WPIAL Softball Playoff Recaps for Wed, May 22nd and Thur, May 23rd

By: HSSN Staff
Thursday, May 23, 2013 | 12:47 AM

While six of the district softball semi's beat Mother Nature on Wednesday, the two other contests that didn't make were in another battle of beat the rain on Thursday. In the end, the Final Four contests over two days produced dominating performances by teams and individuals, an unreal comeback, a see-saw shootout, a marathon game and perfection. Here are recaps from the eight WPIAL Softball Semifinals games played on both Wednesday and Thursday.

A special thanks goes out to Jason Tennant, Mike Azadian, Bob Gregg, Steve Nagler and Don Rebel for their help on these recaps.

WPIAL CLASS AAAA Semifinals:

Canon-McMillan Big Macs vs. Hempfield Spartans
Alayna Astuto tossed a perfect game as defending WPIAL champion Canon-McMillan (20-1) clinched a berth in the WPIAL Finals with a 5-0 win over Hempfield, avenging the Big Macs' only loss of the season.  CM will face North Allegheny in the Quad-A championship game next Thursday at California University's Lilley Field.  In the bottom of the first, Olivia Lorusso's two-out single scored Yaszmin Kotar and Linda Rush, making it 2-0.  The Big Macs doubled the lead with four hits in the third.  Kotar lined a single to center.  Maddie Engel bounced a hit through the left side.  Rush smacked a shot off the glove of Hempfield pitcher, Hope Pehrson, loading the bases.  A force play at the plate and a popout left the bases loaded with two down.  Giorgiana Zeremenko smashed a single to right-center, scoring two.  The Big Macs catcher cashed in another run, singling to score Lorusso who doubled to open the sixth.  As is the case in most perfect games and no-hitters, Astuto got several above average defensive plays behind her.  In the first, rightfielder Abby McCartney charged hard at a sinking liner off the bat of Callie Madden, snagging the would-be basehit just before falling to the ground.  Tara Fowler had to break back hard and jump at the last second to take away Maddie Knizner's shot toward the fence in left in the third.  Shortstop Rush broke hard toward second to field Alaina Montgomery's leadoff grounder in the fourth, then threw wide at first but was saved by Engel.  Incidentally, that was the first groundball out in the game.  And there would only be two more as Astuto struck out seven, coaxed two foulouts, three flyouts, five popouts in the infield and one lineout.  The Big Macs banged out 10 hits, only Lorusso's double went for extra bases.  Rush had three hits.  Kotar, Lorusso and Zeremenko two apiece.  Hempfield (17-6) faces Peters Township Tuesday at Cal U with the WPIAL's final Quad-A berth in the state tournament on the line.

North Allegheny Tigers 7 – Peters Township Indians 4 
North Allegheny scored five times in the sixth inning to beat Peters Township, 7-4.  Laura Cotter's two run double opened the scoring in the decisive inning. Logann Woodley and Christine Scherer followed with rbi doubles, and Bonnie Pierson's run-scoring single capped the frame.  Both teams had chances to score in the first, but left the bases loaded.  The Tigers (17-4) put runners on all three stations thanks to three Peters Township errors.  A force play at the plate and a strike out snuffed out the threat.  After two out in the bottom of the inning, the Indians got three basehits, the last two not reaching the baselines but a popout put down that uprising.  In the top of the third, the fourth PT error of the game enabled North Allegheny to take the lead.  With one out, Scherer hit a sinking liner to center.  Carly Konopka appeared to be trying to decoy that she was going to catch the ball, then ended up too close to play the bounce cleanly and the ball went to the wall.  One out later, Mary Funderlich doubled sharply to the gap, driving in the first run.  An error in the fifth left the door open to make it 2-0.  Cotter walked and was sacrificed to second.  Scherer's popup was dropped and Pierson's sacrifice fly would have been the final out but scored Cotter.  In the bottom of the fifth, Peters Township (18-5) loaded the bases after two out.  Hannah Berardino and Abby Cunningham singled, losing pitcher Kellyn Perich was hit by a pitch.  Lindsay McKnight the doubled down the line in right, scoring all three runners, but was retired between second and third for the final out.  The Indians' 3-2 lead was short-lived however.  Rachel Pecanis singled to right on a 3-2 pitch.  Anna Sardon's bunt was fielded by Peters Township, and Liz Scherer sacrificed the runners ahead one base. That set the staged for Cotter, Woodley, C. Scherer and Pierson to drive in runs and retake the lead for good.  Konopka's solo homerun in the bottom of the sixth closed the scoring.  Sami Beining allowed four runs on eight hits in the complete-game win.  She did not walk a batter but hit two while striking out six.  Perich took the loss, touched up for four earned runs (six total) on seven hits and three walks. Funderlich had three hits, C. Scherer two, Pecanis two.  The bottom three spots in the NA lineup accounted for three hits, two walks, and three successful sacrifices. Konopka, McKnight and Berardino had two hits apiece for Peters Township, but the bottom five in the lineup went a combined 0-15 with five strikeouts.

