What to watch for in WPIAL sports on April 18, 2025: Clash between softball rivals highlights schedule
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Friday, April 18, 2025 | 12:28 AM
Laurel’s Mayci Lang rounds the bases after hitting a home run against Bentworth in the PIAA Class 2A quarterfinals last season.
It is a very limited high school sports schedule on this Good Friday, but there is one juicy noteworthy softball contest on the district schedule.
In WPIAL softball, the top two teams in Section 1-2A meet when Neshannock visits Laurel at 5 p.m..
The Lancers are No. 1 in Class 2A in the WPIAL and PIAA rankings for a reason.
The three-time defending district champions have now won 37 games in a row since a state semifinals loss to Everett in 2023, 9-6.
They still have a long way to go to match the 52-game winning streak they built between in 2022-2023.
So basically the Lancers have won 89 of their last 90 games over the last three and a half years.
Last year, Neshannock and Laurel battled three times.
The Lancers defeated the Spartans in the two regular season meetings, 3-0 and 5-1, and then won again in a PIAA semifinal thriller, 1-0.
While Neshannock sits at 8-0 atop the section and 11-0 overall, Laurel is 5-1 in the section and 8-3 for the season with six consecutive wins.
The Spartans have outscored their opponents in this six-game win streak, 91-3.
This is the second meeting of the year between the two Lawrence County rivals.
On April 2, the two met at Neshannock and the Lancers won, 14-4, in a game that was much closer than the final score indicates.
Laurel jumped out quickly, scoring three runs in the top of the first inning.
Neshannock scored three runs in the bottom of the third inning to take a 4-3 lead.
The Spartans tied the game in the top of the fifth inning, before the Lancers won it by scoring five runs in the fifth and five more in the sixth inning.
Neshannock senior pitcher Addy Frye not only picked up the win with 12 strikeouts in six innings of work, she also was 3 for 5 at the plate with a double, a home run and five RBIs.
Junior Mayci Lang was 2 for 3 with a double, a run scored and two RBI for the Spartans.
Tags: Laurel, Neshannock
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