WPIAL Softball Recaps From Monday, May 16th

By: HSSN Staff
Monday, May 16, 2016 | 11:28 PM

Opening day of the 2016 WPIAL Softball Playoffs featured opening round games in both Class AAAA and Class A with a Class AA Preliminary Round contest thrown in for good measure. Here are recaps of the five Quad-A, one Double-A and seven Single-A games that lifted the lid on this seasons postseason softball play.

A special thanks to Dennis Fischer, Jason Tennant, Sean Meyers, Bob Gregg, Sam McCollum, Greg Kuntz, Lou Rood, Randy Gore and Don Rebel for their help on these recaps.

WPIAL CLASS AAAA First Round:

Penn-Trafford Warriors 6 – North Hills Indians 5 
Penn Trafford rallied for 6 runs in the final 3 innings of the game, overcoming a 4-0 deficit, to deliver a thrilling 1 run walk off victory over North Hills in the bottom of the 7th inning.  North Hills opened the scoring in the top of the 1st when Madison Posterivo singled with 1 out, moved to 2nd on Mekenzie Saban’s single, and scored on Anna McNickle’s single as the Indians strung together 3 consecutive hits to take the lead. They added 2 more runs in the 3rd inning with 2 outs when McNickle singhled,stole 2nd and scored on Kallie Kretzler’s single to center. Walks to Megan Hitchan and Lauren Rebel loaded the bases, then Megan Stone was hit by a pitch to drive in the 3rd run as North Hills increased its lead to 3-0. They then stretched their lead to 4-0 in the 4th following a walk to Posterivo and singles by Saban and McNickle loaded the bases again.  Kretzler delivered a sacrifice fly to left to bring home Posterivo, but the Indians could not score again in the inning.  Penn Trafford’s offense had been held in check by North Hills’ pitcher McNickle through 4 as she held the Warriors to just o1 run gamene hit and one walk.  The tide turned in the bottom of the 5th inning as Emma Armstrong, Marissa Bacco and Susie Sarmacz opened the inning with consecutive singles to load the bases. After McNickle was able to get two infield pop ups it looked like the Indians were going to escape unscathed, but Catcher Lydia Defazio delivered  a huge 2 out triple to right center that went to the fence and cleared the bases. That made it a 1 run game as McNickle was able to get a fly to right to end the threat. North Hills answered Penn Trafford’s 3 runs with a run of their own in the 6th.  A 2 out walk to Sacco and consecutive singles by McNickle and Kretzler plated the run and the game headed into the bottom of the 6th with the Indians on top 5-3.  The never say die Warriors completed the comeback in the bottom half of the inning  as Hannah Dobrinnick and Miranda Frye singled to put runners on the corners with nobody out. Emma Armstrong’s infield out plated Dorinnick and Sacco’s double brought home Frye to tie the game. Following a line-5drive double play to end the inning the game headed to the 7th tied at 5-5. North Hills went down 1-2-3 in the top half of the inning setting the stage for the last inning dramatics. Miranda Frye the played the role of heroine as she drove in Sami Smith who was pinch running for Lydia Defazio who had reached on an error from 2nd base with a 2 out single to center that brought the remarkable comeback by Penn Trafford full circle.  Cassie Sarmacz picked up the win for Penn Trafford pitching in two different stints during the game around with Kaitlyn Auel who relieved her in the third, then gave way again in the 6th. Anna McNickle got the loss despite a strong effort on the mound and at the plate where she went 4-4 in the game. The loss finishes North Hills Season at 12-6 overall.  Penn Trafford picks up its 15th win on the season and will advance to take on top seed and defending WPIAL Champion Hempfield at a time and place to be named later.

North Allegheny Tigers 7 – Plum Mustangs 3
The North Allegheny Varsity Softball team opened its participation in the W.P.I.A.L. Championship Tournament with a 7-3 victory over a determined Plum Mustang team. The Mustangs played a solid game, but in the end fell to timely Tiger hitting to end their season. The Tigers struck first in the bottom of the second when freshman shortstop Rachel Martindale singled, advanced to third on a bunt by senior third baseman Allie Green, and scored on a sacrifice fly be senior first baseman Mollie Benvenuto. Plum came back to tie the game in the top of the fourth, but NA answered with two in the bottom of the fourth on a single by senior catcher Liz Scherer, a double by Martindale which enabled sophomore courtesy runner Rachael Giger to score all the way from first to home, and another sacrifice fly by Benvenuto. The Tigers stretched the lead to 5-1 in the bottom of the fifth when freshman designated player Kristen Chomos led off with a walk and was advanced by a single by sophomore left fielder Anna Pilotta. Scherer then hit a ball to center field that was misplayed, and Martindale hit her second double to put the Tigers up by four. Plum did not go away, however, and tallied two in the top of the sixth on a walk and a long home run by catcher Gabrielle Fischetti to make it 5-3. As they did all day, NA responded in the bottom of the inning with a leadoff double by senior pinch hitter Laura Ryder followed by junior right fielder Maddy DeRubbo, who had doubled earlier in the game, reaching on an error with Ryder scoring on the play. Chomos walked, and a bunt by Pilotta set the stage for a sacrifice fly by Scherer that ended the scoring. Senior Madi Beining picked up the win while Abby Froehlich took the loss. Beining had fourteen strikeouts and issued one walk in a six-hit effort. The Tigers await the date and location for their next opponent, the Big Macs from Canon McMillan in a Quarterfinals matchup.

