Gateway grad Emma Kennedy hits strong stretch for Slippery Rock softball

Apr. 7—Gateway graduate Emma Kennedy hopes a recent hitting streak for the Slippery Rock softball team is the genesis of good things for the junior starting catcher.

She collected at least one hit in each of four games — five total out of 11 at-bats — as The Rock went 3-1 in matchups against Clarion, Mercyhurst and Cal (Pa.).

Kennedy went 1 for 3 with two RBIs in a win at Mercyhurst on March 27.

Two days earlier, in a victory at Clarion, she recorded a pair of singles, drove in a run and scored twice.

The recent recovery snapped a tough 1-for-17 slump for the veteran Slippery Rock performer who started 20 of her team's first 22 games.

As of the matchup with Cal, she was fifth on the team in batting (.263) with nine RBIs.

The junior catcher has made 82 career starts for The Rock. She had a strong 2023 season with a .303 average, three home runs, eight RBIs and 12 runs scored while slugging .461 with a .354 on-base percentage.

Slippery Rock was 10-15 overall and 3-3 in PSAC play heading into a scheduled Saturday doubleheader against conference rival Edinboro and a Sunday conference doubleheader against Pitt-Johnstown.

Alexa Washington

Alexa Washington, a Monroeville resident, Oakland Catholic graduate and freshman on the Division I North Florida women's basketball team, was named to the Atlantic Sun All-Freshman team for the 2023-24 season.

The guard played in all 30 games for North Florida and made one start. She averaged 19.9 minutes and 6.7 points a game for an Ospreys team which finished 9-21 overall and 3-13 in conference play.

A three-time ASUN Freshman of the Week, Washington recorded a season-bests of 31 points and was 9 of 16 from 3-point range in a win over Piedmont on Dec 13.

She finished the season with eight double-digit scoring games, including 13 in 24 minutes against the Florida Gators in her collegiate debut Nov. 6.

Nate Demchak

Nate Demchak made one start and appeared in six of Westminster baseball's first 18 games.

The Titans freshman outfielder and Gateway graduate made his debut against Penn State Schuylkill on March 4 and collected his first collegiate hit — a single — in two plate appearances.

Demchak made his first start against Oberlin on March 16, and the left fielder delivered a two-run homer in the fifth inning of a 7-3 loss.

Brandon Bell

Chatham freshman Brandon Bell, a former Gateway standout, started his first collegiate game at Hiram on March 28, and he collected his first collegiate hit in the Cougars' high-scoring 19-14 victory.

The second baseman singled, drew a walk, stole two bases and scored three runs for Chatham, which improved to 7-10 overall with the victory.

Bell crossed the plate with the

Cougars' first run in the second inning and also their 18th run of the game as part of a three-run seventh which gave them some breathing room at 19-8 before Hiram tried to mount a late-inning rally.

Nolan Boehm

In that same game against Hiram, Gateway graduate Nolan Boehm, Chatham's starting first baseman collected a pair of hits in two at-bats and scored a pair of runs.

The Cougars freshman played in 10 of the first 17 games with two starts.

It was his second two-hit game of his young collegiate career.

He cracked a solo home run and singled March 19 against Pitt-Greensburg in a tough 15-13 loss.

Boehm also is 1-1 on the mound. He struck out one in a scoreless inning of relief to earn the win in Chatham's victory over Thomas College on March 7.

Jared Busche

Gateway grad Jared Busche, a fourth-year player for the Penn State New Kensington baseball team, hit .259 (15 for 58) with five doubles, two home runs and nine RBIs in 18 games through a doubleheader sweep of Penn State Greater Allegheny on March 29 at No Offseason in Russellton.

He had a monster game March 16 against CCAC-Boyce with both of his home runs and seven of his nine RBIs, a single, and three runs scored in the Lions' 12-6 win.

Busche has a total of five multi-hit games for PSNK which entered April 9-11 overall and 2-6 in PSU Athletic Conference action.

Brady Sundin

Brady Sundin, a Saint Vincent sophomore distance runner and Gateway grad, placed sixth out of 16 runners in the 10,000 meters at the Bearcats' outdoor season-opening Washington & Lee Track Carnival March 16 in Lexington, Va.

Sundin led Saint Vincent in the event with a time of 32 minutes, 45.29 seconds. He was just 28 seconds away from fourth.

Michael Love is a TribLive reporter covering sports in the Alle-Kiski Valley and the eastern suburbs of Pittsburgh. A Clearfield native and a graduate of Westminster (Pa.), he joined the Trib in 2002 after spending five years at the Clearfield Progress. He can be reached at mlove@triblive.com.