Burrell, Deer Lakes enter WPIAL softball playoffs looking to reprise runs from 2022

By: Michael Love
Thursday, May 11, 2023 | 9:39 PM

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Burrell and Deer Lakes made deep runs in the 2022 softball postseason.

The Bucs and the Lancers hope for repeat performances, and they now know where this year’s playoff journeys will begin.

Burrell is the No. 4 seed in the Class 3A bracket, and Deer Lakes owns the No. 9 seed in the same field.

The WPIAL softball playoff pairings were revealed Thursday evening, and the road to Lilley Field at PennWest University, California, on May 31 and June 1 has begun.

“Everyone is 0-0 to start the playoffs,” Burrell coach Rick Nealer said. “They’re all good teams, or they wouldn’t have made it here. It’s a whole new season. You work so hard for so long to put yourself in a position to go after a title. It’s pretty exciting.”

Burrell (11-5) finished the regular season with four Section 1 games in five days, and it went 3-1 to secure second place in the section at 7-3 behind No. 1 Avonworth. The Bucs face traditional power Mt. Pleasant, the No. 13 seed, in the first round Tuesday at 3 p.m. at Plum.

“Mt. Pleasant is a really good team, and we are focused only on them,” Nealer said of the 11-8 Vikings. “It’s often said, but we have to take it one game at a time and hope to do the right things to be able to advance.”

Mt. Pleasant captured WPIAL Class 3A titles two years ago and in 2016.

Deer Lakes was placed in the 8-9 matchup and will face Central Valley (8-5) on Tuesday at 5 p.m. at Montour. A win for the Lancers, third place in Section 1, could set up a rematch with Avonworth, not only from the section season but from last year’s Class 3A title game.

“Our side of the bracket is pretty interesting with Avonworth and Burrell right there,” Deer Lakes coach Rick Cerra said. “We have a big challenge ahead of us against Central Valley. With the eight and nine teams, we’re right in the middle, so everyone expects a close game. I am sure that’s what it’s going to be.”

Deer Lakes (9-5) will visit Kiski Area for a tune-up exhibition Friday at 4 p.m.

Leechburg (10-7), the runner-up to Frazier in Section 3-A earned the No. 7 seed in the Class A bracket and will meet No. 10 South Side (8-5). The rematch of the 2021 third-place consolation game, won by the Blue Devils, 10-3, for a spot in the PIAA tournament, will be Tuesday at 3:30 p.m. at Penn-Trafford.

The winner gets No. 2 Carmichaels (16-0) next Thursday in the quarterfinals.

Leechburg extended its WPIAL-record playoff-appearance streak to 36 years.

Senior Anna Cibik remembers well that 2021 game against South Side. She hit a fourth-inning grand slam, which broke the game wide open.

Plum, the third-place team from Section 1-5A and the No. 9 seed in the Class 5A bracket, faces No. 8 Thomas Jefferson (13-5) on Monday at 3 p.m. at Gateway. The Mustangs (10-6) last won a playoff game in 2017, and it came against the Jaguars in that year’s Class 5A first round.

Three of TJ’s five losses this season came by one run, including a 3-2 results against Class 4A No. 3 Chartiers Valley.

Knoch (10-8) is the only area playoff team in the Class 4A bracket, and the Section 1 co-champion with West Mifflin is the No. 6 seed. The Knights will play their first-round game in familiar territory as they face No. 11 Uniontown (5-9) on Monday at 4 p.m. at West Mifflin.

Apollo-Ridge, the No. 9 seed in Class 2A, pairs up with No. 8 Burgettstown (11-7) in the first round Tuesday at 5:30 p.m. at Penn-Trafford. A win would set up the Vikings (6-9), the third-place team from Section 2, to face No. 1 and undefeated Neshannock (16-0).

The Lancers, from just north of New Castle, are the defending WPIAL and PIAA Class 2A champs and are riding a 42-game win streak.

Valley finished tied with Freeport for fourth in Section 1-3A, but the Vikings swept the Yellowjackets, knocking them from the postseason.

Valley (6-10) drew the 14th seed in the Class 3A bracket and will face No. 3 Waynesburg Central (14-3) in the first round Tuesday at 4 p.m. at Peterswood Park.

Fox Chapel (7-11), the fourth-place team from Section 1-5A will look to pull the upset when it faces No. 3 West Allegheny (18-1) on Monday at 5 p.m. at Montour.

The Indians won three straight WPIAL Class 5A titles from 2017-19 and hoped to make it four straight in 2020 before the coronavirus pandemic put a halt to that season.

While Leechburg has a lock on the WPIAL’s longest streak of playoff appearances, Burrell and Deer Lakes own strong streaks as well at 17 and 12 years, respectively. Knoch is in the playoffs for the ninth year in a row, and Apollo-Ridge (sixth), Plum (fourth), Fox Chapel (third) and Valley (third) continue to build streaks of their own.

Each WPIAL classification owns a set number of berths to states. Class 5A, Class 4A and Class 2A send three to the PIAA tournament, and four go in both Class 3A an Class A.

Deer Lakes is the most recent Alle-Kiski Valley team to win a WPIAL title. The Lancers captured the Class 2A crown in 2015, two years before the WPIAL and PIAA moved to six classifications.

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.