PIAA Class A softball championship preview: West Greene vs. Tri-Valley

By: Don Rebel
Thursday, June 17, 2021 | 8:38 PM

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History is being made in Happy Valley this week as the WPIAL sends 10 baseball and softball teams to Penn State University to compete in the PIAA championships.

This is the fourth year the PIAA has had six championships in baseball and softball.

In 2017, the WPIAL sent seven teams. In 2018, it grew to eight District 7 teams, but in 2019, only five district baseball and softball teams reached the state finals.

West Greene (21-2) vs. Tri-Valley (20-2)

11 a.m. Friday at Beard Field at Nittany Lions Softball Park at Penn State

Broadcast

You can listen to the audio broadcast of this game at TribHSSN.TribLive.com courtesy of the Greene Sports Network

Path to Penn State

West Greene defeated District 5 Shade, 5-4; District 10 Cambridge Springs, 6-5 in 10 innings, District 9 DuBois Central Catholic, 12-1

Tri-Valley defeated District 1 Faith Christian Academy, 13-1; District 4 Montgomery, 4-3; District 3 Halifax, 7-3

District Postseason

West Greene defeated Bishop Canevin, 10-0; South Side, 5-3 and Union in the WPIAL championship game, 17-2

Tri-Valley defeated Marian Catholic, 7-0 and Nativity BVM in the District 11 championship game, 3-0

Performers to Watch

West Greene

Junior Kiley Meek has been a force in the circle and at the plate for the Pioneers. She is 21-2 with a 1.94 ERA with 136 strikeouts and is batting .372 with a team high seven home runs and 39 RBIs. West Greene has two players hitting over .400. Sophomore London Whipkey is hitting .529 and senior Jersey Wise is hitting .435.

Tri-Valley

Coach Marty Shade has been running the Bulldogs for over three decades. Lefthander Sydney Schley and righty Emma Maurer have split the pitching duties for Tri-Valley. Lexi Snyder and Gianna Poletti each drove in a pair of runs and the two combined for three doubles in the Bulldogs semifinals win over Halifax.

Streaks

West Greene has a 13-game winning streak while Tri-Valley has won 5 straight games

Factoids

• West Greene is 17-3 in the PIAA softball playoffs and will be playing in the program’s fourth state championship game. The Pioneers played Williams Valley in three straight state Class A championship games, winning 9-8 in 2017 and 11-7 in 2018 and losing to the Vikings in the 2016 state finals.

• Tri-Valley has a 4-2 record in the PIAA playoffs. This will be the Bulldogs’ first appearance in the softball state finals in this, only the third year they have qualified for the state softball playoffs. Tri-Valley lost in the 1994 first round and fell in the quarterfinals in 2002.

• The last WPIAL team to win a PIAA Class A softball title before West Greene in 2017 was Chartiers-Houston in 2010. The last District 11 team to win a state Class A softball crown was Williams Valley in 2019.

Tags: West Greene