WPIAL CLASS AAA Semifinals:

Greensburg-Salem Golden Lions 2 – West Allegheny Indians 0
Jayne Oberdorf singled home a run in the top of the tenth inning, then finished off the complete-game, two-day victory as #1 Greensburg Salem beat West Allegheny, 3-2. The game was supposed to start Wednesday at 4 pm, was delayed, started, delayed, suspended, restarted and delayed again before wrapping up about 5:15 pm Thursday. The Lions will take on Ambridge in the WPIAL Triple-A Finals next Thursday back at Cal U's Lilley Field.  Greensburg Salem (20-2) opened the scoring in the third.  Karly Mellinger singled with one out and Kellie Hutchinson reached on a fielder's choice.  Taylor Mehan plated both with a two-out double to left.  Two innings later, with Mellinger in the batter's box, the rains and thunderstorms rolled through in waves, forcing the WPIAL to suspend play to Thursday.  In the West Allegheny (12-7) fifth, the Indians put together four straight singles to tie the game.  With one out, Morgan Partyka singled up the middle.  Alexis Cogis put a grounder through the right side.  McKenzie Johnsen's basehit up the middle scored Partyka.  Taylor James singled home pinch-runner Jenny Stiles. A foul out and strike out looking stranded two, keeping the game square at 2-2.  Neither team was able to score as the game went into the ninth when the rains returned to Lilley Field forcing a 2-hour rain/lightning delay. When the game went to the 10th, the National Federation tie-breaker format was employed, starting each half-inning with a runner at second base. Mehan took second for the Lions.  Oberdorf tried to bunt her to third but failed, then singled sharply inside third, scoring Mehan with the go-ahead run.  West Allegheny couldn't move their tie-breaker baserunner and the Lions had the finals berth in hand.  Oberdorf was the winner, holding the Indians to two runs and six hits while striking out 12 batters over the 10-inning contest.  Brianna Lach took the loss, charged with three runs and nine hits.

Ambridge Bridgers 5 – West Mifflin Titans 4 
At North Allegheny high School in a WPIAL AAA Girls Softball semifinal the Ambridge Bridgers defeat the West Mifflin Titans 5-4. In the bottom of the first for Ambridge heather Mueller walked to lead off. Hannah Krokonko's grounder forced Mueller at 2nd. Kelly Haslett then singled putting 2 runners on. Hannah Smith them pounded a home run over the right center field fence to make it 3-0. West Mifflin could not score off Ambridge pitcher Haslett. She retired them in order in the first inning but every inning the Titans would leave runners on base as Haslett would use her incredible change up to keep them off stride. Haslett pitched 6 innings, giving up 3 runs on 5 hits, 7 walks and striking out 5 to get the win. Ambridge would make it 4-0 in the 5th with a lead off solo home run by Lexi Hilzendigger. West Mifflin would get their first run in the 6th inning. After 2 outs Crystal Cook walked, then consecutive singles by Chelsea Hess and Lauren Ackerman loaded the bases. An Amanda Leschak walk made it 5-1. In the Titan 7th the rally started. Marla Smith led off with a walk followed by an Alissa Cairns single. Haslett was replaced on the mound by Smith at this point. Sydney Zallis Immediatly hit an RBI single to make it 4-2. During the next at bat Carins was too far off 3rd an Ambridge catcher Jayme Humbert threw to third and had her picked off, but she broke for the plate and as she slid Humbert dropped the throw and it was 4-3. After 2 quick strikeouts by Smith, Hess reached on an error and that brought in the 4th run. A walk to Ackerman put the go ahead run on base and brought leadoff hitter Leschak to the plate. She popped out to end the game. Ambridge improved to 16-3 and moves to the WPIAL finals to be played at California University of PA next Thursday May 30th. They will face the winner of Greensburg Salem and West Allegheny. West Mifflin falls to 17-5 and will play a consolation game  next Tuesday May 28th versus the Greensburg Salem West Allegheny loser for the right to play in the PIAA state playoffs.

