Alle-Kiski Valley trio rewarded with WPIAL playoff byes

By: Michael Love
Thursday, May 12, 2022 | 7:40 PM

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Three Alle-Kiski Valley softball teams — Burrell, Deer Lakes and Springdale — earned byes into the quarterfinals as the WPIAL playoff brackets and pairings were released Thursday at Triblive HSSN.

All three section champions will open tournament play Thursday against opponents yet to be determined.

Deer Lakes (11-4) drew the No. 3 seed in the Class 3A bracket behind No. 1 Avonworth and No. 2 South Allegheny and will face the winner of No. 6 Waynesburg and No. 11 South Park in the quarterfinals at a site and time to be determined.

“We’re super excited to get the bye, and the girls worked their butts off to get that,” Deer Lakes coach Rick Cerra said.

“We’re looking forward to see who we get in the quarterfinals. Waynesburg and South Park both are really good teams.”

The Lancers rattled off 11 straight wins before a loss Wednesday to Class 4A playoff qualifier Knoch. Deer Lakes captured the Section 1 title at 8-0 and added victories against Class 5A contender Armstrong and Class 4A qualifier Highlands.

“We wanted to play teams like Armstrong and Highlands to build our resume, and fortunately, we got out of both with wins,” Cerra said.

Burrell also is a No. 3 seed, and the Bucs will play in the Class 4A quarterfinals against either No. 6 Belle Vernon or No. 11 New Castle. Burrell met Belle Vernon in last year’s first round and scored a 3-2 win.

The Bucs (11-1) have been paced by the standout pitching of Katie Armstrong, who has allowed one earned run while striking out 177 batters in 12 games.

Burrell has outscored its opponents 49-8.

Springdale capped an undefeated Section 3-1A slate with a 3-1 home win Wednesday over section rival and No. 6 Leechburg (8-5). The Dynamos, in the playoffs for the third straight season, drew the No. 4 seed in Class 1A and will take on the winner of No. 5 South Side and No. 12 Northgate.

“I am so proud of the girls for that win over Leechburg and just flat-out winning the section and earning a well-deserved first-round bye,” Dynamos coach Anthony Pototo said.

“We’re familiar with both teams with Northgate being in our section and facing South Side in the playoffs last year. We have kind of an idea of some tendencies that hopefully will work in our favor no matter who we get.”

The Rams topped the Dynamos, 3-2, in last year’s quarterfinal round.

Leechburg, in the playoffs for a WPIAL-record 35th straight time, will meet No. 11 Rochester at 5 p.m. on Tuesday at Mars High School.

On the same side of the Class A bracket, No. 10 St. Joseph (8-9) will travel to Trinity High School at 6 p.m. on Tuesday to face No. 7 Jefferson-Morgan. The Spartans capped Section 3 play and snapped a five-game losing skid with a 15-8 victory over Jeannette on Wednesday.

In all, 11 A-K Valley teams punched tickets to their respective tournaments.

Highlands is the No. 7 seed in Class 4A, and the 2021 WPIAL finalist and PIAA semifinalist will take on No. 10 West Mifflin in the first round at 3 p.m. Wednesday at Norwin.

The Golden Rams, the only team to defeat Burrell in the regular season, finished runner-up to the Bucs in Section 1 at 8-2 and enter the playoffs 10-5 overall.

Freeport (9-5) is just one slot behind Highlands in the Class 4A bracket. The No. 8 Yellowjackets, the third-place team from Section 1, travels to Mars on Wednesday for a 5 p.m. matchup with No. 9 Central Valley.

Defending Class 4A champion Beaver is the No. 1 seed , followed by Elizabeth Forward and Burrell.

Valley, in the WPIAL playoffs for the second year in a row after a seven-year hiatus, will make a quick five-mile drive to Plum on Tuesday for a 3 p.m. Class 3A first-round game against No. 10 Keystone Oaks.

The 10-6 Vikings’ only two losses in Section 1 play came at the hands of Deer Lakes.

Kiski Area, winner of eight straight heading into a nonsection game against Highlands on Thursday, also will play at Plum in the first round. The Cavaliers are the No. 9 seed and will take on No. 8 Thomas Jefferson on Tuesday at 5 p.m.

Kiski Area tied Franklin Regional for second in Section 1 at 9-3 behind No. 1 seed Armstrong.

Plum clinched a spot in the Class 5A playoffs Tuesday with its most complete game of the season, a 6-0 shutout victory at Penn Hills.

The Mustangs, 6-11 overall and the fourth-place team from Section 1, is the No. 15 seed and will face No. 2 Penn-Trafford at 5 p.m. on Tuesday at Norwin.

Apollo-Ridge, also a No. 15 seed, opens the Class 2A playoffs at 5 p.m. Wednesday at Penn-Trafford against No. 2 Frazier (14-0). The Vikings (7-6) finished fourth in Section 2 behind section champ and No. 3 seed Ligonier Valley as well as co-runners up Seton LaSalle and Serra Catholic.

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.