Jim Thorpe (four) and Tamaqua (three) combined to crown seven champions at the 11-team Palisades Invitational Track Meet on Saturday.

BASEBALLPleasant Valley-FreedomFreedom outlasted Pleasant Valley in a non-league baseball game, collecting a 5-4 hard-fought win.Zak Gagnon proved to be the offensive standout for the Patriots, as he finished 3-for-3 with a double, while teammate Edgar Garcia was 2-for-3 with two doubles and a RBI.For the Bears, Brendan Kearns smacked a solo home run and finished the way with two RBIs, while Matthew Pierce had a RBI-triple and Thomas Aruta scored two runs in the losing effort.Pleasant Valley 010 200 1 - 4 3 0Freedom 002 200 1 - 5 9 1Burke, Pierce (5) and Shank; Mazzella, Yocum (5) and Knerr. WP - Yocum, LP - Burke. HR: PV - Kearns (4th, none on).SOFTBALLNorthwestern-EmmausEmmaus used three unanswered runs to come back to defeat Northwestern in a non-league softball game, 3-2.After the Lady Tigers scored the first two runs in the bottom of the fifth, the Green Hornets got two RBIs from Erin Schmick in top of the sixth to tie it up, before garnering the game-winner in the top of the final inning.Caitlyn Bowers led the locals' offensive charge, as she singled and added a hit to force an error to score.Emmaus 000 002 1 - 3 5 1Northwestern 000 020 0 - 2 5 1Brown, Marks (7) and Krasnansky; Danner and Greenburg. WP - Brown, LP - Danner, S - Marcks.Pleasant Valley-FreedomFreedom dominated Pleasant Valley in softball action, as they used five innings to ten-run rule their opponent, 10-0.Kelsey Brandle, Shayla Peterson and Lexie Szaro all finished 2-for-3 on the day, with Peterson scoring two runs. Also, Hunter Schantz belted a home run, brought in three RBIs, and scored three runs for the Lady Patriots.Meanwhile, the Lady Bears got their sole hit from Kiersten Griesback.Pleasant Valley 000 00 - 0 1 3Freedom 250 3x - 10 9 0Deubler, Griesback (3) and Caffrey; Peterson and Guidetti. WP - Peterson, LP - Deubler. HR: F - Schantz.TENNISJim Thorpe-Blue MountainBlue Mountain ousted Jim Thorpe in tennis action, sweeping through the singles match-ups in straight sets, en route to a 7-0 win.The Olympians number one double tandem Roman Raytsis and Brandon Huffman took their opponents to a tie breaker in a pro set, before dropping a 7-3 decision.With the loss, Thorpe drops to 0-3 on the year.Blue Mountain 7, Jim Thorpe 0SINGLESCollin Boris (BM) def. John Lowin 6-2, 6-0; Andy Surcek (BM) def. Matt Miller 6-2, 6-1; Conner McCaw (BM) def. Brett Luicana 6-2, 6-1; Ben Ney (BM) def. Luke Eggert 6-0, 6-1; Bryce Weizer (BM) def. Austin Faylor 6-0, 6-0.DOUBLESBradley Hufford/Danny Johns (BM) def. Roman Raytsis/Brandon Huffman 8-7 (7-3); Ney/Weizer (BM) def. Shane Varano/Chris Widdicombe 8-1.Palmerton-Notre Dame GPNotre Dame of Green Pond used their strengths to defeat Palmerton, 5-0 in Colonial League tennis action on Friday afternoon.The Blue Bombers' toughest challenges came from their two doubles teams, as Jacob Brown and Sal Melo, along with Ryan Roberts and Kristen Ahner both picked up six games in their respective matches.Notre Dame 5, Palmerton 0SINGLESFran Mowrey (ND) def. Rich Roselli 6-0, 6-2; Gio Mowrey (ND) def. Jordan Cressman 6-1, 6-0; Dan Gallagher (ND) def. Collin Green 6-0, 6-0.DOUBLESTim Gallagher/Shyam Mehta (ND) def. Jacob Brown/Sal Melo 6-2, 6-4; Matt Hidalgo/Anthony Melher (ND) def. Ryan Roberts/Kristen Ahner 6-4, 6-2.TRACKTamaqua, Jim Thorpein Palisades InvitationalBoth Jim Thorpe and Tamaqua took part in the Palisades-hosted Pirate Invitational over the weekend, with both teams netting some bright results. Out of the 11 participating teams, the Olympian boys finished third, with the Blue Raiders following behind in sixth place. The Lady Raiders finished fourth, while Jim Thorpe's girls took sixth, as well.Individually, Jim Thorpe's Rayan Green won the high jump, while Zach Zucatti (javelin), Jacob Wenzel (shot put) and Jason Sylvester (discus) all earned first place in their events as well.Three Lady Raiders took first place in their events, as Rebecca Minehan won the pole vault, Vanessa Solt won the discus and Paige Demetriades won the javelin.Devon Matz, of Jim Thorpe, took second in the 300 hurdles and a third in the 110 hurdles.Other noteworthy finishes included Tamaqua freshman Monika Shimko taking second in the 800, while teammate Rylee Devlin finished second in the shot put, with teammate Allison Pedersen finishing right behind in third. Colleen Hoffman (JT; pole vault) and Morgan Boyle (Tam; javelin) both took third.For the boys, the Olympians' Deonte St. Hill earned second in the triple jump, with teammate Khaaliq Lynch finishing in third in the long jump. Joey Marcin of Tamaqua was third in the javelin, and Jim Thorpe's Mike Malatak was third in the 300 hurdles, as well.Jim Thorpe's 400 and 1600 relays both finished third in their events, to round out the local top three finishes.***************SOFTBALL PREVIEWJim ThorpeHead coach - Bernice Bott (9th year)Assistant coach - Karen Marhefka, Katie Albert, Shari Beers, Mike Pope.League - AAA, Schuylkill LeagueLast year's record - 1-19Key Losses - Nicole MurphyKey returnees - Kimberly Conway (Sr., OF), Bryanna Kehrli (Sr., C, IF), Brittany Loftus (Sr., OF, IF), Casey Rodriguez (Sr., OF), Courtney Santos (Sr., SS), Gianna Bucci (Jr., OF), Anna Fiducia (Jr., 3B), Talia Valentini (Jr, 2nd, OF), Hannah Mordaunt (So., P, OF), Ciara Miranda (So., OF, C).Others to watch - Maggie Holloway (Fr., P, 1B), Joclyn Day (Fr., P, 2B), Jada Hoherchak (Fr., P), Brittney Marzen (Fr., C, 1B), Jillian Kamieniecki (Fr., OF, C).Outlook - The Olympianss return a strong leadership group between their returning seniors and juniors. Jim Thorpe is also welcoming a talented freshman class this season, which bodes well for the future of the program. The key this season will be run production. The Olympians have struggled at the plate over the last few seasons, so they will definitely need to improve on that to gain some "W's."Quotable - "Goals are set high this season. Everyone needs to know their role, continue to work hard and to believe that we can achieve our goals. If we can play with confidence, be aggressive at the plate to score runs, and continue to improve throughout the season we will be competitive," Jim Thorpe head coach Bernice Bott.EDITOR'S NOTE ... This preview of the Jim Thorpe softball team did not run with the other softball capsules in Friday's paper.