WPIAL Softball Playoff Recaps for Tuesday, May 14th

By: HSSN Staff
Tuesday, May 14, 2013 | 11:40 PM

The curtain rose on the 2013 WPIAL Softball Playoffs on Tuesday….well, at least for half the postseason field. Whle the Class AAA and Class A team will have to wait until Thursday, Class AAAA and Class AA teams had at it to get the postseason off to a flying start. While most of the results were expected, there was one eye-brow raiser in each class. Here are recaps from the 12 softball games played on Tuesday. 

A special thanks to Bob Gregg, Mike Azadian, Mike Sackley, Chris Lackner, Mark Schaas, Adam Hoerner. Steve Nagler, Josh Rowntree and Don Rebel for their help on these recaps.

WPIAL CLASS AAAA First Round:

Hempfield Spartans 14 – Gateway Gators 0
Hope Pehrson gave up just one hit in the circle and hammered two home runs for #4 Hempfield (16-5), giving the Spartans a 14-0 1st Round win in 5 innings over #13 Gateway (7-10) on Tuesday at Woodland Hills High School. The Spartans scored 4 runs in the 1st inning thanks to back-to-back home runs from Michaela LeDonne (3-run) and Pehrson (solo). They added one run in the 2nd inning before erupting for 8 more runs in the 3rd inning, inclduing a 3-run home run from Pehrson, as well as a final run in the 4th inning. Pehrson finished with 4 RBI for Hempfield, which saw every starter reach base in the game and a run come from each spot in the order. Gateway was the last-seeded team in the field of 13 AAAA bracket, which had seeds #1-3 receive first round byes. Freshman Madison Lewis, who started in the circle for the Gators and gave up 9 earned runs, got the only hit for a young Gateway squad making their first playoff appearance since 2007. Hempfield moves into the Quarterfinals, where they will meet Shaler at a site and time to be determined next Tuesday.

Shaler Titans 11 – Woodland Hills Wolverines 0 
The day was perfect for freshman pitcher Brianna Dobson as she pitched the Titans to the quarterfinals in outstanding fashing. Dobson retired all 18 hitters she faced for the first perfect game of her career, she fanned 5 and got eleven ground ball outs.  Dobson said her fastball was working well and she was able to keep the ball down to get the ground ball. Dobson said she has thrown a no-hitter before but it was a long time ago. Head coach Skip Palmer said he has never coached a perfect game and has never seen one in his tenure. He added that Dobson is only going to get better and the Titans are going to ride her for three more years. The Shaler bats staked Dobson to a 4-0 lead before she ever took the circle. Maddie Mulig hit a two-run homer to right field, the Titans added two more in the inning, sending all nine batters to the play. Mulig and A.J. Nichols singled home runs in the second to make it 6-0. Dobson drove home a run in the fourth and Abby Hummel had a run scoring double in the fifth.  Shaler added three runs in the sixth, Nichols singled home a run, Rachel Nyman doubled home another and she would score on a Hummell single. Leading 11-0, Dobson needed just three outs to claim perfection. She struck out Laura Valenti to start the inning, Abby Trojanowski grounded out to Julia Strackhouse at third, one of six grounders to third in the game. Tia Martin was the last batter, she fouled a pitch between home plate and the third base dugout, catcher Nichols was able to make the catch and seal perfection. Mulig and Nichols each went 3 for 4, Mulig scored four runs and drove in three, Nichols had two runs driven in. Haley Dengler, Haley Stedeford and Hummel each had two hits, Hummel drove in two runs. Shaler is now 12-5 on the season and has won 3 straight games. Woodland Hills ends the season at 8-6.

