Neshannock repeats as undefeated PIAA Class 2A softball champion

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Thursday, June 12, 2025 | 2:16 PM


While the opponent was the same as a year prior, Neshannock softball faced a challenge they had not seen often during this season — a deficit.

But the same as a year ago, a big inning for the Lancers broke open the game en route to a Neshannock championship.

Neshannock’s five-run fifth inning erased a 2-1 South Williamsport lead, and the Lancers held on for an 8-3 win in the PIAA Class 2A championship game Thursday at Nittany Lion Softball Park at Penn State.

It is the second consecutive undefeated state championship season and the third in the last four years for the Lancers (26-0).

It’s the fourth all-time PIAA softball championship for Neshannock.

“It’s actually surreal,” Neshannock senior Gabby Quinn said. “The season I’ve been able to have with the girls I’ve been able to have it with, it’s just something that is unbelievable.”

Neshannock struck first in the top of the first inning with a solo home run by Addy Frye, the 30th of her career.

“I didn’t think it was going to go (over the fence), because it was an off-speed pitch,” Frye said. “Once I saw a little more up in the air, I knew it was going to go.”

South Williamsport (18-6) got the first two batters on base in the bottom of the first, but Frye struck out the Mounties’ 3-4-5 hitters to end the inning.

The Mounties again got the first two batters on base in the bottom of the second. Sage Lorson led off with an opposite-field double, then her cousin Abby Lorson reached on a bunt single. The throw went wild and into the outfield, scoring Sage. The throw back into the infield went out of play, allowing Abby to score as well to give South Williamsport a 2-1 lead.

The Lancers made a third error in the inning, but Frye got another strikeout to end the threat.

Frye then retired the next 10 batters she faced in order, seven on strikeouts.

“Addy’s going to be unphased, so if she does make an error, she’s going to shake it off and be fine,” Neshannock coach Jackie Lash said. “Nothing is going to bring her down. Addy can fight through anything that she has to face.”

Frye takes those moments to heart.

“I hate to fail,” Frye said with a chuckle. “When I fail, it just takes me to another level of pitching. I hate letting my team down — that was my biggest thing — so it’s just about stepping up to retire the next few.”

Neshannock got a leadoff single in the third from Gianna DeSalvo. After a sacrifice moved her into scoring position, leadoff batter Miley Anderson hit a screaming line drive toward second base, but Emma McLauglin made a diving catch to prevent extra bases.

The next pitch was popped up on the infield. McLaughlin and shortstop Gianna Goodman collided and the ball hit the dirt, but McLaughlin recovered and fired home to get DeSalvo trying to score.

In the top of the fifth, the Lancers broke open the game with a five-run inning. And much like their earlier playoff games this season, it was initiated by the bottom of the order.

Payton Newman hit a one-out infield single, DeSalvo reached on a fielder’s choice, and then No. 9 hitter Brenna Frengel lined a ball right up the middle to score Newman and tie the game.

“Every time it comes to me, I know that my job is to turn the order over and get our top four hitters up,” Frengel said. “I love that spot. It’s truly my spot. I’m really comfortable with that. “

Anderson then singled to load the bases, and Jaidon Nogay hit a sacrifice fly to give Neshannock the lead for good.

With runners on the corners, the Mounties chose to intentionally walk Frye to load the bases.

Quinn made that hurt on the very next pitch, lining a ball just inside the third base bag for a bases-clearing double to give Neshannock a 6-2 advantage.

“I knew as soon as they walked Addy that they really wanted me because I hadn’t been doing well my first two at-bats,” Quinn said. “So I accepted the challenge, and it’s really nice to be able to come up for your team like that.”

Quinn had hit a home run both as a freshman and as a junior in the state championship game, but the three-run double somehow felt even more sweet.

“When she was up to bat,” Lash said, “I was thinking ‘You know, she has a history of hitting home runs here on this field. It would be great at this time,’ but she hit a bases-clearing double and that was even better.”

Four of the five Lancers runs in the fifth inning were unearned.

“Credit to Neshannock,” Mounties’ coach Tom O’Malley said. “You can’t give more than three outs to a team like that, and that’s what we did.”

South Williamsport, a team with seven starters who played on a Little League Softball World Series team five years ago, would not go away quietly. In the bottom of the sixth, the Mounties again got their first two batters on base. Alizabeth Schuler and Lily Reidy each reached on infield singles, and Schuler scored on a Kendall Cardone sacrifice fly. But Frye got a strikeout and fly out to end the threat.

“They battled right to the end,” O’Malley said. “They played their hearts out. It’s hard to get here, but I think it’s even harder to get back. You could tell that were a little more comfortable (this time) being in this environment. But that’s a good team, 100-1 in the last four four years. We knew we would have to play a flawless game, and unfortunately, a couple of mistakes cost us.

The Lancers tacked on some more insurance in the top of the seventh. The first five batters reached base, with Nogay and Quinn delivering RBI singles.

Frye then finished the job with a pair of strikeouts, her 13th and 14th of the game, and a fly out to shallow right field that was caught by the second baseman, Frengel. The final outs of the last three state championship wins for Neshannock were caught in right field.

“‘I know can get to this ball’” Frengel recalled thinking on the play. “It’s right field, where it normally is (to end the game) when we play at Penn State. I was so excited to get there and make that last out for our team.”

The win also extended Neshannock’s state-record winning streak to 52 games.

The Neshannock senior class finishes with a record of 100-1, with the lone loss coming in the 2023 PIAA semifinals.

While the legacy of Frye, Quinn, Anderson and Aubrie Ragone will not be easily forgotten, the eyes still look to the future.

“I really hope that the example I set and the other three seniors set — leadership on the field, off the field, character, everything — I really hope that they can take it and make the program even better,” Quinn said, “because there are so many talented kids on this team. You better watch out for them.”

Lash said they’ll enjoy this one for a while and looks for the future of Neshannock softball to remain strong because of the Class of 2025 and the groups that came through over the last four years.

“We usually start up in the early fall with some loose practices,” Lash said. “I always feel like those are great times for the girls to bond. That’s a great time to see who is going to step up and fill those leadership shoes. I’m really hoping that the younger girls have really watched (the seniors) and see what it takes to be leaders, to be winners, to keep leading this program to where our expectations are.”

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