland County Community College: The Wolfpack took down a three-game winning streak with a 12-7 victory over Jamestown Community College.

Freshman Andy Person (Latrobe) had two hits, a double and three RBIs, while freshman Cameron DePalma (Penn-Trafford) went 2 for 3 with a triple and two RBIs.

Another freshman, Aidan McLaughlin (Norwin), also drove in a pair for WCCC.

Softball

Marist: Junior pitcher Kiley Myers (Latrobe) is 4-2 with a 3.52 ERA through 13 appearances this season. She has 37 strikeouts, nine walks and two saves over 53 2/3 innings.

Mercyhurst: Redshirt senior Kaitlin Hoffner (Hempfield) went 2 for 3 with a double and two runs scored as the Lakers defeated Malone, 7-0, in a game played at Seton Hill.

Mercyhurst followed with a 9-6 win against Seton Hill as grad student Sarah Koscho (Penn-Trafford) went 2 for 3 with two RBIs.

Penn: Senior Emma Nedley (Penn-Trafford) was hitting .316 with a home run in 13 starts this season. The former Ivy League Rookie of the Year led the league in RBIs in 2020.

Penn State: Senior pitcher Bailey Parshall (Belle Vernon) recorded her 500th career strikeout as the Nittany Lions (13-11) blanked Rider, 2-0. It also marked her seventh shutout of the season, the most by a pitcher in the program since 2006.

She struck out six in the three-hit shutout.

Parshall also twirled a gem against Pitt recently as she struck out 12 in a 6-0, two-hit shutout.

Pitt-Greensburg: Freshman Melanie Mienke pitched a complete game with seven strikeouts, while junior Haley Liccketto hit a three-run homer and drove in four, and junior Kayla Santucci went 2 for 3 with a pair of runs as UPG snapped an eight-game losing streak with an 8-1 win over Waynesburg.

Pitt-Johnstown: The Mountain Cats swept Bowie State, 9-4 and 7-5, as several local players contributed.

Junior Laura Fox (Hempfield) went 3 for 4 with a double and an RBI in the first game, while redshirt senior Olivia Porter (Southmoreland) had two hits, and freshman Kelsi Terzolino (Hempfield) went 3 for 3 in Game 2.

Saint Vincent: Sophomores Leah Yoder (Norwin), Olivia Persin (Hempfield), Haley Bicko and Mackenzie Larimer all had two hits with Persin driving in two runs in a 5-0 win over Penn State Fayette.

Freshman Meghan Braun earned the pitching win, scattering five hits over five innings before turning the game over to freshman Olivia Bushore.

Two more wins followed for the unbeaten Bearcats (6-0).

Sophomore Jessica LaPorte homered, sophomore Alexandra Dillner (Norwin) went 3 for 3, senior Kelsey Tobin (Hempfield) added a two-base hit and Persin scored three times as the Bearcats defeated La Roche, 11-3.

They swept the doubleheader with an 8-1 victory in the nightcap as Dillner went 3 for 4 with two RBIs, and Persin, LaPorte and freshman Katelyn Stokan each had two hits. Stokan doubled twice.

LaPorte also was the winning pitcher as she worked a complete game.

Seton Hill: Grad pitcher Morgan Ryan (Hempfield) improved to 4-1 with a complete-game, 1-0 shutout of Malone. Ryan struck out 10, did not walk a batter and helped her cause by going 2 for 3.

Grad teammate Jenna Osikowicz (Hempfield) homered for the game’s only run, while freshman Brooke Cleland (Penn-Trafford) doubled for the Griffins (14-3).