Burrell softball team eyes 1st PIAA win in decade

By: Michael Love
Saturday, June 4, 2022 | 6:36 PM

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With its season on the line and a trip to the PIAA playoffs at stake, the Burrell softball team came up big Tuesday against Montour at Mars.

The Bucs scored early, and their defense, coupled with the pitching of junior ace Katie Armstrong, made it hold up in a 3-1 victory in the WPIAL Class 4A third-place consolation game.

Now, Burrell is preparing to open the state playoffs Monday against District 10 champion Villa Maria Academy. The Bucs will travel to Erie to take on the Victors at 3 p.m. at Penn State Behrend.

“We are cherishing this because we know it doesn’t happen very often,” junior center fielder Alanna Miller said concerning the state playoff berth.

“We know we need to work on a few things, but we’ve been through three really tough games (in the WPIAL playoffs), and I think we definitely will be ready for Monday.”

Burrell will play its first state tournament game since June 13, 2011, when it suffered a 5-0 loss to eventual champion Philipsburg-Osceola in the Class 2A semifinals.

The Bucs, the WPIAL winners that year, defeated District 9 champion Moniteau and District 6 runner-up Central Cambria to punch their ticket to the semifinals.

“This is very exciting,” senior Caroline Dynka said. “It’s been awhile since Burrell softball has been to states. It has the feel of a new season. Everyone has a clean slate. We’re also out of school, so we’re able to put all of our focus into going forward and hopefully making a run.”

Dynka singled on the first pitch of Tuesday’s game and came around to score the crucial first run.

A throwing error added two more runs to Burrell’s total in the first, and that was more than enough support for Armstrong as she struck out 16 and held off a late-inning Spartans rally attempt.

The defense behind Armstrong was flawless.

“It was pretty cool to get a jump like that in the first inning,” Dynka said. “It helped calm down any nerves we had. We carried that energy through the rest of the game. It gave us the drive to know that we had that game.”

Burrell, which improved to 13-2 overall, was there in practice Wednesday hoping to build off momentum from Tuesday’s win.

“We came back and kept working hard,” said Bucs freshman third baseman Bray Jones, who scored the third run in the first inning against Montour.

“We celebrated after Tuesday’s win, and then we were right back at it getting ready for states. We just wanted to keep doing what we’ve been doing.”

Villa Maria Academy defeated Franklin Area, 5-3, on May 30 to capture the District 10 title.

It was the last district title for any Villa Maria team as the school will be consolidated with Cathedral Prep starting with the upcoming academic year.

The Victors, 17-3 overall, have won four in a row.

“Honestly, we hadn’t looked at them very much,” Burrell coach Rick Nealer said during practice Friday afternoon.

“We know they were scouting us at Tuesday’s game. Basically, we know what we need to work on, and that’s what we’ve been focusing on in practice. I think that if we play our game and we play defense like we have all year, we will be fine.”

Nealer knows Villa Maria will present a hitting challenge to Armstrong, who gave up only her second earned run all year in the win over Montour. She has 225 strikeouts against 13 walks in 106 innings over 15 games.

Villa Maria is led at the top by the 1-2 hitting punch of sophomores Annabella Cipalla and Madison Simmerman. Both are hitting over .500. Simmerman leads the way with 23 runs batted in and six home runs, and Cipalla owns 20 RBIs with a team-best 11 doubles and 17 total extra-base hits.

Junior Jenna Wagner is solid in the pitching circle. She owns a 1.28 ERA with 128 strikeouts and nine walks in 98 1/3 innings.

The winner between the Bucs and Victors will face the winner of WPIAL champion Beaver and District 3 third-place Fleetwood in the quarterfinals Thursday at a site and time to be determined.

“This is a great experience for the whole team because we are really putting ourselves out there,” freshman second baseman Pyper Ferres said.

“We are showing everyone what we are really all about. I think we are going to put on a really good game Monday. It will be a great experience for both teams.”

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.

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