Westmoreland softball playoff capsules: Games for Monday, May 15, 2023

By: Bill Beckner Jr.
Sunday, May 14, 2023 | 4:01 PM

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WPIAL softball playoffs

Class 5A

First round

7-Franklin Regional (11-6) vs. 10-Moon (6-8)

4 p.m. Monday at Peterswood Park, Peters Township

Winner plays: Winner of 2-Shaler (16-0)/15-Bethel Park (6-10) Wednesday (time, site TBD) in quarterfinals

Players to watch: Toryn Fulton, Franklin Regional; Ava Karpa, Moon

Extra bases: Franklin Regional tied Latrobe for second place in Section 2 behind Armstrong, the No. 1 seed. The Panthers have won six of their last seven with four shutouts. They took Armstrong to nine innings before losing 6-4. Fulton (seven HR) is the big stick in the order, but watch leadoff hitter Ciara Camacho. The Panthers made the quarterfinals two years ago. … Moon ended up in a three-way tie for second in Section 3 with Western Beaver and South Fayette. West Allegheny won the section. Karpa was hitting over .600 late in the season, and MJ D’Aniello was close behind at .460.

14-Penn-Trafford (6-10) vs. 3-Trinity (14-2)

2 p.m. Monday at Peterswood Park, Peters Township

Winner plays: Winner of 6-Latrobe (13-4)/11-Western Beaver (8-7) Wednesday (time, site TBD) in quarterfinals

Players to watch: Cam Ponko, Penn-Trafford; Hanna Suhoski, Trinity

Extra bases: Penn-Trafford had a down regular season after making a run last year to the WPIAL and PIAA semifinals. The Warriors have a young lineup and have tried various pitching options. Still, they did not back away from a challenging nonsection schedule. Late wins over Kiski Area (7-2), Gateway (15-0) and Penn Hills (20-4) boosted their confidence. … Trinity was the No. 3 seed last year, too, but lost to upstart Chartiers Valley in the quarterfinals. The Section 4 champion Hillers are one of the highest-scoring teams in the classification. Suhoski was leading the team in average (.520), homers (four) and RBIs (21). Taylor Dunn had an 11-1 record in the circle. Trinity’s losses are to Lake Brantley (Fla.) and Chartiers Valley.

6-Latrobe (13-3) vs. 11-Western Beaver (8-7)

5 p.m. Monday at Gateway

Winner plays: Winner of 14-Penn-Trafford (6-10)/3-Trinity (14-2) Wednesday (time, site TBD) in quarterfinals

Players to watch: Josie Straigis, Latrobe; Shaylynn Shall, Western Beaver

Extra bases: Latrobe is looking for a deeper run after losing in the quarterfinals last year to North Hills, 7-0. The Wildcats rebounded from losses to Armstrong (10-1) and Franklin Regional (4-1) to win four straight. Straigis and Kayla Williams are a solid one-two pitching punch behind an aggressive lineup that includes senior sluggers Sydney DeGram and Hayden Kraynick. … Western Beaver went from 1-13 last season to the playoffs. Its last playoff game was in 2018. Shall was hitting over .600 to lead the team. Western Beaver erased a five-game losing streak with three wins in a row heading into the postseason.

Class 4A

First round

9-Greensburg Salem (10-7) vs. 8-Hampton (11-5)

5 p.m. Monday at Fox Chapel

Winner plays: 1-Elizabeth Forward (16-0) Wednesday (time, site TBD) in quarterfinals

Players to watch: Gionnah Ruffner, Greensburg Salem; Mackenzie Reese, Hampton

Extra bases: Greensburg Salem was 2-13-1 last year and didn’t win a section game but bounced back to make the playoffs for the first time since 2019. Ruffner (.560, 7 HR) is an as-she-goes-they-go type of player. She is a Seton Hall commit. The Golden Lions, under second-year coach Bill Wright, take a four-game winning streak into the tournament. … Hampton finished third in Section 3 behind co-champions Chartiers Valley and Montour. It has scored 10 or more runs 10 times this season. Reese (.600), Charlotte Lomb (.575) and Addy Maguire (.524) are key offensive weapons for the Talbots, who lost in the 5A first round last year to Armstrong.

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

Tags: Franklin Regional, Greensburg Salem, Hampton, Latrobe, Moon, Penn-Trafford, Trinity, Western Beaver