Mohawk uses 4-run rally to defeat Southmoreland in Class 3A quarterfinals

By: Paul Schofield
Monday, May 19, 2025 | 9:35 PM

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Southmoreland softball coach Todd Bunner brought his team together in left field at the Montour softball field Monday for one last time.

After his talk, he huddled the players, and they all put their hands together and yelled “family.”

No. 2 Mohawk scored four runs with two outs in the bottom of the sixth inning and rallied to defeat No. 7 Southmoreland, 8-6, in a WPIAL Class 3A quarterfinal. Mohawk will play Ellwood City, which defeated McGuffey, 8-0, on Wednesday at a site and time to be determined. The loss ended the Scotties’ season.

“My girls do not quit,” Bunner said. “They gave me everything they had. So I appreciate that, especially from my seniors (Makayla Etling, Riley Puckey and Taylor Doppelheuer). They’ve been with me for four seasons.”

Mohawk (14-5) took advantage of five walks, a hit batter and an error. Four free passes ended up scoring.

“We gave them too many outs and too many free passes,” Bunner said. “We had a couple plays we should have made. Whenever you do that with a good team, you cannot give them extra outs.”

Southmoreland (10-8) took a 1-0 lead in the top of the first inning on a solo home run by Puckey.

Mohawk rallied the bottom of the inning when junior first baseman Lydia Cole launched a two-run homer. The Warriors made it 3-1 in the third inning when Alivia Hare was hit with a pitch, moved to second on Cole’s single, stole third and scored when Mylie Pistorius reached on a fielder’s choice.

Southmoreland’s bats awoke in the fifth inning. With two outs, Puckey walked and scored on a double by Makayla Brown to make it 3-2. Junior pitcher Zoey Murphy then cracked a two-run homer over the center-field fence for a 4-3 lead.

“We played them tough,” Bunner said. “We also hit well. Let us just say they knew we were there. I thought Zoey, I thought she pitched one of her better games overall. She was a warrior.”

Mohawk tied the score 4-4 on two wild pitches and an error.

Warriors coach Hank Pezzuolo then replaced starting pitcher Reagan Magno with junior Addison Moskal, who committed three illegal pitches for replanting her pivot foot.

Southmoreland took advantage, scoring two runs on singles by Brown and Murphy.

Pezzuolo said he did not agree with the illegal pitch calls.

“We had those illegal pitches, but we were able to battle back and get the win,” Pezzuolo said. “Southmoreland is a scrappy team and well coached.

“The game turned when Kaitlyn got that big two-out triple. She propelled us. She came through for us.”

Then came the sixth. Murphy walked Mango to open the inning. She then retired then next two batters, which brought up the ninth batter in the order, Kaitlyn Hare.

She ripped an RBI triple and before Murphy retired Mango, the Warriors had scored four times.

Paul Schofield is a TribLive reporter covering high school and college sports and local golf. He joined the Trib in 1995 after spending 15 years at the Daily Courier in Connellsville, where he served as sports editor for 14 years. He can be reached at pschofield@triblive.com.

Tags: Mohawk, Southmoreland