Alle-Kiski Valley softball playoff preview capsules: Games for May 19, 2025

By: Michael Love
Sunday, May 18, 2025 | 10:45 AM

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WPIAL softball playoffs

Class 2A

Quarterfinals

1-Neshannock (19-0) vs. 8-Apollo-Ridge (14-4)

5 p.m. Monday at North Allegheny

Winner plays: Winner of 13-Shenango (11-8)/12-Bentworth (9-9) on Wednesday in semifinals (site/time TBD)

Players to watch: Mikaila Ditty, Apollo-Ridge; Addy Frye, Neshannock

Extra bases: The Section 2 runner-up Vikings outlasted No. 9 Our Lady of the Sacred Heart, 9-8, in the first round. Ditty shined in her WPIAL playoff debut. The freshman doubled, homered and drove in three runs. The Vikings scored seven runs in the third inning and held on from there. Madison Butler doubled, tripled and drove in a run, and Josalin McCauley had two hits and an RBI. Apollo-Ridge came out on top after losing as the No. 8 seed to Riverside in last year’s first round. … Neshannock had no trouble with No. 16 Burgettstown in the first round, winning 15-0 in three innings. The Lancers have scored 220 runs in 19 games, an average of 11.6 runs a game. Frye threw a three-inning perfect game against the Blue Devils with eight strikeouts. She also went 1 for 2 with a home run and three RBIs. Miley Anderson tallied a single, a double and two triples with five RBIs, and Gabby Quinn added a home run in the triumph. Neshannock is going after its third straight WPIAL 2A title.

Class 3A

Quarterfinals

1-South Park (18-0) vs. 8-Deer Lakes (8-13)

3 p.m. Monday at Fox Chapel

Winner plays: Winner of 4-Avonworth (14-4)/12-Keystone Oaks (9-8) on Wednesday in semifinals (site/time TBD)

Players to watch: Sophia Laurenza, Deer Lakes; Sydney Sekely, South Park

Extra bases: Deer Lakes pitched a shutout in its WPIAL first-round victory over Charleroi. Laurenza, the Lancers’ only senior, tallied three hits, and Laney Dineff surrendered 10 hits in the pitching circle but was able to help keep the Cougars off the scoreboard. Deer Lakes pounded out 11 hits and developed some breathing room with a five-run fourth inning. Dineff struck out two and walked none. Junior Sienna Plummer leads the team with a .400 average with five doubles, five home runs and 16 RBIs. She had a two-run triple as part of the Lancers’ five-run uprising. Dineff was in the circle last year when Deer Lakes suffered a 1-0 loss to South Park in the 3A first round. … South Park, after surviving that early playoff scare against the Lancers, advanced to the championship game against Mohawk last season and qualified for the PIAA playoffs. This year’s Eagles are one of only three WPIAL softball teams still undefeated (Neshannock, Carmichaels). South Park breezed through Section 3 with a 10-0 record. The Eagles defeated Class 5A playoff qualifier Baldwin in their final game of the regular season May 7. Sydney Sekely, a junior pitcher; seniors Ally Wilder and Mady Wilder; and freshman Emma Hays help lead a deep South Park lineup.

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: Apollo-Ridge, Deer Lakes, Neshannock, South Park