Amherst High School

High school softball: Boros, Elyria bash Avon Lake

AMHERST — Kristen Boros turned Sliman’s Diamond into her own personal playground Friday. The Elyria senior hit a pair of home runs and pitched a one-hit shutout as the Pioneers romped to a 12-0 win over Avon Lake in a Division I district semifinal that lasted just five innings.

“Kristen is a big-time player, she can do it all,” Elyria coach Ken Fenik said. “She’s a great pitcher, an excellent hitter and she and Cynthia (Woodard) do an excellent job of providing senior leadership to the team.”

In her first at-bat, Boros hit her fourth home run of the year - a rocket shot to straightaway center field that bounded off the top of the perimeter fencing more than 250 feet from home plate - to give Elyria a 1-0 lead.

Two innings later she hit homer No. 5 to right-center as part of the Pioneers’ 11-run third inning.

“I had the chance to practice with my dad before the game,” Boros said. “I don’t go up to the plate trying to crush the ball, I just want to make good contact.”

Boros, who went 3-for-3 with three RBIs and three runs scored, was just as spectacular from the pitching circle as she improved to 17-4 by retiring 15 of the 18 batters she faced, while striking out five.

Shoregals starting pitcher Annie Wennerberg got the only Avon Lake (10-10) hit in the second inning when she doubled off the outfield fence.

Elyria (20-4) sent 15 batters to the plate in the third inning, scoring its 11 runs on eight hits, three walks, three stolen bases and an Avon Lake error. The first big blast of the inning came from the bat of sophomore right fielder Alexis Roseboro, who hit a three-run home run to make it 4-0. It was Roseboro’s first home run of the year.

“I got down in the count and I was just thinking about not striking out,” Roseboro said. “I was looking for a pitch I could swing low on and hit a groundball, but the pitch was right down the middle and I just drove it.”

In two postseason games this year, the Pioneers have outscored their opponents 28-0.

“I’m proud of how this team has been playing,” Fenik said. “They were hitting the ball well today, we got key hits with runners in scoring position. I was also pleased with the way we played defense.”

Elyria center fielder Marie Masters made the defensive play of the game to end the fourth inning. The sophomore ranged to her left and dove to snag Wennerberg’s line drive that looked as if it was headed for the power alley.

Amherst owns Invitational ultimate tournament | GazetteNET

The Amherst Regional boys and girls ultimate teams successfully defended their titles, and their home turf, at the Amherst Invitational over the weekend.

In a battle of tournament unbeatens, the Amherst boys narrowly defeated Columbia High 15-13 in Sunday afternoon's championship game.

Amos Adams scored four goals and had three assists in the final. Danny On scored five times with an assist, and Jimmy Bright-Dumm had two goals and four assists.

"It was within one or two points the whole game," said Amherst coach Tiina Booth. "I was impressed with how well our guys hung in there, because they hadn't had a challenge all weekend. They just kept at it. Our offensive was stuggling for a while, but they straightened it out just in time."

Adams played every point of the final and was spectacular at both ends of the field for the Hurricanes, which are now 14-0 against high school competition.

Amherst easily dispatched of the Amherst JV A squad (15-5) in the quarterfinals and Watchung Hills (15-2) in the semifinals.

The Hurricane boys went 4-0 in pool play Saturday to earn the top seed in Sunday's championship bracket. They outscored their four opponents Saturday 60-14.

The Amherst girls also had a tough title game, defeating Watchung Hills 12-9 Sunday.

"We came in really confident with our victory in the O'Hara tournament a few weeks ago, but over the course of the weekend we had multiple minor injuries," said coach Josh Nugent. "All the girls should be fine within a few weeks, but we definitely had to adjust. We still played well and other people stepped up, but we had a tough final."

Senior captain Hannah Yee, as well as Zoe Freedman-Coleman and Kelsey McDonald all left the tournament with injuries.

In the final win, Angela Zhu scored two goals and assisted on four, while Kathryn Hopkins McGill had two of each. Maya Norman and Audrey Gould turned in strong defensive performances to spearhead the victory.

"We were up 8-2 at halftime, but then fatigue kicked in and we let them back in," Nugent said. "The girls showed some resilience from that point. We'll see the same teams at Easterns, and they'll be gunning for us, so this experience will help us."

The Hurricanes beat Columbia 15-6 in the semifinals Sunday morning.

In pool play Saturday, the Hurricanes' girls completely dominated their four opponents by a combined score of 60-3.

Biographical record of the alumni of Amherst College ... 1821-[1896]

Literacy with an attitude, educating working-class children in their own self-interest

The history of the town of Amherst, Massachusetts

Amherst graduates' quarterly

Encyclopedia of Virginia biography, under the editorial supervision of Lyon Gardiner Tyler