WPIAL CLASS AA Semifinals:

Deer Lakes Lancers 11 – Beaver Bobcats 7 
For a couple of innings, it looked as if the Cinderella run of the Beaver Bobcats was going to carry them to the WPIAL Class AA Finals.  And then came the lightning and thunder.  After a weather delay that lasted well over an hour in duration, the Deer Lakes Lancers came out storming themselves, overcoming an early 7-0 deficit and scored the final eleven runs of the game to propel them past Beaver.  The Bobcats wasted no time getting into the scoring column as they plated a pair of runs in the first inning on a two-run home run by frosh Casey Farkasovski.  They would add five more runs in a weather-delayed top of the 2^nd inning.  After play was stopped 30 minutes with the Bobcats having loaded the bases with two outs, the flood gates opened for Beaver as they got run scoring singles by Jen Kondracki and Farkasovski and then a huge 3-run triple from Bella Valent to give Beaver a commanding lead.  The 2^nd weather delay happened in the top of the 3^rd inning and, when play finally resumed around 7:45 pm, the Lancers were a completely different team.  They were the Lancer team that had come into the game having scored more than eleven runs per game.  They wasted no time after the delay to not only shrink the deficit but actually take the lead, scoring eight runs in the pivotal 3^rd inning.  They got five consecutive base hits from Tiffany Edwards, Sierra Sarver, Hannah Blinn, Courtney Lubick and Maureen Hutchinson in the inning and also benefitted from two pivotal Beaver errors in the inning.  All eight Lancer runs were unearned.  From there, Deer Lakes pitcher Tiffany Edwards took control as she set down 15 of the last 17 Bobcats she faced to record her 18^th victory of the season.  The Lancers would tack on two insurance runs in the 5^th inning on an RBI single from Hutchinson and a run that scored courtesy of another fielding error by Beaver.  The also scored a single run in the 6^th inning as well.  Hutchinson finished the game with three hits in 4 ABs, scoring a pair of runs and knocking in one. Sarver, Blinn and Rachel Tanilli all recorded two hits apiece for Deer Lakes.  Beaver’s Farkasovski finished the game 2-for-3 with three RBIs and two runs scored.  With the loss, Beaver’s magical run comes to an end with a final record of 12-7 but their future is bright as the started six freshman in their postseason run.  The Lancers (18-0) advance to the finals which will be played next Thursday at California University.  They will take on the #3 seeded Riverside Panthers.

Riverside Panthers 4 – Chartiers-Houston Buccaneers 0 
Kirsten Wilson homered in the first, the held Chartiers-Houston to two hits while fanning 13 batters as Riverside shutout the Buccaneers, 4-0. With two out in the top of the first, Wilson stepped in and drove Kayla Briggs' first pitch onto the crest of the roof of the concession stand beyond the leftfield fence at Lind Field.  It turned out to be enough for the Panthers who registered their 10th straight shutout, the 16th of the year.  Chartiers-Houston got two on with nobody out in the bottom of the frame, but Wilson struck out the next three to put down the Bucs' only threat. In the Riverside second, Morgan McElwain doubled and scored on a sharp single up the middle by Cassie Barker.  Toni Spossey relieved Briggs and pitched the rest of the way, holding the deficit to 2-0 until the seventh.  Natalie Pritts drove in Brooke Barker with a single, and Wilson's courtesy runner, Ashley Boehm, scored on a groundout by McElwain.  Pritts had three singles for Riverside (18-0), Piper McLaughlin had both hits for Chartiers-Houston (18-1), both bunt singles. After the first, the Bucs never had two runners in an inning, and were set down in order in the second, fifth and seventh. Wilson allowed just two hits and three walks in the complete game victory.  Briggs took the loss, charged with two runs on four hits in her two innings of work.

