SCRANTON – Renee McDonald ripped four hits and Marley Sarafinko was arguably the best defensive player June 30 when the 570 Sports Show conducted its third annual Senior Softball All-Star Game at Connell Park.
Abington Heights had two players on each side in the game for recent graduates of District 2 teams.
The state Class 5A semifinalists were well-represented when the White Team, run by retiring West Scranton coach E.J. Dougher, posted an 11-9 victory over the Red Team, coached by Riverside’s Katie Fox.
Sarafinko and Ava Stafursky were part of the winning White squad, along with Scranton Prep’s Alexa Mulrooney.
McDonald and Lauryn Notari joined Lackawanna Trail’s Victoria Alvarez among the members of the Red team.
Abington Heights was the only team with players on both sides although an injury during the game led to Elk Lake’s Amanda Voll being the starting pitcher for the Red and the winning pitcher by working the last two innings in the circle for the White.
Players from Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association state Class 3A champion Mid Valley, Holy Cross and West Scranton were also part of the White.
The Red also had players from Carbondale, North Pocono, Nanticoke, Forest City, Holy Redeemer and Valley View.
Sarafinko played shortstop and got to work immediately, recording the game’s first two outs, including a difficult play on a pop up while retreating into shallow left field. She twice erased the lead runner at third base after fielding a groundball, starting a double play on the first of those two occasions.
At the plate, Sarafinko was 2-for-3 with two runs scored. She led off two innings and scored both times, including the tying run during the game-winning, four-run rally in the bottom of the sixth inning.
Stafursky, the starting left fielder for the winners, went 1-for-4 with an RBI single in the fifth inning to start the comeback after four runs in the top of the fifth had given the Red an 8-6 lead.
Mulrooney moved to second base and pitcher during the game. She allowed one run on a walk and hit, but ended her only inning in the circle by catching a line drive and turning it into a double play. Mulrooney was also 1-for-3.
McDonald thrived in the lead-off spot for the Red, putting the team on top in the first inning. She was 4-for-4, scored the first three times up, including following Holy Redeemer’s Kendra Santuk for back-to-back homers to begin the fifth inning. Her shot gave Red a 7-6 lead.
Notari started in left field, then moved to first base. She went 0-for-4.
Alvarez was 0-for-3.
Carbondale’s Julia Gorel, who drove in five runs, matched McDonald in going 4-for-4 for Red.
Mid Valley’s Courtney Rebar, who drove in three runs for the White, was selected as the game’s Most Valuable Player. Rebar had a two-run double in the third and a single that brought in the last White run in the winning rally.
BASEBALL
Lackawanna Trail’s Braden Savage went 0-for-1 while playing for the Lackawanna team, which lost to Luzerne, 4-2, in the first game of the 570 Sports Show All-Star doubleheader at Connell Park.
Pittston Area’s Jeremy Cawley was named MVP of the Luzerne team, made up of graduates of Wyoming Valley Conference schools. He had two hits, two runs, three stolen bases and an RBI. Cawley scored the game’s first and third runs and drove in the second.
