This site is about the sports doings -- mainly football -- of the high schools in Venango County, Pa. Contact:
IT'S HARD TO KEEP TRACK, BUT...
A 'dream matchup' involving two schools next door to each other might materialize at the 2A state track meet this weekend at Shippensburg. The Cranberry (left) and Oil City 1600 relay teams have been running similar times all spring. Good times, too, and at the same time, which has never happened in the history of the two programs. This past weekend, at their respective district meets, both broke school records as they kept up their season's long back-and-forth. This past Friday, Landon Baker (from left), Blake Marchinke, Cole Findlay and Dalton Wenner ran 3:28.92 in the District 9 meet. They finished fourth behind perennial powers: Central Clarion, Brookville and Karns City. It was Venango County's best time -- until Saturday. That's when Morris Woodhouse, Carter Thompson, Rilee Matalino and Dylan Van Wormer -- all underclassmen -- were clocked in 3:26.38, second only to Sharon, in the District 10 meet. Will Cranberry and Oil City face off Saturday afternoon? Will they break their school records again? Will they finish 1-2 in the state finals? (Probably not; the 2A state meet record is 3:19.07, so both are a far cry from challenging that, oh by the way.) Anyway, stay tuned...As the World Turns. (Photos found on Facebook)
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The top seed for the state meet is Catasauqua out of District 11 (Allentown/Bethlehem/Easton). Its time (3:20.03) is way better than everybody else. Warrior Run is next at 3:24.54. District 9 champ Central Clarion is No. 7 at 3:25.86. Sharon, Oil City and Brookville are 8-10. Cranberry is 24. To see them all for every event, click here.
(Updated for the umpteenth time)
(Photo by Tammy Curry)
(Photo by Kelly Malek)
Oil City's Corabel Shiley (3200) and Franklin's Logan Knight (shot, discus) are among athletes from District 10 who qualified for states. In addition to the 1600 relay, Rilee Matalino (800) and Morris Woodhouse (400) of Oil City advanced in individual events.
Dalton Wenner,
D-9 800 champ
(Boys photos from Malek stash)
Shane Clark,
surprise javelin winner
3200 relay champs again
Elena Ishman, Navy Perry, Beatrice Kolesar and Darien Wenner
Wenner was in the Neighborhood,
so he thought he'd drop by
Just for reference and as of Saturday morning:
Dalton Wenner's time in the 800 on Friday -- 1:56.92 -- put the erstwhile wrestler -- state champion wrestler -- in some pretty fast company locally.
Three former Oil City athletes won state titles in the 880 (yards)/800 (meters.)
The most recent was Ed Munoz, who ran a 1:54.82 in the 800 in 1985.
Before Munoz, there was Rick Weaver, who was clocked in 1:56.2 in the 880 in 1969. Using a yards-to-meters conversion table, which is available via Google, that's the equivalent of a 1:55.53 in the 800.
And last, but hardly least, there is two-time state mile champion Charlie Winger, who also took the 880 at states in 1955. His time was 1:58.1, which converts to 1:57.42.
What's more, Franklin's Caleb Prettyman medaled at states in all three distance events in 2024 and has the school record in all of them. That would include a 1:56.09 in the 800.
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Connor Morrow ended his career with a .358 average, 50 RBI and 24 extra-base hits, including 20 doubles. (Photo by Kelly Malek)
Franklin, Cranberry baseball eliminated
Walk-off 2B sinks Knights, while Curwensville smokes Berries
Franklin dropped a 4-3 heartbreaker to Girard in the District 10 3A playoffs Tuesday on Ryan St. Julien's walk-off double in the bottom of the seventh.
Cranberry's season also came to an end Wednesday. Homestanding Curwensville snapped a 3-3 tie with a 10-run fourth in the District 9 2A tourney. The final verdict was 14-4 in five innings.
Victor Gould had a no-hitter going through five before Franklin (11-10) rallied for a 3-1 lead in the sixth. Luke Marsteller hit a two-run homer that inning.
The Yellow Jackets tied the game in the sixth before St. Julien's two-out double to right in the seventh ended things.
Both pitchers went the distance. Gould gave up five hits, walked one and struck out nine. Losing pitcher Nate Fezell also gave up five hits. He walked two and struck out eight. Fezell finished the season with a 2.18 ERA.
Marsteller, a sophomore, hit .404 with 22 RBI. Eight of his 11 extra base hits were doubles.
Cranberry (8-10) committed four errors in its loss to Curnwensville, which also solved four Berry hurlers for 11 hits.
The Berries had only three hits, including doubles by Connor Morrow, who drove in two runs, and Lincoln Galla.
Sophomore Brody Bowler hit .478 this season, while Morrow (.377), Jake McCloskey (.375) and Alex McIntyre (.387) also put up big offensive numbers.
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Rocky Grove softball vs. West Middlesex, 3 p.m., today​, Slippery Rock
Cranberry softball vs. Moniteau, 3 p.m., today, Heindl Field, DuBois
Rocky Grove baseball vs. Cambridge Springs, 3:15 p.m., Thursday, Slippery Rock
Rocky Grove baseball (9-9) is seeded second to West Middlesex in 1A. This is a four-team event. The Grove girls (6-14) are the three seed in a three-team tourney.​
Cranberry softball team is 15-4 and will face Moniteau in the District 9 2A semifinals. Brockway will play the winner Keystone in the other semi. The championship game is Monday, May 25, at Heindl Field in DuBois. The Lady Berries are seeking a four-peat in District 9 and their seventh crown since 2012.​
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Keeping up with Luke Guth
Luke Guth was nicked for another run Friday as Vanderbilt beat South Carolina, 9-5. He didn't pitch Saturday In Vandy's 5-3 victory over the Gamecocks.
He gave up a single and a double in the seventh, but he struck out two.
He was coming off a nightmare outing last Friday (May 8) against Missouri and hadn't pitched since.
Guth was brought into the game with Vanderbilt leading last-place Missouri, 6-1, in the eighth.
But he gave up six runs -- five earned -- as the Tigers took the lead. The junior right-hander was replaced by Matthew Shorey after getting only one out. He gave up five hits and two walks as his ERA zoomed to 4.94.​
Vandy (32-24 overall, 14-16 SEC) will now head to the SEC tournament in Hoover, Ala.
Guth is a 6-1, 188-pounder from Franklin. He's one of 19 pitchers on the Vanderbilt staff and is tied for the team lead in appearances with 21.
This space is dedicated to keeping up with him and Vanderbilt, usually one of the top programs in the country.