Peters Township Indians 8 – Pine-Richland Rams 4 
Carly Konopka ended the game with a walk-off grand slam as Peters Township downed Pine-Richland, 8-4.  The #7 Indians will take on #2 Latrobe in the quarterfinals.  Konopka was the starting pitcher, and despite struggling at times, found ways to keep her team within one run both times the Rams put runs on the board.  Hannah McNulty walked to open the game for Pine-Richland (9-7), then was bunted to second.  Maura Kelly bashed a book-rule double THROUGH the fence in center, scoring the game's first run.  The Rams sent three more batters to the plate, but Kelly was stranded.  Peters Township (17-4) banged out 11 hits, seven of them for extra bases in the game, and the Indians got started quickly.  After one out, Abby Cunningham doubled and scored on Lindsay McKnight's two-run homerun making it 2-1.  In the second, Tori Weida doubled, move to third on a groundout and scored on Viktoria Heiser's double.  A linedrive to right that turned into a double-play kept the score at 3-1.  The Rams took the lead back in the fourth, and could have gotten even more.  Isabella Tortorice singled and was bunted to second.  Sydney Wagner was hit by a pitch and McNulty walked, loading the bases.  Stephanie Zentz singled hom Tortorice's courtesy runner.  A wild pitch plated Wagner. After a foul flyout, Alyssa Clark and Julia Frazier drew walks, scoring McNulty.  But a groundout ended the inning and kept the margin at 4-3.  In the Indians' fifth, Cunningham doubled and scored one out later on a triple by McKnight.  Kellyn Perich took over in the pitcher's circle for Peters Township and allowed just one hit and one walk to the Rams over the final three innings to get the win.  In the seventh, Meghan Bastyr singled and was sacrificed to second.  Cunningham lashed a linedrive single to left and went to second on the play back to the infield, but the hit was too sharp to allow Bastyr to score.  Perich hit a grounder to short and Bastyr was thrown out at the plate.  McKnight drew a walk to load the bases, bringing up Konopka.  The starting pitcher who struggled in circle, and was 0-for-3 at the plate, left no doubt, drilling a powerful line drive to straightaway center, hitting to temporary fencing and knocking one section over, the ball carrying over for a grandslam.  Cunningham had four hits for Peters Township, including two doubles.  McKnight had a homerun, a triple and three rbi.  Heiser added a double and a single.  Tortorice took the loss for Pine-Richland, charged with all eight runs on 11 hits.  McNulty is the only player for the Rams with two hit, both singles.

McKeesport Tigers 11 – Baldwin Highlanders 10
Two young softball teams that may be built for the future put on a thrilling show Tuesday in a WPIAL Class AAAA First Round shootout at Fairhaven Park in Kennedy Township. Down to their final strike in the seventh inning, McKeesport tied the game, scored two runs in the top of the eighth, then held on for dear life as they defeated Baldwin 11-10 in 8 innings. The only senior in the Tigers lineup, Kasey Dansak got the ball rolling in the top of the first with a two-run single that scored Courtney Patterson and Vanessa Falce. Baldwin cut the lead to 2-1 in the second inning on a Bre Meyer sacrifice fly that scored Ashley Brady. The see-saw battle began in the third inning when the Highlanders grabbed their first lead on an RBI ground out by Melissa Paterni that scored Kayla Eberst and a two out single by Ashley Brady that plated Abbey Sohoski. Dansak responded for McKeesport with a solo home run to dean center for the Tigers in the top of the fourth inning that tied the game at 3-3. Baldwin regained the lead in the bottom of the fourth on an RBI single by Mallory O’Brien and a double steal that scored Meyer from third base. The Tigers tied it again in the top of the fifth inning on a two-run home run by freshman Dom Clark to tie it at 5-5. It didn’t stay tied for long though as the Highlanders responded on a two out RBI double by Meyer followed by a run scoring single by Jamie Schleicher to make it 7-5 Baldwin after five. McKeesport regained the lead with one big swing in the top of the sixth when junior Mahealani Gooden crushed a three run shot off the to off the center field fence and over to put the Tigers up 8-7. Baldwin tied the game and took the lead in the bottom of the sixth inning when Eberst scored from first base on a single by the lone senior starter for the Highlanders, Abbey Suhoski and a throwing error, one of five Tigers errors on the afternoon. Suhoski ended up at third base and scored on a sac-fly by Paterni to regain the lead at 9-8 after six. McKeesport has runners at first and second with two out in the top of the seventh and down to their final strike when Kahealani Gooden stroked a single to right center to plate Dansak and tie the game at 9-9. In the top of the eighth off Baldwin’s second pitcher, Jamie Schleicher, relieved starter Ana Hale in the sixth inning, McKeesport pitcher Jess Beitler launched a two-out, two run home run over the picnic pavilion in left field at Lind Field to give the Tigers an 11-9 edge. However Baldwin was not done. O’Brien walked and Eberst finished her 5-for-5 game with a single to right center. Suhoski then doubled to right center to score O’Brien, but the relay throw from Patterson was in time to get the aggressive Eberst at the plate to prevent the tying run from socring. Then with Suhoski at third with one out, Paterni hit a ground ball to second baseman Patterson who threw a strike home to Dansak as Suhoski was an easy out at the plate. Brady followed with a single before Charlotte Nieman lined out to centerfield to finally put an end to this see-saw slugfest. Baldwin, starting six freshmen, ends their season at 11-9. McKeesport improves to 17-4 and wins their first ever Class AAAA softball playoff game, They now advance to the Quarterfinals next week for a Battle of the Tigers as they take on 3^rd-seed North Allegheny.

