PIAA Softball First Round Recaps for Monday, June 4th

By: Bruce Markey
Monday, June 4, 2012 | 9:53 PM

Hatboro-Horsham, Philipsburg-Osceola and Minersville were joined in the state softball winners circle last year by one WPIAL team, the Valley Vikings in Class AAA. Valley did not qualify for the postseason this year, but the 2012 WPIAL champs are all off an running in the 2012 version of the state softball tournament. Here are recaps from the First Round of the 2012 PIAA Softball Playoffs from Monday, June 4th.

Thanks to Bob Gregg, Josh Rowntree and Jason Tennant for their help on these recaps.

PIAA CLASS AAAA First Round:

Canon-McMillan Big Macs 4 – Erie McDowell Trojans 0
Alayna Astuto tossed a one-hitter and Abby McCartney homered and drove in three runs as WPIAL champion Canon-McMillan beat District 10 titlist McDowell, 4-0, in the first round of the PIAA Quad-A softball playoffs.  The Big Macs next face Central Mountain, 2-1 winners over Hempfield.  For the second straight game, McCartney broke a scoreless tie with an rbi double in the middle innings, driving a ball off the fence with two out in the fourth, scoring Missy Staub, Georgiana Zeremenko's courtesy runner.  Tara Schram singled to center in the fifth, plating Yaszmin Kotar.  McCartney's line drive two-run homerun to straightaway center closed the scoring in the sixth.  The round-tripper came on the 10th pitch of the at-bat.  Meanwhile, Astuto completely shut down the Trojans (12-10), giving up only a bunt single to Lexi Fuller in the sixth and walking three, one of them erased on a groundball doubleplay.  The righthander struck out 13 in a dominating performance.  Zeremenko had three singles, Kotar two to go along with McCartney's power (2-for-3, 2B, HR, 3 RBI).  Canon-McMillan (17-5) has now won seven straight and 10 of their last 11 games.  Thursday's quarterfinal game against Central Mountain is expected to be early in the day due to Canon-McMillan's commencement exercises that evening.

Central Mountain Wildcats 2 – Hempfield Spartans 1
Hempfield’s Karilyn Null gave up only one hit, but the Spartans still lost this Class AAAA game at Penn State. Central Mountain scored both runs in the bottom of the first inning. Hempfield finished with seven hits, but stranded 11 runners. Alyssa Bats and Justyne Falbo had two hits apiece for Hempfield.
 

PIAA CLASS AAA First Round:

Montour Spartans 4 – Punxsutawney Chucks 1
The Spartans did what the Spartans do best. Montour (18-5) used stellar pitching and timely hitting to defeat Punxsutawney (12-7) 4-1 in the first round of the PIAA Playoffs at North Allegheny High School. Senior ace Kaitlyn Kutchman gave up just three hits and struck out nine in seven innings of work for Montour, who have now won ten consecutive games, nine by three or more runs. Punxsutawney struck first though, as Johnna Depp would single in the 2nd inning, advance to second on a stolen base and to third on an illegal pitch call on Kutchman. Sydney Phillips would sacrifice fly home Depp, giving the Chucks a 1-0 lead. That would be it though for Punxsy, as Kutchman would retire 13-straight batters after Depp and allow just two more hits and three base runners total from then on. Montour would tie the game in the 4th, as Kutchman would walk and have her courtesy runner, Bri Pekich, score on a perfectly executed double steal with teammate Allison Hyradil. The Spartans would take the lead for good in the 5th as Malory Gerst would lead off with a walk, advance to second on a Alyssa McMurtrie single. Stacey Capp would then hit a ball back to Chucks' pitcher Randa Depp. Depp would attempt to get Gerst's courtesy runner, Emily Dieks, out at third. Instead, the ball would sail and Dieks would come in to score, giving Montour a 2-1 lead. Hyradil would then double, scoring McMurtrie and Capp, pushing the lead to 4-1. Punxsy would never seriously threaten again, as Kutchman would strike out the last two batters, putting the WPIAL AAA Champions Montour into the PIAA Quarterfinals. Hyradil would finish 3/3 with 2 RBI. Montour, now in the Quartefinals for the second time in three years, will meet Greensburg-Salem, the consolation winners from the WPIAL who blasted Carrick 16-0 in the PIAA first round, on Thursday at a site and time to be determined.

