A-K Valley PIAA playoff preview capsule for June 10, 2021

By: Michael Love
Wednesday, June 9, 2021 | 3:54 PM

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Softball

Class 5A

Quarterfinals

7-2 Highlands (17-5-1) vs. 3-1 Bishop McDevitt (23-2)

4 p.m. Thursday at Mt. Aloysius College in Cresson

Coaches: Jen Koprivinikar, Highlands; Tim Bowen, Bishop McDevitt

Winner plays: Winner of 7-1 Beaver Area (18-0)/7-3 Elizabeth Forward (18-3) Monday in the semifinals (site and time, TBD)

Players to watch: Riley Pointkowski, So., OF, Highlands; Olivia Murphy, Sr., P, Bishop McDevitt.

Extra bases: Highlands, in only its second appearance in the PIAA tournament (1981), will play in the state quarterfinals for the first time. The Golden Rams toppled District 9 champion Clearfield, 7-1, Monday behind a 13-hit attack and a four-hitter with nine strikeouts from junior Jaycee Haidze. Pointkowski led the way with three hits, including a triple, with an RBI and a run scored. Eight of the nine hitters in the Highlands lineup had at least one hit. Haidze now has 48 strikeouts in five postseason games. … Bishop McDevitt’s only two losses this season came to larger schools in Mechanicsburg and Chambersburg. The Crusaders, who won the District 3 title for the first time, outlasted Berwick, 3-2, in nine innings in the first round Monday. Senior Maddy Lehigh hit a walk-off single for the victory. Fellow senior Olivia Murphy (23-2) struck out nine and gave up six hits against Berwick. She has 209 strikeouts in 150 innings. Both Murphy and Lehigh have totaled more than 100 hits in their three varsity seasons.

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.

Tags: Highlands