Mohawk hands 1st loss to South Park to repeat as WPIAL Class 3A champs
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Thursday, May 29, 2025 | 2:44 PM
Mohawk celebrates with the trophy after beating South Park in the WPIAL Class 3A championship game Thursday at Lilley Field at Cal (Pa.).
Mohawk celebrates after beating South Park in the WPIAL Class 3A championship game Thursday at Lilley Field at Cal (Pa.).
Mohawk starting pitcher Reagan Magno strikes out South Park’s Kylie Mettrick during the WPIAL Class 3A championship game Thursday at Lilley Field at Cal (Pa.).
South Park’s Jacie Hilligsberg runs down a ball hit by Mohawk’s Mylie Pistorius during the WPIAL Class 3A championship game Thursday at Lilley Field at Cal (Pa.).
Mohawk’s Mylie Pistorius hits an RBI single against South Park during the WPIAL Class 3A championship game Thursday at Lilley Field at Cal (Pa.).
Mohawk’s Makenna Stewart is congratulated by Addison Moskal (3) during the WPIAL Class 3A championship game against South Park on Thursday at Lilley Field.
Mohawk’s Reagan Magno hits an RBI single against South Park during the WPIAL Class 3A championship game Thursday at Lilley Field.
The year may have changed but the result remained the same in the only rematch of the WPIAL diamond championships this spring.
Defending champion Mohawk hammered out 15 hits and defeated top-seeded South Park in the WPIAL Class 3A softball title game Thursday at Lilley Field at PennWest-California, 6-1.
“We’ve been working very hard at our facility and the kids have been locked in,” Mohawk coach Hank Pezzuolo said. “We have a recipe (on offense), and I was very confident.”
Fourteen of the 15 Mohawk hits were singles, turning the game into torture for undefeated South Park with death by a thousand cuts.
“It’s kind of like (the movie) ‘Groundhog Day,’” South Park coach R.J. Matetic said. “We knew they could hit and we had a plan, but then they dropped some balls in, and you’re not going to beat a team if you can’t hit or score runs.”
Mohawk pitcher Reagan Magno was magnificent, allowing one run in seven innings on five hits with no walks and seven strikeouts.
“My control was pretty good, and I didn’t walk anybody,” Magno said. “My drop ball and my curveball were really on, and I was moving it all over the place to keep them off balance. I thought they would hit me more, but I know what I can do. (Thursday) was one of the best games I’ve ever had.”
The Warriors were able to score all the runs they needed in the fourth inning against South Park pitcher Sydney Sekely.
Lydia Cole singled to center and went to second on a Mylie Pistorius bunt single on the first base side of the circle.
Magna then hit one up the middle that Eagles second baseman Mady Wilder dove for and got a glove on, but it was hit hard enough to deflect into center field, allowing Cole to score on the single.
Then with Warriors on second and third with two outs, freshman No. 9 hitter Kaitlyn Hare singled home two runs on a line drive off the lunging glove of shortstop Sydney Dubyak to make it 3-0.
“I have always had confidence in Kaitlyn,” Pezzuolo said. “She’s been very good the last three or four games. She’s just really come to life in big moments in the playoffs.”
Mohawk added another run in the fifth inning when Addy Moskal singled, went to second on a sacrifice bunt and later scored on a Pistorius single.
In the top of the sixth inning, Hare drove in her third run with a single to score Makenna Stewart. Hare raced home on a double by Moskal, the only extra base hit for the Warriors, putting them up 6-0.
South Park ruined Magno’s shutout bid in the bottom of the sixth inning when Sekely grounded out to short to score Kylie Mettrick from third base.
Since winning WPIAL softball gold in 2003, South Park is now 0-5 in district title games with runner-up trophies in 2008, 2016, 2018, 2024 and 2025.
The Eagles had five hits, and three of them came off the bat of No. 6 hitter Kaitlyn Polk.
“Kaitlyn had three good, hard hits, but the rest of them didn’t have it,” Matetic said. “We’ve just got to get over this hump somehow, someway. We’ll keep working and figure it out.”
The loss was the first of the season for South Park, which falls to 20-1 and will face either Sharon or St. Mary’s in the first round of the PIAA playoffs Monday.
Mohawk improves to 16-5 and becomes the third team this century to win back-to-back Class 3A softball championships following North Allegheny in 2022-2003 and Avonworth in 2022-2023.
“Last year was crazy because it was the first time ever,” Magno said. “This year I feel is a little better because it’s back-to-back, plus I feel I performed better this year.”
She wasn’t the only one who was shining brightly in a black-and-red uniform Thursday.
Moskal and Cole led the offensive attack for Mohawk with three hits each. Robert Morris commit and the lone senior in the starting lineup, Liv Hare, had two hits, as did younger sister Kaitlyn Hare, Pistorius and Magno.
The Warriors will face either Northwestern or St. Mary’s on Monday in the opening round of the state playoffs.
“The job is not done because one of the toughest games to win is that first state playoff game,” Pezzuolo said. “But I will tell you right now, we will be practicing (on Friday) and we will be getting ready for Monday.”
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