Record 12 A-K valley schools qualify for WPIAL softball playoffs

By: Michael Love
Thursday, May 13, 2021 | 8:39 PM

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A record 12 Alle-Kiski Valley softball teams now know their WPIAL playoff fates as the tournament brackets were released Thursday afternoon.

Games begin Tuesday and Wednesday at neutral sites with the WPIAL finals set for June 2-3 at Cal U (Pa.).

Leechburg, the co-champions of Section 3-A with Springdale, garnered the No. 2 seed in the Class A bracket. The Blue Devils (11-4) have a bye into the quarterfinals and will face the winner of No. 7 Mapletown and No. 10 St. Joseph.

The Maples and Spartans (6-9) will do battle Tuesday at 2 p.m. at West Mifflin.

“I am very pleased with the respect (from the committee) on the placement,” Leechburg coach Debbie Young said. “That’s an honor, for sure. I was a little nervous with splitting with Springdale. But I had confidence, just in the way we played throughout the season, in the nonsection teams we faced and how we played in our last game against Springdale. We are very well prepared. The girls are ready and excited.”

The Blue Devils, part of the WPIAL postseason for the 34th year in a row, won WPIAL titles in 1991, ’92 and ’95.

Springdale, in the playoffs for the second year in a row, split with Leechburg in Section 3 play and is the Class A No. 5 seed with a first-round matchup against Rochester set for Tuesday at 4 p.m. at North Allegheny.

West Greene, which is going after its fifth straight WPIAL Class A title, is the No. 1 seed.

It is an A-K Valley showdown in Class 5A, as Section 1 champion and No. 3 seed Plum (13-3) will face No. 14 Fox Chapel (11-6) at 2 p.m. Tuesday at Gateway in a rematch of a 6-1 Mustangs victory March 26.

“That was our first game of the season, and it’s hard to take anything from that,” said Plum coach Phil DiLonardo, whose team wrapped up its second section title in as many seasons with Thursday’s doubleheader sweep of Woodland Hills.

“I’m sure they’re a lot different from early in the season, and so are we. But we’re going to be ready to play the game. The girls are excited to get the playoffs going. Everyone seems to be pointed in the right direction. We’re on a good roll, so hopefully we can continue that.”

Section 1-4A co-champions Highlands (13-4-1, 7-3) and Knoch (9-7, 7-3) and fellow Section 1 foes Burrell (7-6, 6-4) and Freeport (10-6, 6-4) are bunched together in the Class 4A bracket as the No. 5, No. 8, No. 6 and No. 10 seeds, respectively, reflective of the teams’ competitiveness in section play all season.

Burrell beat Highlands 8-1 on Wednesday, and Knoch topped Burrell 3-1 on Thursday to wrap up section play.

Class 4A first-round games are Wednesday. Highlands meets Blackhawk at 3 p.m. at Montour, Burrell faces Belle Vernon at 2 p.m. at Plum, Knoch takes on Central Valley at 4 p.m. at Mars, and Freeport will battle Yough at 3 p.m. at Norwin.

“We knew every game was going to be close in section and it was going to be a dogfight,” Knoch coach Gary Coe said. “Hopefully, those games will help us as we get ready for the playoffs. We have to get through that first game and see what happens next.”

Burrell has the second-longest playoff-appearance streak in the A-K Valley at 15 seasons. Freeport is third at 11 seasons in a row.

Deer Lakes, 11-3 overall and 8-2 (second place) in Section 1 of Class 3A, is seeded sixth and will take on No. 11 Ellwood City at 3 p.m. Tuesday at Montour. The Lancers, in the playoffs for the 10th year in a row, won WPIAL titles in 2012 and 2015.

In the same bracket, Valley (5-8), in the playoffs for the first time since 2012, has drawn the 12th seed and will meet No. 5 South Allegheny at 4 p.m. Tuesday at Fox Chapel.

Apollo-Ridge (7-4-1) is the No. 11 seed in Class 2A, and the Vikings will take on No. 6 Chartiers Houston at 2 p.m. Wednesday at Mars. Apollo-Ridge is making its fourth consecutive trip to the playoffs.

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.