With Derry pitcher sidelined, top seed Elizabeth Forward cruises into semifinals

By: Liam Belan
Thursday, May 15, 2025 | 12:01 AM

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Ahead of Wednesday’s WPIAL Class 4A softball quarterfinal matchup against Derry, Elizabeth Forward coach Harry Rutherford emphasized that the No. 8 Trojans wouldn’t be a squad to take lightly.

However, an unfortunate development changed the outlook of the game when it was determined that Derry’s ace, Haylee Myers, would be unable to take to the circle to face the top-seeded Warriors after pitching through discomfort at the end of her team’s 2-1 first round win over Greensburg Salem.

Before Wednesday, Myers had pitched 88 1/3 of her team’s 93 innings this season. Pitchers Paris Clayton and Marie Razpotnik performed admirably under the circumstances, but Elizabeth Forward showed why it’s once again the top seed of Class 4A in a three-inning, 23-2 victory at Norwin.

“(Haylee) couldn’t pitch today. I was kind of ready and prepared for this team, but you saw what happened,” Derry coach John DePalma said. “We clearly did everything we could, and that was that.”

Clayton and Razpotnick, both freshmen on a relatively young team, can learn from the experience and hope to play more postseason games moving forward. The Trojans (11-7) will lose catcher Sophia Doherty and outfielder Callie Krause to graduation, but everyone else will be back for them next season.

Unfortunately for them, Wednesday belonged to the defending WPIAL champions in Elizabeth Forward (15-3).

Julia Resnik went 2 for 3 with five RBIs, Hannah Evans went 1 for 1 with three RBIs and Julia Johnson hit 2 for 3 with three RBIs as well. Johnson earned the win in the circle after pitching three innings of two-run ball with two hits and three walks to one strikeout.

“That was a tough situation,” Rutherford said. “It’s disappointing for both sides to not see their No. 1 pitcher. When you have to go to your second and third pitchers, it’s going to be tough for anyone. I give those girls credit.

“I hate doing that to a team, but we were also fighting the chance of rain, so you can’t really pull the horses back. Normally, I would have used a lot more subs than I did, but we had to get out of here before the rain with a win.”

The Trojans started the action and got on the board immediately with their best bats making plays.

Francesca DePalma led things off down 0-2 but worked the count in her favor and drew a game-opening walk before Clayton advanced her to second with a well-placed bunt. Doherty then roped a hard hit to Addy Nigut at third as she was just unable to corral it, with her hit putting runners on first and third for the Trojans.

Next to the plate was Derry’s leader in RBIs, Myers, and she added another to her ledger despite a groundout to second to give her squad a quick 1-0 lead. Bailey Legge then added another groundout to Berlyn Holibaugh at second to retire the side.

The advantage for the underdogs was short-lived as the Warriors were similarly hot to start the contest. Resnik drew a four-pitch walk to open the bottom half of the first before Aubri Cimba bunted her over to second for their first out. After Holibaugh got plunked, Addy Nigut tied the game up with a rope to left field that scored Resnik. Johnson then doubled to score two before Sophie Pasinsky crushed an RBI triple to right field to suddenly make the score 4-1.

That brought Alivia Grimm to the plate, and she ended up being the last batter that Clayton faced as she drew a free pass. Following the walk, DePalma opted for Razpotnik on the mound as EF’s offensive success continued.

Addison Musisko was the first batter for the Derry freshman, and the Warrior was hit by a pitch to take first base and load the bases. Evans then drew a walk to score a run and move the lineup back to Resnik up top, with her double scoring two runs and pushing EF to a 7-1 lead.

Cimba then drew another walk to fill the bases again before Holibaugh whacked a two-run single to left field to bring the score to 9-1. From there, Razpotnik forced pop outs from Nigut and Johnson to escape the first inning and bring the Trojans back to the plate.

The top of the second began with a groundout right back to Johnson from Callie Krause before Kali Henigin hit a long fly ball to center. Ruled an error, the ball dropped and Henigin made it to second, but she was gunned down by a sharp relay from Evans at center to Resnik at short to Nigut at third. Lylah O’Donnell then drew a free pass but Alexa Darazio’s strikeout retired the side with the score still at 9-1 in favor of EF.

The Warriors added to their lead in the bottom of the second with 14 more runs.

Pasinsky opened the frame with a walk before Grimm singled to set up Musisko. Both runners advanced after a wild pitch during her at-bat, and EF’s right fielder singled to drive in a run and make it 10-1. After Evans was hit by a pitch and three Warriors were aboard, Resnik crushed a bases-clearing triple to deep right field to score three more runs.

After that, Holibaugh walked, Nigut singled, Johnson hit an RBI single, Pasinsky brought a run in on a sac fly, Grimm was hit by a pitch, Musisko earned an RBI walk, Evans lined an RBI single and Resnik loaded the bases on an error.

With the score at 19-1, Claire Balint was the first reserve to step up and earn an RBI on a groundout for the second out of the inning. Sam Malek then singled on a blooper to shallow center that brought two runs home before Morgan Telegdy drove in the 23rd and final run for EF. Razpotnik notched her first strikeout of the contest against Madison Patton to end the frame with the score at 23-1.

Once the Trojans came back to the plate, DePalma drew her second walk of the contest and Razpotnik doubled to put runners on first and third with no outs. Doherty then grounded into a fielder’s choice at home before Myers added her second RBI with a groundout. Legge then popped out to Resnik to end the contest.

EF awaits the winner of No. 4 West Mifflin and No. 5 Blackhawk in the WPIAL semifinals.

Tags: Derry Area, Elizabeth Forward