Canon-McMillan Big Macs 9 – Fox Chapel Foxes 2 
Linda Rush drilled a solo home run to lead off the Canon-McMillan fifth inning, part of a 4-for-4 afternoon, as the Big Macs rolled late, downing Fox Chapel, 9-2.  The senior shortstop singled her three other at-bats, and scored four times as Canon-McMillan won for the eighth time in the last nine games.  The Big Macs scored twice in the bottom of the first with Kaitlyn Greaves ground out scored one run and Kirsten’s Rush’s single down the left field line plated another.  The Foxes used back-to-back two-out doubles by Samantha Olbrich and Callie Zmenkowski to pull within a run. Kirsten Rush’s two out double in the bottom of the inning put the Big Macs up, 3-1.  Emma Humes reached on a misplayed ground ball and scored on Alyssa Guzzie’s double, getting Fox Chapel (12-8) to within one again.  Canon-McMillan scored the next six runs, starting with the Rush homer to right-center field.  Julie Ciotti delivered a two-out RBI single to give the Macs a 5-2 lead after five.  In the sixth, Kayla Hopkins singled home one run, Brittney Crawford drove in a pair and Kirsten Rush doubled in the final marker. Abbi Michelucci got the win, scattering seven hits and walking two.  Canon-McMillan will face #4 North Allegheny in the WPIAL quarterfinals.

Latrobe Wildcats 10 – Bethel Park Black Hawks 0 
The Wildcats established their dominance early and often, as they cruised to a 10-0 mercy-rule victory against Bethel Park at Gateway High School. The No. 7 Wildcats were led by pitcher Meredith Carr, who allowed only two hits in recording the shutout. The Black Hawks opened the contest with a triple, but Carr ultimately stranded the runner. In the bottom of the frame, Greater Latrobe scored four runs, including two on a single by Morgan Schweizer. The Wildcats added another in the second, and plated four more in the fourth to gain complete control, With Carr nearly unblemished the rest of the way, the Wildcats ended the game in the fifth when Makayla Munchinski plated Sarah Blair with the game-ending double. Blair scored four runs, while Munchinski and Reilly McCracken each collected three hits. Chey Hamel and Ashley Burford collected the only hits for No. 10 Bethel Park. Greater Latrobe advances to the quarterfinals, where it will face the second-seeded Shaler Titans.

Peters Township Indians 8 – Franklin Regional Panthers 7 in 10 Innings
Peters Township rallied twice in regulation to erase deficits only to have Franklin Regional score a run in both the bottom of the sixth and seventh innings before the Indians plated a run in the tenth inning to win a First Round thriller at Baldwin High School Monday afternoon. Kylie Hartbauer’s sacrifice fly in the top of the tenth drove home the winning run for Peters Township. Hartbauer pitched all ten innings for Peters as she allowed five earned runs on nine hits with seven strikeouts. Class AAAA Section 2 champion Franklin Regional sees their banner season end at 12-5 while the #11-seed Peters Township improves to 11-6 and will now face #3 Baldwin for a third time this season in the Quarterfinals. The Indians lost 6-1 and 11-1 to the Highlanders this year.

WPIAL CLASS AA Preliminary Round:

Neshannock Lancers 11 – Waynesburg Raiders 5 
The game started out as a battle of pitching but in the end the Waynesburg Raiders just couldn’t conquer the pitching of Neshannock’s Carly Aven and Cassie Burrelli.   Waynesburg’s mistakes defensively and the strong hitting by the Lancers proved to be too much for the Raiders. The Lancers figured out the pitching of Emma Rucciuti and by the 5th inning started racking up the runs.  Waynesburg tried to mount a comeback in the bottom of the 6th inning but it was too little too late.  The Lancers defeated the Raiders by a final score of 11-5 and move on to meet Ellwood City in the next round of the playoffs.

