Westmoreland softball playoff capsules: Games of Tuesday, May 24, 2022

By: Bill Beckner Jr.
Monday, May 23, 2022 | 7:52 PM

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Class 5A semifinals

11-Chartiers Valley (15-4) vs. 2-Penn-Trafford (17-2)

5 p.m. at West Mifflin

Winner plays: Winner of 4-North Hills (16-3) vs. 1-Armstrong (18-4) on June 2 (time TBD) in championship at Cal (Pa.)

Players to watch: Marie Kinchington, Chartiers Valley; Cam Ponko, Penn-Trafford

Extra bases: Chartiers Valley stunned No. 3 Trinity, scoring twice in the top of the seventh for a 6-5 victory. Kinchington went 2 for 3 with a double and two RBIs, Zoe Mangan drove in a pair and Callie Mangan had two hits. Zoe Mangan also was the winning pitcher. The Colts made the semifinals last year and lost to North Hills, 3-0. They won the consolation game for third place and went one-and-done in the PIAA bracket. The team went 5-10 in 2019 and missed the postseason. … Penn-Trafford returned to the semifinals for the second time in three seasons with a 5-0 win over Shaler in the quarterfinals. Senior pitcher Mia Smith (17-2) struck out 13, allowed three hits and walked one to earn her 40th career win. Junior Kylee Piconi hit her second home run of the playoffs, and senior Hannah Allen also homered, her team-leading fifth long ball. Ponko, a freshman third baseman who is hitting .500, had a two-run double. The Warriors won a PIAA title in 2019 when the current seniors were freshmen.

Class 3A semifinals

5-Southmoreland (13-3) vs. 1-Avonworth (15-5)

4 p.m. at Boyce-Mayview Park, Upper St. Clair

Winner plays: Winner of 3-Deer Lakes (12-4) vs. 2-South Allegheny (13-3) on June 1 in championship at Cal (Pa.) (time TBD)

Players to watch: Madison Brown, Southmoreland; Alivia Lantzy, Avonworth

Extra bases: Southmoreland avenged last year’s semifinal loss to Ellwood City in runaway fashion, thumping the Wolverines, 14-4, in six innings. Amarah McCutcheon homered — her 15th career blast, adding to the sophomore’s school record — while Brynn Charnesky continued to swing a hot bat in the playoffs with a double and three RBIs, and Taylor Doppleheuer and Gabriella Grabiak had three hits each with the latter also knocking in three runs. The Scotties last made the title game in 2018 when they won their only WPIAL title with a 12-1 win over South Park. … Avonworth picked up a crisp 5-2 win over defending champion Mt. Pleasant as Lantzy owned the circle. She struck out 16 in the win — and also homered — as the Antelopes avenged an 8-0 semifinal loss to the Lady Vikings, who had also beat them in the PIAA quarterfinals 3-0. Also for Avonworth, Meghan Fissore and Leah Kuban doubled, and Sydney Savatt had two hits and two RBIs. The win snapped a three-game losing streak for the ’Lopes. Avonworth clipped Southmoreland in last year’s third place play-in game 3-2, ending the Scotties’ season. The winner qualifies for the PIAA playoffs. The loser will play in the third-place game Thursday (time, site TBD) to get into the state tournament.

Class A semifinals

3-Greensburg Central Catholic (12-5) vs. 2-Union (18-3)

5 p.m. Tuesday at Mars

Winner plays: Winner of 4-Springdale (11-1) vs. 1-West Greene (13-3) June 1 in championship at Cal (Pa.) (time TBD)

Players to watch: Makenzee Kenney, GCC; Mia Preuhs, Union

Extra bases: Union rolled into the semifinals with an 11-0 victory over Jefferson-Morgan, a team from GCC’s section that was swept by the Centurions. The Scotties, who have one senior, are an offensive machine. They have scored 253 runs for an average of 12 per game. They put up run totals of 30, 25, 18, 17 and 16. Their losses are to Ellwood City (8-7), Neshannock (15-0) and Serra Catholic (3-2). Preuhs is a talented freshman. In the quarterfinal win, where Jefferson-Morgan managed just one hit, senior Emily Siddall homered, freshman Addison Nogay had a two-run hit, and Mallory Gorgacz ripped an RBI triple. … Greensburg Central Catholic scored one of its biggest playoff wins — and most exciting — in recent history with a 9-8 victory over Leechburg in eight innings. Isabella Marquez knocked in the winning run. Macee Magill and Marquez matched RBI doubles on the way to the walk-off win. Grace Kindel had two RBIs, Magill had two doubles and scored twice, Makenzee Kenney had two hits and struck out eight as the winning pitcher and Erica Rodriguez added two hits for the Centurions, who last played in the semifinals in 2012 when ace pitcher and Syracuse recruit Anna Marie Gatti was a sophomore.

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

Tags: Avonworth, Chartiers Valley, Greensburg C.C., Penn-Trafford, Southmoreland