Laney Dineff scatters 10 hits, bats heat up for Deer Lakes in Class 3A win over Charleroi

By: Adam Brewer
Thursday, May 15, 2025 | 10:05 PM

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The Charleroi softball team pounded out 10 hits in its WPIAL Class 3A first-round game against Deer Lakes on Thursday afternoon at Norwin Softball Field.

But despite the high hit total, the Cougars’ offense stalled out in several innings and was held in check by Lancers pitcher Laney Dineff.

Deer Lakes capitalized on its 11 hits and had a critical, five-run fourth inning, en route to a 7-0 victory.

“We have been working really hard on hitting these last couple of practices,” Deer Lakes coach Paul Lagnese said. “And today, we were stinging the ball everywhere in the outfield. That hard work paid off today. We put enough quality at-bats together with runners on base. That was the difference maker.”

The Cougars (9-9) had a hit in all seven innings and left a total of eight runners on base.

“We could not string hits together today,” Charleroi coach Trey Tilghman said. “I am not sure why. Just one of those days, we did not get any bounces or breaks. We were a little impatience early on, and did not have the right mindset at the plate.”

Charleroi was coming into the postseason on a positive note, winning five of its last seven games. In that stretch, the two losses came against Section 3-3A champion and overall top seed South Park.

The Lancers (8-13) will play South Park (18-0) on Monday in the quarterfinals with a time and site to be determined. Deer Lakes will look to avenge last year’s 1-0 setback to the Eagles.

“Obviously, South Park is a really good team,” Lagnese said. “Their pitcher is outstanding, and I imagine they got better since the last time we saw them in the playoffs. It will be a tough test for us.”

Sophia Laurenza registered three hits for the No. 8 seed Lancers, and the lone senior on the squad is eager for the matchup against South Park.

“As a senior, I did not want this to be my last game,” Laurenza said. “So that pushed me to play at my best today. I was trying to get the ball in play and put together good at-bats. We are coming in as the underdogs against South Park. We have no pressure on us. We have nothing to lose. We just need to feed off this game and continue to hit together as a team.”

Dineff had to battle around a potent Charleroi offense all day for the complete-game shutout, but her pitch count was low throughout, only using 79 pitches. The junior had two strikeouts and no walks.

“Laney pitched a great game,” Lagnese said. “Last year in the 1-0 loss to South Park, she pitched another great game. She is a playoff pitcher, and she knows how to perform under pressure. She is not going to wow you with her stuff, but she is a very crafty pitcher and knows how to throw strikes.”

Charleroi’s Ariahna Blouse was tagged with the loss in the circle, as her final stat line includes six innings pitched, seven runs on 11 hits with eight strikeouts and two walks on 117 pitches.

“AB (Blouse) battled for us today,” Tilghman said. “She is a super, competitive kid. She stepped up for us this season because our original starting pitcher went down with an injury. I challenged her a lot this season, and she was definitely up to the task for us.”

With two outs in the top of the first, the Cougars slammed back-to-back singles by Nori Stringa-Smith and Lyla Brunner. But Dineff escaped with a groundout to third base to hold Charleroi scoreless.

Deer Lakes broke through in the bottom of third with a run, as No. 9 hitter Ella Thomas singled to start the frame. Thomas’ pinch runner, Haley Friess, scored two batters later on an RBI single by Laurenza.

“Our offense has been hit or miss this season,” Laurenza said. “So to get that first run was huge for us. When we play with confidence, we are a completely different team. We have been hitting the batting cages a lot last week. All that practice really helped us out today.”

The Lancers exploded for five runs in the fourth, as Thomas laced a two-run single followed by a two-run triple by Siena Plummer and another run-producing hit by Laurenza.

Charleroi had its best scoring chance in the sixth, loading the bases after singles by Avery Pendo, Zoey Charlton and Rya DiPietrantonio. But just like the prior five innings, the Cougars could not get that extra hit against Dineff as the junior wiggled out of the jam with a strikeout.

Dineff helped herself out at the plate in the bottom of the sixth with an RBI groundout that scored Plummer.

In the top of the seventh, Dineff worked around a double by Blouse to secure the victory for the Lancers.

Despite the playoff setback, Tilghman is optimistic about the future for the Cougars.

“We are disappointed with the loss, but if you look at our roster, we are young in a lot of spots,” Tilghman said. “We only lose two seniors, so the core of this group will be back. They will learn from this playoff loss.”

Tags: Charleroi, Deer Lakes