Ligonier Valley set for PIAA 2A softball semifinal bout with Union City

Jun. 14—When the Ligonier Valley Rams take on District 10 runner-up Union City in Monday's PIAA Class 2A softball semifinal at Slippery Rock University, it'll mark the program's first action in a PIAA semifinal.

While veteran Rams coach Mark Zimmerman attests that his squad is aware of the moments awaiting them on Monday, he's also cognizant of the fact that the full gravity of this run could follow years later, regardless of what Monday's result is.

"They know where they're at," Zimmerman said. "I don't think that they really know how big it is as much as they will when they're 40 years old ... They're 17- and 18-year-old kids. They're having the time of their lives."

Zimmerman added: "They know what they can accomplish if they do their jobs."

First pitch for the Rams and Bears is scheduled for 2:30 p.m.

The winner of Monday's semifinal will face either Williams Valley or Line Mountain on Thursday in the PIAA Class 2A championship game at Penn State University's Beard Field.

For Zimmerman, in his 22nd year at the helm at Ligonier Valley, he is hoping for no deviation from the formula that has taken the District 7 third-place team to this point.

"We can only control our team," Zimmerman said. "I can't control what the other team does; what somebody did one game might be the greatest game they ever played but it may not happen in another game.

"We're not going to spend an awful lot of time worrying about what they do, we're going spend most of the time worry ing about what we do."

To get to the semifinal, Ligonier Valley had to top District 10 champ Sharpsville 3-2 and District 5's Chestnut Ridge 1-0.

Thursday's win over the Lions in the quarterfinal saw the game reach the sixth before rain soaked the diamond at Mount Aloysius College. After a relocation to Central Cambria High School with intent of finishing the game on the school's new artificial surface, the unrelenting rain led to the game being called with the Rams officially winning in five innings.

Rams pitcher Maddie Griffin fanned 11 Chestnut Ridge batters, including eight of the first nine that she faced. She has 287 strikeouts on her ledger with a 0.32 ERA over 128 innings.

Griffin is also the Rams' leading hitter, registering a .486 average with 12 RBIs to boot.

Haley Boyd is hitting .475 while Kailey Johnson (.371), Isabella Vargulish (.311) and Ruby Wallace (.302) are regulars hitting over. 300. Boyd, who has 23 RBIs, and Vargulish, who has 20, pace the Rams.

Wallace's RBI double was the decisive blow in the Rams' win over Chestnut Ridge.

The Bears (21-1) have dispatched District 9 champion Moniteau and District 7 titleholder Laurel during their PIAA run. Only a May 31 loss to Sharpsville in the District 10 final has blemished Union City's 2021 record.

Union City has outscored its opposition 283-26, with 10 shutout wins where the Bears scored 11 or more runs. The Bears opened the season with a 25-0 win over Youngsville on April 6 and followed up with a 35-0 win over the Eagles on April 29. Union City also boasts a 23-0 triumph over Mapletown on April 20 on its resumé.

The Bears' 6-5 win over Laurel on Thursday needed 10 innings with Lucy Higley's two-run triple in the 10th inning sparking a three-run rally to push past the Spartans. Union City was held off the scoreboard until the sixth inning when they finally solved Laurel's Autumn Boyd with a pair of runs.

Entering postseason play, the Bears had five regulars hitting .500 or greater with Eliza Reynolds' .571 average leading the way.

Sydney Gilbert (.541), Abigail Tingley (.516), Emylee Zielinski (.508) and Cathryn Reynolds (.500) followed per statistics posted online.

Zielinski and Eliza Reynolds tied for the team lead in home runs with three while also being part of a three-way dead heat atop the team's RBIs leaderboard with Gilbert, all of whom had 29.

Tingley had collected 157 strikeouts in 952/3 innings during the regular season.

"I know they've won an awful lot of games," Zimmerman said.

"Their pitcher seems to do excellent work in the circle."

Shawn Curtis is a reporter for The Tribune-Democrat. He can be reached at 814-532-5085. Follow him on Twitter @ShawnCurtis430.