Greensburg-Salem Golden Lions 16 – Carrick Raiders 0
The game was stopped after five innings because of the 10-run rule. Jayne Oberdorf pitched a one-hitter and struck out 11 for Greensburg-Salem. Carrick, the City League champion, trailed by 6-0 after three innings, and Greensburg-Salem added four runs in the fourth and three in the fifth. Taylor Mehan hit a grand slam for Greensburg Salem and finished with six RBIs. Greensburg-Salem had 17 hits.

Fort LeBoeuf Bison 3 – Elizabeth Forward Warriors 2
Elizabeth Forward held a 2-0 lead until Fort Leboeuf scored two runs in the fifth and one in the seventh to pull out the win. Amanda Krolczyk had a one-out, RBI single in the bottom of the seventh to score Jolene Young from second base with the winning run at Penn State Behrend. Shortstop Allania Banta had three hits for Fort LeBoeuf. Elizabeth Forward scored two unearned runs in the third inning. Cassie Pietkiewicz was the winning pitcher, allowing only four hits.
 

PIAA CLASS AA First Round:

Deer Lakes Lancers 5 – Wilmington Greyhounds 4
The WPIAL AA Champions were pushed to the brink, but untimely errors pushed them to victory anyways. Courtney Lubick drove in 3 RBI, including the game winner in the 6th, as Deer Lakes (20-1) defeated Wilmington (15-6) 5-4 in the first round of the PIAA AA Playoffs at North Allegheny High School. The Lancers, no strangers to tight games, won their fourth consecutive playoff game by 2 runs or less. Wilmington got on the board first, as Allison Drake would drive in Mackenzie Hires, giving the Greyhounds the 1-0 lead in the 2nd inning. Deer Lakes would answer right back though, tying the game up in the bottom half of the 2nd, as Lubick would knock in Hannah Blinn. Mackenzie Parrish would then score on an error for Wilmington, giving them a 2-1 lead in the 3rd. But Deer Lakes, resilient all afternoon, would plate two in the bottom half, as Blinn would double, driving in Katie Gozzard and Sierra Sarver to give the Lancers their first lead at 3-2. An RBI double by Lubick in the 4th would score courtesy runner Haley Ketchel, pushing the Lancers' lead to 4-2. But WIlmington would answer in the 5th, as Alexis Donati would double and plate Katherine Clark and Cassidy Marret, tying the game at 4-4. But Deer Lakes would again respond. Tiffany Edwards reached on a throwing error by Mackenzie Hyers to start the bottom of the 6th. Parrish would then commit an error, putting Haley Moretti aboard. After Edwards was caught stealing 3rd, Lubick would double again, scoring Ketchel, who again ran for the pitcher Moretti, giving the Lancers the 5-4 lead. After Marret would single to start the top of the 7th, Moretti would force three-straight fly-outs, including a spectacular leaping catch by Leanne Crawford on a ball crushed by Hyers to left field. Lubick finished 3/3 with 3 RBI while Blinn was 2/3 with 2 RBI and a run scored. For Wilmington, the runners up in District 10, Donati was 2/4 with 2 RBI, while Clark was 2/3 with a run scored. Deer Lakes, who are in the PIAA playoffs for the first time in school history, move into the Quarterfinals where they will face the winner of Cranberry and Central on Thursday at a site and time to be determined.

Phillipsburg-Osceola Mounties vs. Neshannock Lancers 
Suspended in third inning with the defending champion Mountines leading the Lancers 1-0 at Penn State University. The game will resume on Tuesday at 1:00pm on MSA Sports

Fairview Tigers 7 – Greensburg Central Catholic Centurions 0
Fairview stayed undefeated by beating the Centurions at Penn State Behrend. Fairview took a 4-0 lead in the second inning, and the big hit was a two-run triple by freshman Courtney Kupniewski. Fairview scored once more in the third and twice in the sixth. Junior Raven Rozanta pitched a four-hitter for Fairview. Anna Marie Gatti started for Greensburg Central but was relieved by Nikki Adisey in the second. Carolyn Appleby had two hits for Greensburg Central Catholic.

