PIAA Class 4A softball playoff semifinal preview: Beaver Area aims to return to title game

Parth Upadhyaya, Beaver County Times
·5 min read

And then there was one.

The Beaver Area High School softball team is the last remaining team in the PIAA softball or baseball playoffs from the Beaver County Times’ coverage area. Head coach Amy Haggart and the Bobcats (21-0) will face the Clearfield Area Bison (20-3) from District 9 in a PIAA Class 4A playoff semifinal matchup at 2 p.m. on Monday at St. Francis University.

Beaver Area is looking to punch its ticket to next week’s PIAA championship game for a chance to defend its 2021 state title and complete a second consecutive undefeated season.

Here’s a preview of the matchup:

Scouting Beaver Area

Head coach: Amy Haggart (fifth year)

Record: 21-0

Path to PIAA playoff semifinal: Defeated Fleetwood Area 3-2; Burrell 3-0

Key players

  • Payton List: What more is there to say that hasn’t already been said? List, a star senior two-way player, has been phenomenal all spring. The Virginia Tech commit has tallied 275 strikeouts in 135.1 innings on the season. On the offensive end, she leads her team in every statistical category, too. List entered the PIAA postseason with 35 runs, 27 RBIs and 10 home runs — and she’s been stellar since. Coming off of a PIAA playoff quarterfinal victory over Burrell in which she hit a home run and scored two other runs, List will look to continue her dominance against Clearfield Area.

  • Hanna Crowe: A veteran who played a key part in Beaver Area’s PIAA championship run last season, Crowe has been vital to the Bobcats’ success this spring. The senior shortstop’s biggest impact is on the defensive end, but she’s also chipped in plenty offensively, having entered the PIAA postseason with 17 RBIs (second on the team), 17 hits and 11 runs. Crowe is coming off of a performance in which she went 2-for-3 and had an RBI in Beaver Area’s win over Burrell in the PIAA playoff quarterfinals. Her contributions — on offense and defense — will be critical in the Bobcats’ quest to get back to the state title game.

The scoop: Beaver Area isn’t just one of the best teams in Pennsylvania — it’s one of the best teams in the country (MaxPreps ranks the Bobcats No. 10 in its national high school softball rankings). The group has a 42-game win streak, which stretches back to its undefeated 2021 campaign. Head coach Amy Haggart’s Bobcats looked vulnerable in their 3-2 PIAA first-round victory over Fleetwood Area but cleaned up their game to take care of Burrell 3-0 in Thursday’s quarterfinal round. Beaver Area is two wins away from capping off one of the most impressive runs in the history of Pennsylvania high school sports. It knows it’ll need to take things one step at a time, though, with a test against Clearfield Area up next.

Scouting Clearfield Area

Head coach: Derek Danver (fifth year)

Record: 20-3

Path to PIAA playoff semifinal: Defeated Franklin Area 4-3; Hamburg Area 4-0

Key players

  • Emma Hipps: Hipps might be one of the few pitchers that Beaver Area has faced this season that has the ability to go toe-to-toe with Payton List. The Clearfield Area senior two-way star has been stellar on the mound and at the plate. She has posted a 19-2 record and a 1.05 ERA to go with 267 strikeouts in 140.2 innings on the season. On the offensive side, she has tallied a team-high 33 runs, 30 RBIs (tied for the team-high) and eight home runs (second on the team). Coming off of a 15-strikeout performance in Clearfield Area’s PIAA playoff quarterfinal win over Hamburg Area, Look for Hipps to impact every facet of the game as the Bison attempt to knock off the Bobcats.

  • Lauren Ressler: Behind Hipps, Ressler might be the second best offensive threat on Clearfield Area’s roster. The senior first baseman has chalked up 34 hits (second on the team), 30 RBIs (tied for the team-high) and 24 runs (third on the team) on the season. Ressler isn’t the heaviest hitter — with only three home runs this spring — but she’s still managed to tally nine doubles. While Hipps provided most of the offensive firepower in the Bison’s PIAA playoff quarterfinal victory against Hamburg Area, Ressler hit a double. Now, she’ll have to try to have a greater offensive impact against one of the best pitchers in the country for her team to have a solid chance at an upset.

The scoop: The last time Clearfield Area played in a PIAA semifinal was in 2019 — but that was when the Bison were still a Class 3A program. Now, head coach Derek Danver’s squad will have an even bigger challenge when it faces defending state champion Beaver Area. While Clearfield Area is the underdog, don’t get it twisted: The Bison have the talent to hang in this one and, potentially, get a win. Emma Hipps is one of the best pitchers in the state and leads an offensive attack that features three players with at least 20 RBIs and 20 runs. Clearfield Area has a plethora of weapons. It’ll just be a matter of how many of those weapons can find a way to crack the cheat code that is Payton List.

Contact Parth Upadhyaya at pupadhyaya@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter @pupadhyaya_.

This article originally appeared on Beaver County Times: Previewing Beaver Area's PIAA Class 4A softball playoff semifinal game