Bahnick wins home run derby

By JOSH FOLCK
Special to the Press
LIMEPORT - Bethlehem Catholic shortstop Matt Bahnick probably wouldn’t be described as a home run hitter after connecting on just two homers during his senior season.
But on Saturday evening at Limeport Stadium, Bahnick proved exactly how much power he possessed with his bat. The Golden Hawks senior won the Frank Yelinko Home Run Derby, which was part of the 25th annual Howard E. Deppe All-Star Baseball Classic benefitting the Lehigh Valley Unit of the American Cancer Society.
Bahnick racked up 22 points in the home run contest, just edging out Northwestern’s Nathan Kester for the title.
The power display even included three balls that cleared the fence at Limeport Stadium.
“I thought I had a good shot,” Bahnick said. “I’m one of those kids that in the games won’t hit many home runs, but in BP, I can change my stance and I can hit them out.”
Bahnick, who will play at East Stroudsburg next year, went 0-for-2 for the Black Team in its 13-4 loss to the Blue Team in the first game of the all-star doubleheader.
“I’m friends with a bunch of these guys from Carpenter Cup, so it’s a good opportunity to just go out and have fun,” Bahnick said. “It’s the last time playing for your high school team.”
Bethlehem Catholic was also represented by Tyler Carle, Joey Connell and John Mahan in the game. Connell went 1-for-2 with a single in the fifth inning for the Black Team. Mahan singled to lead off the second inning and scored the team’s first run. Tyler Slanovec of Freedom also played for the Black squad, striking out in both his at bats.
“You get to play with a lot of guys you play against during the season,” Slanovec said. “You have some fun, get to see some good competition. Giving money to charities as well. So it’s all a good cause.”
After the Black team took a 1-0 lead in the second inning, the Blue squad used four hits, including a two-run triple from Stroudsburg’s Matthew Landro, in a six-run second inning.
Whitehall’s Pat Bet was named MVP after delivering a three-run homer into centerfield in the sixth inning for the Blue team.
“It’s not very easy to be recognized as the top player here so it’s a pretty big accomplishment,” Bet said.
The second game of the doubleheader featured all stars from the Colonial League.
The Purple Team led 10-1 in the fifth inning before watching the Red Team rally to within a run in the seventh inning. Notre Dame-Green Pond’s Matt Wagner wrapped up the victory for the Purple Team when he got Northern Lehigh’s Joe Seremula to ground out to second to end the game.
Bangor’s Elliot Freeman led the Red team, going 2-for-5 with a double, a triple and four RBIs.
Andrew Ebner of Salisbury won the second game’s MVP award after recording two hits, including a two-run single in the Red Team’s five-run third inning.
“It was fun, just to come out here. It was for a good cause,” Ebner said. “Overall, it was a good experience for everyone to come out here and do it for a good reason.”

Blue 13, Black 4
Black 011 000 2 - 4 6 1
Blue 060 043 x - 13 14 0
HR: Bet (BL) (6th, 2 on).
Barry, Slanovec (2), Magditch (4), Mahan (5), Green (6) and Dauscher, Wood (4); Cooperman, Arner (2), Reyes (3), Wilt (4), Argentieri (5), Anoai (6), Ortiz (7) and Argentieri, Abeln (3), Forth (4), Gerhard (6). W - Arner. L - Barry.

Purple 10, Red 9
Purple 005 230 0 - 10 14 2
Red 010 020 6 - 9 10 1
Kohler, Ebner (4), Kotch (6), Wagner (7) and Repyneck; Seremula, Conway (3), Kester (6) and Dugan. W - Kohler. L - Conway.

Merwine third in 800 at state meet

By KATIE MCDONALD
kmcdonald@tnonline.com
Knowing that the 800 at the PIAA State Track & Field meet would be the last race of Jon Merwine’s high school career, Becahi coach Ralph Yeager told the Hawk senior to relax, have fun, go out 120-percent, and you’ll be happy with the outcome.
In return, Merwine placed third in Class AA with a time of 1:57.33, earning a state medal at Shippensburg University last weekend.
Later that day, Annie Aaroe, Sarah Braun, Rachel Balogh, Jenny Schadt, and Christa Irzinski medaled in the 4x800 relay, placing fifth in 9:36.73. Irzinski ran anchor on Friday during preliminaries, while Schadt ran anchor for Saturday’s final.
Braun said, “Annie went out strong and came through around sixth. I caught up to second, and Rachel got it between second and third. Jenny had a lead, and this whole pack caught up to her, but she has a really good kick.”
The Hawks just missed fourth place by 4/100 of a second to Villa Joseph Marie (9:36.69).
“It was really exciting. We medal every year, so I definitely wanted to carry on that legacy,” said Braun. “All that was going through my head was that I better break 2:20. I wanted to go out with a bang.”
This was the fifth year in a row that the Hawks medaled in the girls 4x800 at the state meet.
Coach Yeager said, “Five years in a row, we won the state medal, and it was a good way to end the seniors’ high school career. I’m proud of Annie, Sarah, and Jon, and the year they gave us.”
Alyssa Cardillo was 24th in the long jump with a distance of 15-10. Kelly Brown was 17th in the shot put with a throw of 34-4 1/4.
***
In 3A action from the state meet, Liberty’s Jarrod West was 13th in the high jump clearing 6-2.
Amy Darlington took 11th in heat 2 prelims with a time of 5:05.32. The 3200 relay team made up of Darlington, Julie Horvath, Jess Cygan and Lauren Gonzalez was seventh in heat 1 with a time of 9:29.15. The time bested last week’s district winning time of 9:35.48 but unfortunately didn’t qualify them.
In the 1600 relay, the team of Raven McChristian, Cat Noack, Erika Shumock and Gonzalez had a 4:01.89 giving them third in heat four but the time didn’t allow them to move on. They were seeded at 4:01.66.
Freedom’s Nate Palmer was 26th in the 3200 run with a time of 10:03.67.