PIAA CLASS A First Round:

Chartiers-Houston Buccaneers 4 – Brockway Rovers 0
Megan Kraushaar singled home two runs in the second inning and Kayla Briggs allowed just one hit from that point on, striking out ten, as Chartiers-Houston beat Brockway, 4-0, in the opening round of the PIAA Class A softball playoffs.  The Bucs (24-1) have now won 18 straight games.  After pitching out of a bases-loaded, two-out jam in the first, Briggs faced just three batters over the minimum, including two walks with two out in the seventh.  Chartiers-Houston took advantage of five Rovers' errors in the game, two of them ahead of Kraushaar's single in the second.  With Ashley Hall at third and Haley Sutton at second, the Bucs' secondbaseman stroked a sharp single to left.  Hall scored easily and Sutton got to the plate just after the throw but got a foot to the plate ahead of the tag.  In the third, an error allowed Piper McLaughlin to score and Sutton's groundout scored Colby Miller to set the final margin.  Briggs retired the Rovers (13-7) in order in the second, fourth, fifth and sixth innings.  With the aid of a doubleplay in the third, 14 straight Brockway hitters were retired in a row until the seventh inning walks.  Losing pitcher Alexandra Wright held the Bucs to just four hits, all singles, and walked four, but was victimized by five errors including one each by the four infielders.  The righthanders, who tossed a no-hitter in the opening round win over Brashear, also had two of the Rovers' three hits, all singles.  Having won seven of their last 8 PIAA playoff games, Chartiers-Houston now takes on District 10 champion Saegertown, 4-1 winners over Bellwood Antis.

Fannett Metal Tigers 2 – Carmichaels Mighty Mikes 1
The Carmichaels Lady Mikes' season came to a close in Everett, PA as their bats fell silent against the District 5 Champion, Fannett-Metal, who advanced to the PIAA Quarterfinals with a 2-1 win.  The Mikes started on the right foot as lead-off hitter Erica Burns was hit by a pitch, stole second, and then scored on a 1-out single by Cameron Grimes.  The Tigers would answer though in very similar fashion in the bottom of the first.  Their lead-off hitter, Megan Dougherty, also was issued a free pass with a base on balls.  Dougherty stole second and then advanced to third when catcher Lindsey Osborne had to throw down to first to complete a strikeout after a passed ball.  Dougherty would tie the game on a sacrifice fly by Blaire Lauthers.  Carmichaels led off the top of the second with a double from Sarah Hathaway, but that would be their last hit of the game.  Hathaway was stranded at third, Morgan Berardi was stranded at first after she was hit by a pitch with 2 outs in the third, and Caroline Cree reached on an error with 2 outs in the fifth and was stranded at second.  The Mikes, who stranded 12 base runners in the WPIAL Championship Game, were only able to muster a total of five base runners the entire game.  Fannett-Metal, though with only four hits of their own, had their lead-off hitter on base in every single inning.  The only hit that didn't start an inning, ended up being the deciding factor when Morgan Burdge doubled in Lauthers from first base in the fourth inning.  A key point in the game was a Fannett-Metal pitching change.  After four solid innings from Jenna Rhodes, the Tigers went with Lauthers to close out the final three.  Lauthers threw a 1-hitter in the District 5 title game and with only three innings to play, Carmichaels would not have the luxury of time to test the waters against Lauthers, whose only base runner was Cree reaching on an error.  Lauthers faced only 10 batters, struck out four, and closed out the game by retiring the last 7 she faced.  The win went to Rhodes, who struck out 6 and the loss to Grimes, who struck out three and walked three.  Burns would relieve Grimes with one out in the bottom of the sixth, walking one and striking out the final two Tigers' batters.  Carmichaels' season ended with back-to-back losses as they finished, 22-3.

Elk County Catholic Crusaders 6 – Sto-Rox Vikings 2
Sto-Rox outhit Elk County Catholic, 11-4, but Elk County Catholic still came out victorious in this Class A game at Brockway. Sto-Rox committed three errors, two in the first inning when Elk County Catholic grabbed a 3-0 lead. Natalya Smarra pitched the distance for Sto-Rox, struck out seven and walked three. Mary Cersosimo had three hits, Smarra two and Aimee Miller two for Sto-Rox.