Penn-Trafford Warriors 7 - Plum Mustangs 0  
At Gateway High School in WPIAL AAA Girls first round playoff action the 
number 9 seeded Penn Trafford Warriors cruise to an easy 7-0 victory over the 8th 
seeded Plum Mustangs. The Warriors plated a single run in the first inning helped 
by 2 Plum errors and a sacrifice bunt to lead 1-0. They would score another run in 
the 2nd inning in an Ash Yanniruberto RBI single to go up 2-0.  Penn Trafford 
would stretch the lead to 3-0 after a Jess Zavolta lead off single, a wild pitch, an 
error and then a squeeze bunt by Sam Petrilli. In the 4th inning they pushed the lead 
to 4-0 as Plum made their 4th error if the game and with 2 outs Lex Ryan drilled an 
RBI double and it was 4-0, and the Warriors were on their way to the easy victory. 
They would plate 3 more runs in the 6th innings on a lead off Hr by Kelsey 
Surmacz, a double by Dani Wally, an RBI double by Ryan, then an RBI single by 
Jess Zavolta to make the final score 7-0. Yanniruberto reached base 3 times and 
scored twice and had an RBI as the leadoff hitter, Ryan had 2 doubles and an RBI. 
Zavolta went 2 for 4 with 2 singles and an RBI, and Surmazcz went 2 for 3 with a 
single a HR, 2 runs scored and an RBI to pace the Warriors. Sophomore Nicole 
Smith got the win for the Warriors pitching 7 innings, giving up 6 hits, walking 2, 
and striking out 3 Penn Trafford improves to 13-5 and will face the number one 
seed Canon McMillan Big Macs at a site and date to be determined. For Plum 
Jordan Seneca their senior shortstop went 2 for 3 with 2 singles, and Ashley 
Oravetz went 2 for 3 as well with two singles as well. The Mustangs stranded 6 
runners and could never get the big hit to keep up with Penn Trafford. They were 
also the victim of two double plays, one in the first and one in the 6th. They finish 
their season at 14-7.

WPIAL CLASS AA First Round:

McGuffey Highlanders 5 – Keystone Oaks Golden Eagles 4 
Pinch-runner Faith Henderson scored from first on Cassie Weiss' single to right-centerfield in the top of the eighth inning as McGuffey edged Keystone Oaks, 5-4.  The Highlanders move to the quarterfinals and a matchup with top seed Deer Lakes.  Keystone Oaks (10-6) opened the scoring with a solo homerun by Kierston Badzgon in the bottom of the first.  McGuffey scored three times in the top of the second, starting with two out and nobody on.  CC Wagner walked, Moriah McGuier stroked an rbi double to left.  Stacey Martin singled to right, scoring McGuier and moved to third when the ball was misplayed in the outfield.  Sammie Weiss doubled to left, scoring Martin and putting the Highlanders in front 3-1.  The Golden Eagles rallied in the third to take the lead. Candace Drzik singled up the middle, followed by Meghan Staab's two-run homerun to right-center.  After a groundout, Badzgon tripled to the gap and scored on Alexis Tripp's groundout to short.  McGuffey (15-5) tied the game with Marlie Mounts' solo homerun leading off the sixth.  In the top of the eighth, Mounts reached on an error but was caught stealing.  Sarah Kleinhans singled, then gave way to Henderson.  Weiss smoked the hit to right-center, and Henderson motored around the bases, beating the throw to home.  Weiss stopped at first on the hit, ensuring that KO couldn't get her out before Henderson scored.  Weiss got the complete game win, allowing four runs and six hits, walking one and striking out three.  The righthander rattled off 9 consecutive outs after the Badzgon triple.  Mounts was the only McGuffey batter with two hits.  Tripp took the loss for Keystone Oaks, charged with five runs and eight hits, walking one and striking out one.  At one point, she retired 10 straight Highlanders, a streak snapped by Mounts' homerun. Badzgon was the only KO player with two hits.

