A-K valley softball notebook: Leechburg not the only team with a long playoff streak

By: Michael Love
Wednesday, May 12, 2021 | 9:25 PM

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Leechburg owns the record for consecutive seasons making the WPIAL playoffs, but several teams also are building sizeable streaks of their own.

Burrell, with a 7-5 overall record and a 6-3 record in Section 1-4A, enters the WPIAL postseason for the 15th season in a row, having last missed the playoffs in 2005.

Freeport and Deer Lakes punched their tickets for the 11th and 10th straight times, respectively, while Knoch is going for the seventh time to extend a run started in 2014. Apollo-Ridge extends its streak to a fourth consecutive year.

On the flip side, Valley (5-7, 5-4 Section 1-3A) will take part in the playoffs for the first time since 2012. The Vikings captured WPIAL championships in 2007 and 2010.

Lancers roll

Deer Lakes added to its already deep resume Wednesday with a 13-3 Section 1-3A victory over Valley.

The win for the Lancers avenged a 6-3 loss to the Vikings in the section opener April 9.

Deer Lakes capped its section slate at 8-2 and improved to 11-3 overall.

The Lancers’ only other loss in section came at the hands of North Catholic, 7-2, on May 5. They edged the Trojanettes, 7-6, in the first meeting between the teams April 20.

North Catholic stands at 8-1 in the section heading into its finale against Valley on Thursday.

In Wednesday’s triumph, Delanie Kaiser went 3 for 4 with a home run, a double and four RBIs as part of Deer Lakes’ 16-hit attack. The Lancers collected eight extra base hits in the five-inning affair.

Plum responds

After a covid pause that took several days of practice and game opportunities away from the Mustangs, they came back with three wins in three days, beginning Monday, to put their mark on second section title in as many seasons.

Plum recorded a 5-0 shutout of a potent Armstrong lineup Monday, a tight 7-6 win over Kiski Area in nine innings Tuesday and a 10-0 blanking of Penn Hills on Wednesday to improve to 11-3 overall and 9-1 in the section.

The Mustangs will take on Woodland Hills in a doubleheader Thursday to cap section play as they begin to look ahead to the WPIAL playoffs.

A record number

With 12 teams qualified for this year’s WPIAL playoffs, it marks the most from the Alle-Kiski Valley since the WPIAL went to six classifications in 2017.

In 2017, 11 teams qualified. That number dipped to eight in 2018 and seven in 2019.

The WPIAL playoff pairings are scheduled to be released at 5 p.m. Thursday on the TribLive High School Sports Network.

One more chance to play

Because of low roster numbers and availability issues for some games – three players also compete in track and designate that as their main sport – Riverview played only five section games this season.

The other five in section were forfeited to their opponents.

But the Raiders players are expected to be in full force Thursday as they celebrate senior day against Jeannette at Riverside Park at 3:45 p.m.

Those seniors are Zoey Metz, Ali Lawson, Miya Tominello and Eleni Wyrick.

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.