Derry walks it off against Greensburg Salem in Class 4A softball playoff opener

By: Bill Beckner Jr.
Monday, May 12, 2025 | 7:20 PM

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John DePalma’s message to his girls before Derry took the field for the WPIAL softball playoffs was simple.

“It’s just softball,” the coach said.

But there is softball, and there is playoff softball, and Derry still is relatively new to the latter. After all, the Trojans had only one playoff win in school history coming into Monday’s WPIAL Class 4A first-round game against section opponent Greensburg Salem.

Now you can make it two.

Bailey Legge sent a two-out, fence-reaching drive to the gap in left center with the bases loaded as the No. 8 seeded Trojans walked off No. 9 Greensburg Salem, 2-1, in a crisply played opener at Norwin.

Francesa DePalma started the game-winning seventh with a one-out triple, and Greensburg Salem intentionally walked Nos. 3 and 4 hitters Sophia Doherty and Haylee Myers to load the bases.

Legge did the rest off of Golden Lions’ standout lefty pitcher Alle Scarpa, who found herself in a duel with Myers.

Myers overcame some arm discomfort late to finish the win and help get Derry (11-6) into the quarterfinals for the first time since 2021.

Derry will face No. 1 Elizabeth Forward (14-2) later this week at a time, date and site to be announced.

The Trojans were hoping for contact against Scarpa as the game wore on to try to pull ahead of Greensburg Salem (11-6), which tied it 1-1 in the fifth on a run-scoring two-out single by Marley Perrone.

Derry took a 1-0 lead in the third on a sacrifice fly by Doherty, a Carnegie Mellon commit.

“Bailey was in the No. 2 spot earlier in the year, and we moved her around,” John DePalma said. “She cut her swing down and hit the ball. We were cutting down and taking half swings at that point (against Scarpa).”

Legge, who went 2 for 4, delivered from the sixth spot in the order.

“Myers and Sophia weren’t going to beat us,” Greensburg Salem coach Bill Wright said. “With two outs there, we had to load the bases. When (DePalma) hit that triple, that killed us, and we were in prevent mode.

“We knew this would be a battle. They got one more hit when they needed it.”

Myers finished with 11 strikeouts and no walks, scattering six hits. Scarpa, who was hit by a pitch on the forearm of her throwing arm in the fourth but was not deterred, had nine punchouts, three walks and gave up nine hits.

Derry’s ace also faced adversity. Imagine if both pitchers had to be replaced in that atmosphere.

Myers dealt with some pain in her throwing arm in the top of the seventh. She received attention from Derry trainer Tyler Bradley and stayed in the game, recording an out on a groundout before allowing singles to Katana Schade and Perrone, who was 2 for 4.

With two on and two out, Myers struck out Hannah Olbeter to end the threat and give Derry a chance for the walk-off.

“She had a little stinger, but she wanted to stay in the game,” John DePalma said. “She was upwards of 100 pitches and started to tire. It was her choice. The Olbeter strikeout was huge, a tough out.”

John DePalma said familiarity played a part in the win.

“It helps a lot,” he said, holding up a chart with all of the Golden Lions’ previous at-bats in their two section games, which the teams split. “Bill and I know each other well.

“Our older girls settled our underclassmen and had them ready (for the playoffs).”

Samantha Reusser tripled for Greensburg Salem with two down in the fifth, then scored on Perrone’s single to make it 1-1.

Golden Lions shortstop Patty Redinger made a scooping catch in the sixth, which initially was ruled a hit before umpires met and overturned the call to end the sixth.

Olbeter also had two hits for the Golden Lions.

Francesca DePalma, Doherty and Callie Krause had two hits each for Derry.

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

Tags: Derry Area, Greensburg Salem