High school roundup for June 14, 2021: West Greene rolls past DuBois C.C. in PIAA semifinals

By: Tribune-Review
Monday, June 14, 2021 | 9:43 PM

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For the fourth time in six years, West Greene softball will play for a state title after ousting Dubois Central Catholic, 12-1, in the PIAA Class A semifinals Monday afternoon at Slippery Rock University.

Pioneers coach Bill Simms dedicated the victory to his late father Allen Lee, who died Jan. 14.

“He was a big part of everything we ever did, and he always was here in his blue jeans and gold shirt,” Simms said. “He’s with us today.”

Kiley Meek and Olivia Kiger drove in four runs each for the Pioneers. Meek was 2 for 4 with a double and was the winning pitcher with three strikeouts. Kiger was 3 for 4, including a two-run double in the third that gave West Greene a 3-1 lead.

“She staked it in there fair and let us score a couple there,” Sims said of Kiger’s double. “We try to capitalize on momentum plays and that was a big one.”

London Whipkey went 4 for 4 with a walk and an RBI. Jersey Wise had two hits and scored twice.

The Pioneers added three runs in the fifth, two in the sixth and four in the seventh.

West Greene plays Tri-Valley in the finals at 11 a.m. Friday at Penn State’s Nittany Lion Softball Park.

North Penn 10, Canon-McMillan 0 (5 inn.) — North Penn scored five runs in the fourth inning and Coastal Carolina recruit Mady Volpe struck out 12 batters in a five-inning win over Canon-McMillan in the PIAA Class 6A semifinals at Mechanicsburg. Volpe allowed only four hits over five innings.

Olivia Ulam singled twice for the Big Macs, while Lauren Duke and Elika Mowery had one hit apiece. Duke took the loss for Canon-McMillan, allowing five runs, four earned, over 2 1/3 innings. She had a pair of walks and surrendered five hits.

Julia Shearer had three hits for North Penn, which will face Haverford in the finals at 4 p.m. Thursday.

Baseball

Bethel Park 1, Central Mountain 0 (9 inn.) — David Kessler tripled and scored on a throwing error to propel the Black Hawks past Central Mountain in a nine-inning thriller in the PIAA Class 5A semifinals at PNG Field in Altoona.

Prior to Kessler’s game-winning play, Bethel Park’s Evan Holewinski and Central Mountain’s Aidan Major had quite a pitchers’ duel.

Holewinski pitched seven innings, allowed four hits, struck out five and did not walk a batter. Major, a West Virginia recruit, went eight innings and surrendered only three hits. He had five strikeouts and no walks.

Cody Geddes pitched two scoreless innings of relief to earn the win.

Bethel Park will try to win its second PIAA title and first since 1988 when it plays Red Land in the finals at 4:30 p.m. Thursday at Penn State’s Medlar Field at Lubrano Park.

North Allegheny 3, Spring-Ford 1 — The Tigers scored all three runs in the third inning, which was highlighted by a two-run single by Danny Gallon, en route to topping Spring-Ford in the PIAA Class 6A semifinals. Brady Palmer pitched 5 1/3 innings for North Allegheny and limited Spring-Ford to one run on a solo homer by Dylan Ducharme. Palmer yielded six hits, struck out three batters and had one walk. Logan Andreyko had an RBI double for the Tigers.

North Allegheny will make its sixth state championship appearance and looks to win its first title since 2000 when it faces La Salle College in the finals at 4:30 p.m Friday.

Eden Christian 8, Southern Fulton 3 — For the first time in school history Eden Christian will play for a state championship after knocking off Southern Fulton in the PIAA Class A semifinals at First Commonwealth Field in Homer City. The Warriors plated two runs in each of the first three innings to build a 6-2 lead and added two more insurance runs in the eighth.

Eden Christian will meet the winner of Halifax and Juniata Valley in the championship at 10:30 a.m. Thursday. Halifax and Juniata Valley’s semifinal was postponed to Tuesday due to inclement weather.