WPIAL CLASS A First Round:

West Greene Pioneers 15 – Greensburg Central Catholic Centurions 0 
The top-seeded West Greene Pioneers came out firing on all cylinders to start the WPIAL Class-A Softball Playoffs with a 15-0 win over Greensburg Central Catholic. West Greene’s first 5 at bats: McKenna Lampe single (reached 3rd on throwing error), Madison Lampe RBI double, Madison Renner 2-run homerun, Bailey Bennington double, Kaitlyn Rizor RBI double. The Pioneers had 4 runs about as quick as they could be scored in the bottom of the first and never looked back. They sent 10 to the plate in the first, scored another 4 with 10 batters in the second. A 2-run homerun by Rizor in the 3rd made it 10-0 and West Greene closed out the mercy-rule win with 5 more runs in the fourth. The Pioneers totaled 19 hits including 3 homeruns and 7 doubles. Bennington went 4-for-4 with 3 doubles and 3 runs scored. Renner was 3-for-4 with two 2-run homeruns and an RBI double. Madison Lampe’s 3 hits included a double. She scored 3 times and drove in 3. McKenna Lampe also had 3 hits including a double and scored twice.  Renner was just as impressive pitching as she was at the plate. She allowed just 2 hits and struck out 5. The Centurions got hits from Emma Taormina and Felicity Orndoff, who was the losing pitcher. West Greene advances to the Quarterfinals to face Union.

Union Scotties 3 – Sewickley Academy Panthers 1 
Sarah Seamans tossed a complete-game four-hitter as Union topped Sewickely Academy, 3-1, in opening-round action Monday.  The Scotties’ 10th-grade right-hander allowed only three singles before Chandler White’s solo home run to left-center ended the shutout bid.  Scoreless to the bottom of the third, Union strung together five singles in six batters to take a 3-0 lead.  Hannah Meeks led off the frame with a base-hit, then scored on an errant pick-off throw and misplay in the outfield. Gabby Libengood  singled.  One out later, Shelby Ligo and Seamans singled to load the bases.  Jaynna Johnson’s base-hit drove in two more runs.  The Panthers had two on with none out in the second but Seamans fanned the next three batters.  Back-to-back hits to start the Sewickley Academy fourth went unrewarded when Alyssa Winters lined into a double-play, ending the frame.  White had two of the four Panthers’ hits.  Six different players had hits for the Scotties, all singles.  Union improves to 12-5 and moves to the quarterfinals for a meeting with #1 West Greene.  Sewickley Academy’s season ends at 11-6.

Serra Catholic Eagles 7 – Jeannette Jayhawks 5
Upset-minded Jeannette jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the third inning, but the Serra Catholic offense finally kicked in as the Eagles scored 3 in the third inning, one each in the fourth and fifth innings and 2 in the sixth en route to a 7-5 victory Monday afternoon at Baldwin High School. Samantha Andrekanic led the Eagles with three hits including a double, a run scored and two RBI. Lauren Kolenik added two hits and drove in three run while Maria Lamonde also had two hits with two RBI for Serra. Kay Kay Crosby, Kara Johnston, Mary Katherine Paulone and Savannah Berry had two hits each for the Jayhawks. Andrekanic was the winning pitcher for the Class A Section 5 champion Eagles as she did not allow an earned run in her complete game while striking out ten. The Jeannette seasons ends with a record of 7-8 while Serra Catholic remain undefeated as they improve to 14-0 and will now face Monessen in a Class A Quarterfinals contest.

Monessen Greyhounds 1 – Jefferson-Morgan Rockets 0 
There will be a new WPIAL Champion in Class-A Softball this year as last year’s champion, the Jefferson-Morgan Rockets, were defeated, 1-0 by the Monessen Greyhounds, in a hard fought defensive game at Canon-McMillan.  The game was without a hit until a single in the bottom of the third by Monessen’s Gabby Simpson. She would score the game’s only run 3 batters later when a throw from third base got away from the first baseman on an infield single by Destiny Habeck. That was all Monessen would need with a dominating Dana Vatakis inside the circle. Vatakis struck out a total of 13 and at one point from the 4th to 6th innings, struck out 5 in a row. Jefferson-Morgan broke up the no-hitter in sixth with a couple of singles, but their real chance to score came in the top of the 7th after a leadoff double by Kayla Yorko. The Rockets had runners at second and third with two outs when Vatakis recorded her 13th strikeout to end the game. Jefferson-Morgan’s Camryn Dugan also pitched tough, allowing only the 1 run on 5 hits.  She struck out 2 in the loss. The Greyhounds’ Mattie Telegraphis doubled for Monessen’s only extra base hit. The Greyhounds advance to the Quarterfinals to face Serra Catholic.

