Deer Lakes’ softball team relied on the one-two punch of pitchers Samantha Colton and Anne Marie Brnardic to post its first win of the season.

Colton and Brnardic combined to pitch a one-hitter as Deer Lakes (1-1) cruised by Knoch (0-1), 7-0, in non-section play Wednesday.

Colton pitched the first five innings and struck out 10, while Brnardic went the last two innings and struck out three. Knoch’s Brittany McDermott broke up the no-hitter with two outs in the seventh inning. Hailey Moretti and Candace Scanga both were 3-for-4 with two RBI, and Hannah Blinn was 3-for-4 with one RBI for Deer Lakes.

Valley 2, Highlands 0 — Caitlin Nealer shut down Highlands’ offense, allowing three hits and striking out 14 batters, to help Valley open the season with a win.

Casey Bonk hit a home run for the Vikings (1-0).

Ford City 9, Kiski Area 5 — Ford City’s Maggie Russo had three RBI and the Sabers (2-0) rebounded from giving up three runs in the first inning in a non-section home win over Kiski Area (1-1). The Sabers scored six running over innings two and three to take the lead for good and help starting pitcher Ashley McCoy to the win.

Kittanning 8, Freeport 4 — Kittanning jumped out to a 7-0 lead after the first two innings on the way to a non-section road win over Freeport. Ann Colligan collected the pitching win for the Wildcats (2-0) and had a triple, while teammates Carrie Merryman and Brynn Fleeger each doubled. Freeport (0-1) scored all of its runs in the fourth inning.

BASEBALL

Springdale 7, Apollo-Ridge 6 — Despite committing eight errors, Springdale was able to use a late rally to beat visiting Apollo-Ridge.

Sean Figore’s RBI single capped a four-run rally in the sixth inning, and Mark Koprivinikar pitched a scoreless seventh for the win.

Joe Killian went 2-for-3 with two runs scored while Tyler Stiner added two hits and two RBI for the Dynamos (2-0). Starter Caleb Whelan went four innings, giving up just one unearned run.

For Apollo Ridge (0-2), Zack Long went 2-for-4 and Mike Bier collected two RBI.

Highlands 5, Valley 3 — Highlands (2-0) used a four-run sixth inning to earn a non-section win over Valley.

Pitcher Nathan Virag struck out 12 batters for the Golden Rams to help earn the victory.

Zarley Zalewski tripled and homered for Valley (0-1).

Riverview 7, Deer Lakes 6 — Ken Dibucci hit a three run homer in the sixth inning to lift Riverview (2-1) over Deer Lakes (0-1). Dibucci went 4-4 in what was the second consecutive game in which he drove in the game winning run. Raiders freshman Anthony Malky picked up his second win of the year after allowing two runs in four innings.

Knoch 7, Ford City 1 — Andrew Wirtz hit a two-run homer and drove in four runs to lead Class AAA Knoch (2-1) past Class AA Ford City (0-2) in a non-section game. Pitcher Cullen Hinderliter picked up the victory after shutting out Ford City for five innings, and Dale Gallo doubled twice and had one RBI.

Ryan Smerlick drove in Ford City’s lone run in the bottom of the seventh inning.

BOYS TENNIS

Kiski Area 4, Penn Hills 1 — Kiski Area improved to 3-0 as it won every match except No. 1 singles in Section 3-AAA action.

BOYS VOLLEYBALL

Deer Lakes 3, Ford City 2 — Thanks to a 15-10 victory in the fifth set, Deer Lakes pulled out its season opener in a Section 2-AA match.

Jeremy Gaston had 17 assists and 17 service points to pace the Lancers (1-0).

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