Franklin Regional has a thing for walk-off wins at its home ballpark.
The baseball Panthers showed a flair for the dramatic with back-to-back thrillers at Haymaker Park. Both came in extra innings.
Miles Tomely had a hand in each win.
In a 6-5 win over Seneca Valley on April 8, Tomely delivered a game-winning sac fly in the eighth.
When the Panthers clipped Connellsville, 9-8, the next day, Tomely was hit by a pitch in the eighth with the bases loaded for the win.
Against Seneca Valley, Liam Bernadowski doubled and drove in a run while Luke Williams tripled and had an RBI.
Anthony Mitchell was 2 for 2 with a double and two RBIs, Williams went 4 for 5 with a double, triple and RBI, and Tim Pirone homered and drove in three.
A few games earlier, Mitchell had three hits, including two doubles, and two RBIs, Pirone tripled, homered and drove in three, and Bernadowski and Tomely each had three hits in a 13-12 win over visiting Kiski Area in nine innings.
The Panthers were 5-0 at Haymaker Park as they prepared to open a two-game series against Latrobe.
With love
Colin Stalnaker and Sanshiro Ogawa of Franklin Regional reached the finals of the WPIAL Section 1-3A boys tennis section doubles tournament. The duo defeated Latrobe’s Grant Gardiner and Eli McKeever in the semifinals 6-1, 6-1. Gateway’s Logan Memije and Troy Boden defeated Prem Nadesan and Arnesh Paura of Franklin Regional, 6-2, 6-0, in the other semi.
Girls lacrosse wins big
The Franklin Regional girls lacrosse team moved to 5-3 on the season (3-1 Section 1-2A) with a 15-0 victory over Greensburg Central Catholic.
Isabella Ioannou and Savannah Vollero each scored three goals while Evangelina Rogers, Emerson Funari and Anna Ionnou had two apiece.
Boys lacrosse wins nailbiter
Franklin Regional’s boys lacrosse team held off a late comeback by Knoch to post a 9-8 victory and move to 4-4 overall and 2-3 in Section 1-2A.
The Panthers took a 6-3 lead after two periods, but Knoch scored four times in the third to take a 7-6 edge.
But Franklin Regional found the net three times in the fourth to regain the lead and get the win.
Grant Novotny led all scorers with four goals for the Panthers, while Matt Kukura scored twice.
College watch
Updates on Franklin Regional alums playing in college:
Baseball
Grove City: Junior left fielder Dan Luko went 3 for 5 with a double in a 5-4 victory over Hiram in PAC action. Luko added a pinch-hit solo home run in a 13-11 win over Allegheny in 11 innings.
Penn State Behrend: Senior catcher Thomas Nicely went 2 for 4 with a double and two runs scored as the Lions defeated Pitt-Bradford, 9-2, in the second game of a doubleheader. Nicely also had a hand in the first game, 1-0 victory. He caught junior pitcher Colin Bolla’s no-hitter.
Women’s lacrosse
Grove City: Junior attacker Gwen Shilling had a goal and an assist as the Wolverines (11-3, 7-0 PAC) made it 11 straight wins by trouncing Hiram, 23-0.