WPIAL CLASS A Semifinals:

Neshannock Lancers 9 – Frazier Commodores 1 
At North Allegheny High School In girls class AA semifinal softball action the Neshannock Lancers have another easy win as they put away the Frazier Commodores by a score of 9-1. Frazier scored in the top of the first inning after a leadoff single by Monica Joseph, a sacrifice moved her to second and an error moved her to 3rd. She would score on a wild pitch to make it 1-0 Commodores. Neshannock would pound out 4 hits and score 4 runs in the bottom of the first to go up 4-1. Marissa Dematteo had an RBI double, Katy Burrelli a 2 RBI triple and Aly  Fisher chipped in with an RBI single to pace the Lancer first inning. On the mound Sophomore Madison Shaffer was dominant allowing only 3 hits and a walk and the single run to get the win. She also was 1 for 2 with a sacrifice and a single. Up by 3 in the 5th Neshannock tacked on 3 more runs on three hits. The big blow a 2 RBI triple by Dematteo to make it 7-1. Then in the 6th a 2 run Home Run by Rayanna Furst ended the scoring at 9-1. Frazier falls to to 18-3 and will play Chartiers Houston in a consolation game on Tuesday May 28th for the right to play in the PIAA state playoffs. Neshannock improves to 17-2 and will play Carmichaels in The Championship game next Thursday May 30th at California University of PA.
 

Carmichaels Mighty Mikes 9 – Burgettstown Blue Devils 0 
The Carmichaels Mighty Mikes have advanced to the WPIAL Championship Game for the second straight year as Erica Burns collected her third shutout in as many tries this postseason, beating Burgettstown, 9-0.  The game got off to a slow start for both teams, as Carmichaels stranded one and Burgettstown two runners through the first 2-and-a-half innings.  That would change in a big way for Carmichaels in the bottom of the third.  Emma Lowry led off with a single, the Mikes' first hit of the game.  Mia Virgili then walked on four pitches to set the table for the top of the order.  After Erica Burns flew out to deep center, Caroline Cree singled in the game's first run as Rachel Hathaway, running for Lowry, came around from second.  Morgan Berardi flew out to left for the second out and Regina Menhart, as she's been countless times this season, was hit by a pitch to load the bases.  Lindsey Osborne had struck out her first time up and fell behind 0-2 again to Burgettstown pitcher Bre Lonick.  On a 1-2 pitch, Osborne turned on it and crushed a line shot deep down the line in left.  It cleared the fence just on the right side of the foul pole for a grand slam and the Mikes suddenly led, 5-0!  Amanda Brown followed with a double and she would score a sixth run in the inning when Danielle McClellan reached on an error.  From there, the climb was steep for the Blue Devils and Burns was cruising.  After hitting a batter to start the second inning, Burns retired the next 13 batters in a row.  Caley Ritts broke that up with a single in the sixth and by that time, the score was 8-0 as Carmichaels was on their way to scoring an additional run in each of the fourth, fifth, and sixth, to take a 9-0 lead into the final frame where Burgettstown went down in order for the fourth time.  Burns got the win with 8 strikeouts and no walks.  The loss went to Lonick, who struck out 3 and walked 2 in 3.2 innings pitched.  Offensively for Carmichaels, Osborne obviously had the 4 RBI with the Grand Slam, and Amanda Brown was 2-for-4 with two doubles and  2 runs scored.  Morgan Berardi was also 2-for-4 with a couple of singles and a run scored and Emma Lowry was 2-for-3 with 2 singles, a run scored and an RBI.  The Mikes won their first three playoff games by a combined 34-0 as they enter the WPIAL Championship Game against Neshannock next Thursday.