A-K Valley softball notebook: Knoch bolstered by ‘barnburner’ victory over North Catholic

By: Michael Love
Wednesday, April 9, 2025 | 5:06 PM

The Knoch softball team had won five straight by shutout and had scored 59 runs in those games before Monday’s nonsection home matchup against North Catholic.

The Knights quickly found out that the game with the Trojanettes wouldn’t turn out the same way. North Catholic broke open a tie game with six runs in the third and built seven-run leads of 8-1 and 12-5.

But despite the adversity, the Knoch players didn’t fold.

Faced with a two-run deficit in the bottom of the seventh, the Knights rallied and sent the game into extra innings.

Down a pair of runs in the bottom of the ninth, Knoch again responded.

A three-run uprising gave it a 15-14 win.

A McKenna Brailey single brought home the winning run, whereas Alena Tekely (single) and Emersyn Jones (double) delivered run-scoring hits to tie the score and set up the dramatic final play.

“It was definitely a barnburner,” Knoch coach Chris Gardner said. “I’ve seen some comeback wins before, but nothing like that. There is a lot of fight in this team. There’s no give-up at all. There was no doubt in their mind they were coming back.”

Jones, Tekely, Brailey, Lizzie Danik, Marlee Fraser and Brooke Bastin each collected two hits, and Tekely and Brailey finished with four RBIs apiece.

Blue Devils win to open section play

It is well documented that Leechburg owns the record for the most consecutive seasons making the WPIAL playoffs.

The Blue Devils extended it to 37 in a row last spring, and they started off on the right foot to get No. 38 with a 12-2 Section 3-1A victory over Ellis School on Monday.

Leechburg led 6-2 after four innings and put the game away with six runs in the fifth.

Emily Talarico went 3 for 4 with a triple, a pair of RBIs and two runs scored. Addie Zanotto collected two hits, one a double, drove in two and scored twice.

The Leechburg offense had eight hits and drew seven walks in support of Zanotto, who surrendered two hits and three walks while striking out nine over five innings.

Experience helps Vikes start strong

Speaking of Apollo-Ridge, the Vikings rolled to six straight wins after a season-opening 7-4 loss to Class 4A Freeport.

They got into the win column March 18 with a 6-4 triumph over Class 5A Kiski Area and won four more in a row by a combined 59-6 before crushing Shady Side Academy, 19-0, on Monday in the Section 2-2A opener.

The rout of the Bulldogs was highlighted by a 12 spot in the fourth inning. The Vikings collected nine hits, 10 walks and took advantage of seven Shady Side errors.

Kourtney Levesque drove in three runs, and Cassidy Ryan and Josalin McCauley knocked in a pair for an Apollo-Ridge team that features several seasoned veteran starters, including Olivia Saxion, Jocelyn Snyder and Madison Butler, in a lineup poised to make another run at the WPIAL playoffs.

Golden Rams establish themselves

Highlands wasn’t able to generate much offense in a 7-0 loss to Burrell on April 1.

But the next day, the Golden Rams got just enough at the plate while Madison Gorney won a pitcher’s duel against Greensburg Salem ace Alle Scarpa in a 3-1 victory.

Highlands then closed out a busy week with a 5-2 win over Freeport on Friday to improve to 4-2 overall and 2-0 in section 1-4A.

Gorney against Greensburg Salem overcame five walks issued as she allowed just three hits and the one run and struck out seven in the complete game.

Scarpa also worked all seven innings, gave up seven hits and four walks and fanned 14. She struck out 20 Freeport batters in a 6-0 win Monday.

Six Golden Rams players collected hits in the win over the Golden Lions led by a pair of singles from Carrah Scardina. Gorney helped herself with a triple, an RBI and a run scored.

Michael Love is a TribLive reporter covering sports in the Alle-Kiski Valley and the eastern suburbs of Pittsburgh. A Clearfield native and a graduate of Westminster (Pa.), he joined the Trib in 2002 after spending five years at the Clearfield Progress. He can be reached at mlove@triblive.com.

Tags: Apollo-Ridge, Highlands, Knoch, Leechburg