Shenango Wildcats 14 – Riverview Raiders 4 
The Shenango Wildcats advanced to the quarterfinal round of the Class A softball playoffs with a convincing 14-4 win over the Riverview Raiders on Monday afternoon at Hampton Community Park.  The #2 seed Wildcats scored in each of the first four innings, plating two in the first, five more in the second, three in the third, and, finally, four in the fourth in the five inning game ended by the 10-run mercy rule.  Allyson Rubin had a triple, an RBI and three runs scored, Alyssa White had two hits, a run scored and an RBI, Carolyn Peterson had two hits, three RBIs, and a run scored, and Caitlin Schnell had two hits and two runs scored to lead the Wildcats attack.  Alivia Acierno paced Riverview, the #15 seed, with two singles and a run scored.  Macy Rubin was the winning pitcher, working all five innings, surrendering four runs on seven hits, walking one and striking out four.  Cayrs Kenny-Howell took the loss, pitching four innings, giving up 14 runs, many of them unearned as Riverview committed nine errors, 11 hits, and striking out one.  Shenango will meet Chartiers Houston, a 9-4 winner over Leechburg, in the second round later this week at a site and time to be determined.  Shenango moves to 15-3 on the season while Riverview ended its year at 6-9.

Chartiers-Houston Buccaneers 9 – Leechburg Blue Devils 4 
Leechburg jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the top of the 1st as Morgan Pierce reached on an error, then 2 batters later, Kristal Knapp hit a triple do drive her in with the first run.  Knapp scored on a groundout by Brooke Brumer.  The Bucs wasted no time responding with 4 runs in the bottom of the frame.  Jaylese Lombardi led off with a walk.  2 batters later, Macie Kesneck singled, followed by a 2-RBI double by Kayla Alderson.  Alderson scored on an RBI single by Kaitlyn Dittrich, and she scored on Jessica Ford’s base hit.  Char-Houston got 4 more in the bottom of 3 as Kesneck, Alderson, Kacey Scears, and Ford all plated runs, putting the Blue Devil’s in a cavernous hole.  Meanwhile, Dittrich was cruising on the mound, allowing just one base runner in innings 2 through 5.  However, the Blue Devils were able to narrow the gap with 2 runs in the 6th.  Lexie Young singled with 1 out.  2 batters later, Blumer reached on an error.  Kaitlyn Tresco followed with a walk, and Natalie Geminetti plated  both Young and Blumer with a single to cut the lead to 8-4.  That, however, was all the closer Leechburg came as the Bucs got an insurance run in the bottom of the 6th.  Dittrich gave up just one hit in the 7th to slam the door on the Blue Devils.  The Chartiers-Houston Buccaneers move on to the Quarters of the Class A Softball playoffs and will face the Shenango Wildcats, who crushed Riverview 14-3.  Leechburg’s season comes to an end at 12-7 while the Buccaneers season continues with that same record.

Western Beaver Golden Beavers 12 – Frazier Commodores 11
In one of the biggest surprises of Round One, Western Beaver scored big in two innings and then had to hold off a frantic Frazier comeback in the seventh inning to pull off a 12-11 upset of the #3-seed Commodores on Monday afternoon at West Allegheny High School. The #14-seed Golden Beavers scored six runs in the second inning, and then when the Commodores had pulled to within two runs, delivered another six-run inning in fourth. However six Western Beaver errors kept thing interesting as Frazier trailed 12-7 heading into the bottom of the seventh where their four-run rally just fell one short. Brooke McKenna had three hits to lead the Golden Beavers offense while teammate Alyssa McCanna got the win. Western Beaver, which outhit Frazier 13-8, is now 9-4 and will battle Cardinal Wuerl North Catholic in the Class A Quarterfinals. The section 2 champion Commodores are a young team as their season ends with a final record of 13-3.

Cardinal Wuerl North Catholic Trojans 13 – Bishop Canevin Crusaders 6
Cardinal Wuerl North Catholic led 10-0 after four innings, then held on for a 13-6 triumph over Bishop Canevin Monday afternoon at Fox Chapel High School. A five run first inning, followed by two in the second, two in the third and one in the fourth inning put the Trojans in position to end this opening round game early in a 10-run rule victory. But Bishop Canevin stayed alive with four runs in the fifth inning and two more in the sixth inning, but it was not enough. Lillia Smyers led CWNC with three hits and two RBI while Adrian Nardone had a pair of hits and tow runs scored for the Trojans. Lexi Pilch, Caroline Clarke and Tamara Blue had two hits each for the Crusaders, who ended up outhitting the Trojans 9-8. However Pilch, the losing pitcher, ended up walking ten batters. Bishop Canevin ends their season with a record of 7-6 while Cardinal Wuerl North Catholic improves to 14-4 and the Section 3 champions will now face Western Beaver in a Class A Quarterfinals matchup.