Penn-Trafford’s pinch-hitting secret weapon delivers walk-off win over Red Land

By: Bill Beckner Jr.
Thursday, June 5, 2025 | 8:27 PM

WINDBER — Sophomore Annabell Carvajal spent some extra time in the batting cage with coach Denny Little this week in preparation for the PIAA Class 5A quarterfinals.

Penn-Trafford’s top pinch-hitter turned the reps into a walk-off winner.

Carvajal sent a two-out single to right field in the bottom of the seventh to score senior Lorryn Sepe and lift the Warriors to a 6-5 victory over Red Land on Thursday at Windber Sports Complex.

The Warriors (22-3) advance to play West Allegheny (18-5) in the semifinals Monday at a time and site to be announced.

West Allegheny is the third-place team from the WPIAL.

“We had a two-and-a-half-hour practice and afterward, Annabell reached out to me saying she wasn’t satisfied with her swing,” Little said. “She met me, and she hit for another hour and a half. I told her the hardest thing to do in sport is to pinch hit.”

Senior Kylie Anthony went 4 for 4, including a tying solo home run to lead off the seventh against Red Land (20-4), which made its PIAA debut this season after winning District 3.

Penn-Trafford also won a one-run game in the first round, 3-2, at Central Mountain. That came after a 2-1 loss to Shaler in the WPIAL championship game.

“It’s nice to be on the other side,” Little said.

Penn-Trafford had 11 hits to Red Land’s 10.

At practice this week, Carvajal and her teammates focused on a new hitting technique — sighting — which has the hitter track the ball from the second it leaves the pitcher’s hand.

“There were a lot of things in my head all at once,” Carvajal said. “That was my biggest (varsity) hit.”

Carvajal, who went 2 for 3, came in as a pinch-hitter in the sixth and delivered an infield single.

“I had so much faith in Annabell,” Anthony said. “She came in and crushed it.”

There were six lead changes in the state quarterfinal before Penn-Trafford rallied to return to the semifinals for the first time since 2019 when it won the state title.

Cam Ponko added two hits and singled in a run to give the Warriors a 4-3 lead in the sixth.

Red Land took a 3-1 lead in the fifth on a two-run infield single by Addie Wagenheim and an RBI double by Logan Shettel.

An error allowed the Patriots to put runners at second and third.

“We hadn’t played that poorly defensively,” Little said. “Those plays should have been made.”

But the Warriors responded to tie it 3-3 with two runs in the bottom of the inning: a run-scoring double by Giuliana Youngo and an RBI infield single by Anthony.

“Kylie is our workhorse,” Little said. “She tweaked her swing two days ago. She got more extension to right-center field.”

In the seventh, Wagenheim knocked in a run with a double to make it 4-4 then went ahead 5-4 on a bloop single from Reagan Gossard.

Wagenheim went 3 for 4 with three RBIs. Gossard was 2 for 4 and Lydia Laur 2 for 3.

Penn-Trafford took a 1-0 lead in the first on a two-out single by Anthony.

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

Tags: Penn-Trafford