Beaver Bobcats 10 – Seton-LaSalle Rebels 3
What's in a seed?  That's a question answered by the Beaver Bobcats as the 13th seeded Bobcats broke open a close game with six runs in the 6th inning to defeat the Rebels in the first round of the Class AA WPIAL Softball playoffs. Beaver looked more like the higher seed as they never trailed against Seton-LaSalle, who came into the postseason having only lost one regular season game. With the game tied 0-0 heading into the 3rd inning, the Bobcats scored four unearned runs courtesy of a couple of hits and three Rebel errors in the inning. Jen Kondracki had the big hit in the inning as she tripled to deep right field which scored Ariadna Justino and Sara Wachter. Kondracki then scored on an error before Haley Champ singled home Bella Valent. The Rebels would draw to within 4-1 in the bottom of the inning as Jess Weiss singled home Raelyn Fencik with two outs. Seton-LaSalle got themselves to within a run in the bottom of the 5th on an RBI double by Taylor Mercurio and an RBI single by Weiss. But, Beaver responded with the big inning highlighted by a two-run HR by Valent to dead center field. Bobcat freshman pitcher Casey Farkasovski went the distance in her first postseason appearance, allowing four hits while striking out 7 Rebel hitters. Only two of the 3 runs she surrendered were earned. With the victory, Beaver (10-7) advances to face Greensburg Central Catholic in the Quarterfinal round.

Greensburg Central Catholic Centurions 9 – Freeport Yellowjackets 1
#5 Greensburg Central Catholic (11-5) used a 4-run 1st inning to help them cruise to a 9-1 win over #12 Freeport (11-7) on Tuesday at Woodland Hills High School. The Centurions pounded out 12 hits in the ball game, with their top 6 hitters going 12-for-19, with two doubles, a home run, 6 RBI, 9 runs scored and a walk. Carolyn Appleby and Nikki Adisey each went 3-for-4 with 2 runs scored, while Julia Lang was 1-for-3 with a 3-run home run and a 2 runs scored. Adisey threw a complete game in the circle for GCC, giving up 8 hits and 1 run, while striking out 8 batters and walking just 2. Alyssa Meta hit a solo home run for Freeport, their only run of the game. Meta also pitched for the Yellowjackets, surrendering 9 runs on 12 hits in a complete game. Just 6 of the 9 runs she allowed were earned and she struck out 8 batters, while walking 3. Freeport finishes the season having allowed 46 unearned runs out of 97 total runs allowed. The Centurions move into the WPIAL AA Quarterfinals for the third-consecutive season, where they will meet #13 Beaver, who upset #4 Seton-LaSalle 10-3 in the 1st round. Freeport fails to reach the Quarterfinals for the first time in 3 seasons.

Chartiers-Houston Buccaneers 10 – Our Lady of the Sacred Heart Chargers 0 
It was business as usual for two-time defending WPIAL champion Chartiers-Houston (17-0, 12-0), scoring at least once in all five innings of a Class AA first-round playoff game to defeat Our Lady of the Sacred Heart (8-7, 5-5) by a 10-0 margin Tuesday afternoon at West Allegheny High School. Haley Sutton’s single drove in Kayla Briggs for the only run the Buccaneers would need in the first inning. Kassie Kesneck singled home Megan Kraushaar in the second then wound up scoring herself on a throwing error from the catcher to second base. Casey Craig drove in Toni Spossey in the third with a single. The Bucs then put together a pair of three-run innings. In the fourth, Briggs singled in Kesneck before Sutton plated Briggs and Piper McLaughlin. Then in the fifth, Samantha Elliott’s sacrifice fly brought Kraushaar home, and Briggs ended the game by driving in Kesneck and Sabrina Stankus. Briggs provided a final bit of drama, being called out at home trying for an inside the park homer on the final hit. She was also masterful on the mount, striking out six while only allowing one hit. Emily Duerr pitched her best under the circumstances for the Chargers, striking out four while seeing her defense commit three errors. Chartiers-Houston will face Mohawk in the quarterfinals next week.
 

