Ligonier Valley bounces back with Cheyenne Piper shutout in 3rd-place game vs. Avonworth

By: Bill Beckner Jr.
Tuesday, May 28, 2024 | 10:04 PM

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With the state playoffs coming up, Mark Zimmerman had his Ligonier Valley softball team practice over the Memorial Day weekend.

The cookouts could wait.

“They weren’t too happy with me,” the coach said with a smile. “But we needed to work on some things.”

The Rams’ extra work paid off in the WPIAL Class 3A third-place game Tuesday as they rebounded from a semifinal loss with a 4-0 shutout of Avonworth at Gateway.

“It’s hard to come off a game like that,” Zimmerman said of a 3-0 loss to South Park in which the Rams were no-hit. “We wanted to come out today and get that bad taste out of our mouths.”

Both teams, upset victims in the WPIAL bracket, will start the state playoffs Monday on the road.

The Rams (16-6) will play the District 6 champion. Meanwhile, Avonworth (14-5) gets the champion of District 10.

Avonworth was upset by No. 4 Mohawk in the WPIAL semis, ending its 12-game winning streak.

Ligonier Valley senior ace Cheyenne Piper, the talk of WPIAL pitchers in recent weeks after throwing three consecutive no-hitters, including a perfect game in the playoffs, was back to form, moving pitches and forcing hitters to chase.

She allowed five hits, struck out 10 and walked one in a matchup of the top two seeds in the WPIAL playoffs (Avonworth was No. 1, Ligonier Valley No. 2).

“She is cool on the mound,” Avonworth coach Jenna Muncie said of Piper. “She has that demeanor and handles the pressure well. She did a nice job. We couldn’t get things going and couldn’t get anything through to the gaps.”

A three-run third inning gave Piper a lead with which to work.

She helped her cause with a 3-for-4 day at the plate. She cracked a two-run double to start the scoring, and junior Natalie Bizup followed with an RBI groundout for a 3-0 lead.

In the sixth, freshman Bella Dolton brought in the fourth run with a single. The leadoff hitter reached base for Avonworth in the third, fourth and fifth innings, but the Antelopes could not produce.

After senior Alivia Lantzy, their ace pitcher, singled, junior Emma Obersteiner drove a deep fly ball to center, but sophomore Adelynn Witcoski made an impressive catch to save a potential run.

The Antelopes threatened in the fifth, but Piper worked out of it with marked patience. After singles by junior Abigail Brooks and junior Sydney Savatt and an error, Avonworth had runners at second and third with one out. But Piper struck out senior Rylee Gray, then got Lantzy to fly out to right.

She also got a strikeout and flyout to end the seventh and seal the win.

“We need to pull together and bounce back,” Muncie said. “When you get to the state playoffs, you have to want it more than the other team.”

Bill Beckner Jr. is a TribLive reporter covering local sports in Westmoreland County. He can be reached at bbeckner@triblive.com.

Tags: Avonworth, Ligonier Valley