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Northern Tier League rivals Wellsboro and North Penn-Mansfield and North Penn-Liberty battled on the baseball and softball diamonds on Friday, May 4 with Wellsboro picking up wins in both games.

Softball: Wellsboro 5, North Penn-Liberty 4

The Wellsboro Varsity Softball team hung on for a hard-fought 5-4 win over rival North Penn-Liberty on Friday, May 4.

After a scoreless first inning the Lady Hornets found the scoreboard first in the bottom of the second.

Senior Kailee Clymer led off with a triple to right-center field then scored the next at bat as freshman Jena Boyce hit a single up the middle. Boyce stole second to get into scoring position then junior Tiana Lecker moved her over to third with a base hit. Sophomore Ryann Adams then drove in Boyce on a fielder’s choice making it 2-0.

After recording the final out in the second the Lady Mounties went on their run in the top of the third. Abby Heatley started the rally with two outs on a single past second base, Sara Swingle drew a walk in the next at bat then Brooke Harvey tripled to score both Heatley and Swingle to tie it at 2-2. One at bat later Savanah Doney hit a line drive over short to score Harvey to put Liberty in front, 3-2.

Not to be outdone the Lady Hornets added three runs of their own in the bottom half of the inning to retake the lead, one which they would keep.

Freshman Kerrah Clymer led off with a line drive over second base then later stole second to move into scoring position. With two outs sister Kailee Clymer hit a bloop single over second to Kerrah tying it at 3-all, then advanced to third on a throwing error. Boyce delivered again in her at bat with a liner over short to score Kailee, making it 4-3. Later in the inning Lecker hit a bloop single up the middle to score Boyce from third to make it 5-3.

Wellsboro maintained their 5-3 lead until the top of the sixth when North Penn-Liberty answered. Mariah Kshir started the inning as she reached on an error then Emma Williams singled to move her into scoring position. Delaney Colton then hit into a fielder’s choice to score Kshir cutting the score to 5-4 before Wellsboro got out of the inning.

The Lady Hornets managed 2 more hits in the bottom of the sixth but were unable to put any more runs on the board, but held on with a solid defensive performance in the top of the seventh.

“Mansfield is a tough team and they played us really well the beginning of the season and came out on top so we were really just trying to even the score,” said head coach Ron Brought. “Whenever your play North Penn-Liberty in a rivalry game you always want to do whatever it takes to win and the girls came through. They played really well. Mansfield didn’t make it easy, they have great pitching. Coach Grinnell gets them ready for every game and they respond really well but tonight our girls showed a lot of heart, came back, and did the job.”

Lecker finished the game 3-for-3, Kailee Clymer and Boyce were both 2-for-3, Kerrah Clymer was 2-for-4, and Adams was 1-for-3. Sophomore Cathryn Brought started on the mound and pitched a complete game, giving up 6 hits, 2 walks, and struck out 3 in the win.

Doney was 3-for-4 and Harvey went 2-for-4 at the plate to lead the Lady Mounties while Heatley, Mackenzie Heater, Kshir, and Williams had hits. Doney went the distance on the mound in the loss, allowing 10 hits, 5 runs (4 earned) on 90 pitches with 2 strikeouts.

View the complete box score on WellsboroSoftball.com, powered by Circle W Sports.

Baseball: Wellsboro 6, North Penn-Mansfield 3

The Wellsboro Varsity Baseball team rattled off their sixth straight win by beating rival North Penn-Mansfield 6-3 on Friday, May 4.

“A good win for us tonight. The rivalry games with Mansfield is never predictable and tonight was no different,” head coach Philip Prough said after the game.

The Tigers jumped out to a a lead in the top of the second inning as Dewey Wise led off with a walk and would come around to touch home plate to make it 1-0. Wellsboro answered back in their half of the inning to put two runs on the board.

After two back-to-back outs, freshman Kaeden Mann singled and junior Taynton Repard followed it up with a double. Sophomore Silas Wagaman singled in the next at bat scoring both Mann and Repard to give Wellsboro a 2-1 lead.

Both teams had scoreless third innings then the Tigers pounced in the top of the fourth to tie it up. Dylan Williamson led off with a base hit then later scored making it 2-2.

Again the Hornets battled back, but this time they took control with 3 runs of their own. Senior Caleb Tennis and Mann started the bottom of the fourth with back-to-back base hits and Repard walked to load the bases for Wagaman. Wagaman hit into a fielder’s choice but Tennis scored to put the Hornets up 3-2. One at bat later senior Dalton Prough doubled to score both Mann and Wagaman making it 5-2.

North Penn-Mansfield cut it to 3-2 in the top of the sixth as Blaise Dietrich scored after Justin Kriner led off with a base hit. However, the Hornets again got a run on the scoreboard in the bottom half of the inning. Wagaman led off with a base hit, Prough drew a walk, and senior Johnny Rowland singled to score Wagaman putting the Hornets up 6-3.

After a brief rain delay the Tigers took the field for the top of the seventh but were unable to produce any runs.

Wagaman and Mann each finished 2-for-3 on the afternoon, Rowland was 2-for-4, Repard was 1-for-2, and Tennis and Prough each finished 1-for-3.

“The bottom of the lineup continues to prove how good they can be delivering 5 of our 6 runs,” Prough said. When they play focused, we’re a tough team. Silas did well showing his skills – hitting and base running. He’s just makes things happen when he gets on base.”

Prough started and went six innings for the win. He scattered 3 hits, allowed 3 runs (2 earned), and had 4 walks and 4 strikeouts. Sophomore Carson Davis pitched the seventh with a strikeout to pick up the save.

“I was pleased with Dalton’s pitching too. Having not pitched in 2 weeks, we were expecting some rust, but he kept competing. I think it’s the first time in my 7 years that one of the rivals swept the season series. So that tells you how good the rivalry is and how good it feels for our guys to end the week with a win and completing the week sweep.”

Kriner was 2-for-3 at the plate to lead the Tigers while Williamson added the other hit. Alex Stein started on the mound and gave up 5 runs (all earned) on 8 hits in 4 innings of work. Kipp Hillson and Brion Smith also pitched an inning each.

View the complete box score on WellsboroBaseball.com, powered by Circle W Sports.