Mohawk Warriors 7 – Brentwood Spartans 0 
The Warriors advance to the quarterfinals for the second straight year with the victory at North Allegheny. Senior Lucia Fee was 2 for 2 at the plate and drove in four runs, while junior pitcher Jaki Bender allowed just three hits and struck out four for the win. Mohawk scored a run in the top of the first, Shelby Brown reached on a fielder’s choice, then stole second and third and came home on Fee’s single. Mohawk added three runs in the fourth as Brown singled home a run and Fee’s hard shot to right scored two. The Warriors padded the lead in the top of the seventh as Leah Woytek led off with a triple. Mohawk loaded the bases, Fee delivered again with a sac fly to right and Devin Giancola’s two run single blew the game open. Woytik had three hits, Brown and Fee two each as Mohawk pounded out eleven hits. The Warriors are now 14-3 overall. The Spartans had their best chance to score in the fourth, getting runners on first and second with no outs but Bender got Alexis Gaughan to pop out, Tayrn Sherry to fly out and Alexis Wagner to ground out to Brown at short to end the inning. Monica Klein, Gaughan and Wagner each had a hit. Brentwood finishes up at 9-5 overall, the Spartans lose only three seniors and had three freshman in the starting lineup as they made their first playoff appearance since 2010.

Riverside Panthers 10 – Bentworth Bearcats 0 
Fairhaven Park in Kennedy Township was the location for a first round matchup between the #3 seed Riverside Panthers and the #14 seed Bentworth Bearcats. Riverside (12-0, 15-0) brings their perfect record into the WPIAL AA softball playoffs in hopes of staying undefeated all the way through the WPIAL AA Championship Game and they took their first step towards that on Tuesday. The Panthers sent star pitcher Kirsten Wilson to the circle to take on a Bearcats (7-5, 9-8) team that was able to snag the final bracket spot in AA at #16. Bentworth sent out freshman Casey Hite to oppose Wilson on the mound. Riverside started the scoring in the 2nd inning as they put across one run on 2 walks and a hit. In the 3rd inning is when the Panthers took the game over. 10 batters had come to the play in the 3rd recording four runs on four hits. The story on this day however, was all about Kirsten Wilson and her complete dominance. The pitcher Wilson had struck out an astonishing 11 of 15 total batters in the game. Bentworth was unable to catch up to her great rise ball and her ability to switch up speeds. The Panthers sealed the deal in the bottom of the 5th inning. They exploded for five runs on 4 hits setting the 10 run mercy rule into effect ending the ballgame. Kirsten Wilson ends with a perfect game and 11 strikeouts in total. Bentworth's season ends at 9-9 overall. The Riverside Panthers move on to take on the Steel Valley Ironmen who upset the Burrell Buccaneers 2-1 on Tuesday. Riverside/Steel Valley date,site, and time to be announced.

Steel Valley Ironmen 2 – Burrell Buccaneers 1 
The 11th seeded Steel Valley softball team hadn't tasted the playoffs in seven years prior to this season, but the Ironmen showed Tuesday they belong, squeaking out a 2-1 win over the 6th seeded Burrell Lady Bucs in the 1st round of the Class AA playoffs at Gateway High School. Steel Valley got a great outing from its freshman starting pitcher, Maddie Cotter. She went the distance, giving up one run on five hits and striking out two. She did a great job of getting fly ball outs and got some great plays from her defense. The Ironmen got both their runs in the 3rd inning. Madi Smith got things started with a single and moved to 2nd base on a fielder's choice. Lisa Straub singled and advanced to 2nd on a throw, which put runners and 2nd and 3rd with one out. Skyler Vinay stepped in against Burrell's Claire Fisher and laced a two run double to center field, scoring Smith and Staub. Vinay would be thrown out trying to extend a double into a triple, but not before she drove in the only two runs Steel Valley would need. Burrell's lone run came on an Ashley Szymkowiak single in the 6th, which drove in Jaila Manga. They had a chance to tie the score in the Top of the 7th inning. Becca Wilhelm singled, and was replaced by a pinch runner, Brittney Wolford. She advanced from 1st to 3rd on a Kelsey Oddis sacrifice bunt. With one out in the inning, Lady Bucs head coach Mike Spagnolo took a risk and tried a suicide squeeze with Krista York at the plate. York missed on the bunt and the ball got past catcher Chelsea Rohan. Wolford broke for the plate, but Rohan quickly corralled the ball and threw to Cotter covering the plate, who recorded the out. Fisher had a nice outing for the Lady Bucs, striking out six, but the freshman Cotter got the better of her in this 1st round game. She retired 11 in a row between the 1st and 4th innings and showed incredible poise for a freshman in a playoff situation. With the win, the Ironmen move on to the quarterfinals and will have a tough matchup with the 3rd seeded Riverside Panthers.