Laurel tops Shenango to win 3rd straight WPIAL softball crown

By: George Guido
Thursday, June 3, 2021 | 8:05 PM

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Laurel coach Frank Duddy had a feeling designated player Abbie Miles would have a big game Thursday in the WPIAL Class 2A softball finals against Shenango.

And Miles responded with a home run to tie the game in the fourth inning then doubled home what proved to be the winning run in a 6-5 victory for the Spartans at Cal U’s Lilley Field.

It was the third consecutive WPIAL crown for Laurel, now 17-1.

The Wildcats (16-5) had taken a 3-2 lead over their Lawrence County neighbors in the top of the fourth, but Miles blasted a pitch over the left field fence to tie the game.

Shenango responded with two more runs in the fifth, only to see the Spartans answer with a three-spot.

Bekah Valenti started the decisive rally by beating out a roller to third. Kaylee Withrow then tripled to right center and scored on a fielder’s choice as Addison Deal bunted to third.

Deal took second on an errant throw home and Autumn Boyd was intentionally walked. After Grace Kissick struck out, Miles doubled to left, scoring Deal with the eventual game-winning tally. Boyd also tried to score on the play, but Wildcats catcher Madison Iwanejko held on to the ball in a collision with Boyd.

“I had a premonition Miles was going to win this game for us,” Duddy said. “She’s been our glue and has not let up for us. She is a big, strong girl.”

Laurel will play Frazier on Monday to open the PIAA playoffs while Shenango meets Chestnut Ridge. That game will presumably be played in the Somerset-Bedford area. The Wildcats were going for their first WPIAL softball crown.

“This is tough to swallow,” said Wildcats coach Pat Quahliero. “First, hats off to Laurel. We knew who they were. They’re good, and I think we proved that we are, too. I knew early on it wasn’t going to be a 1-0 game.”

After the Spartans took the 6-5 lead, Boyd then cemented her status as one of the WPIAL’s top freshman pitchers by preserving the lead. With the tying run on third in the sixth with one out, Boyd struck out the next two Shenango hitters. In the seventh, she walked Iwanejko but catcher Valenti picked off Iwanejko after she strayed too far off first. Boyd then struck out the next two to secure the title.

“I knew we had it then,” Boyd said of the pick-off. “I knew my team was full of good hitters (earlier), and I knew we’d get those runs back.”

Boyd finished with 13 strikeouts. She fanned 19 in the semifinals against Frazier.

“You’re going to see a lot more of her,” Duddy said.

After being no-hit by Ligonier Valley’s Maddie Griffin in the semifinals — despite winning 3-1 — Shenango wasted no time getting into the hit column as lead-off batter Brianna DeSalvo singled.

Laurel took a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the first on doubles by Withrow and Boyd.

Ashley DeCarbo doubled and scored in the three-run fourth for Shenango. In the fifth, Iwanejko doubled and came home on DeCarbo’s single.

It was also another stellar pitching performance from Wildcats senior Mia Edwards, a Colgate recruit. Edwards struck out 12, including an immaculate inning in the second, retiring Laurel on nine pitches.

Said Quahliero: “She did everything she was supposed to do. She was fabulous. She executed pitches well. It was one of those games where you had to dig deep, and we did.”

Edwards had 50 strikeouts in 49 playoff innings. Both teams had split low-scoring games during the regular section season, including Shenango handing Laurel its only loss.

Watch an archived video stream broadcast of this game on Trib HSSN.

Tags: Laurel, Shenango