Postseason Push: Holy Ghost, Wood baseball advance; North Penn, Pennsbury cruise into softball semifinals
The PIAA baseball and softball championships resumed play with Thursday's quarterfinal round, after opening Monday with first-round games in six classes.
Check back as games end for results and photos.
Photos:Pennsbury, Quakertown look to keep their postseason dreams alive in softball quarterfinals
Just another day: Shearer wins Gatorade Player of the Year, pitches shutout in PIAA quarterfinal
To say Julia Shearer’s day started off on a good note would be an understatement.
“When we were getting on the bus, I got a text saying, ‘Congratulations,’” the North Penn junior said. “I was like ‘Huh?’
Photos: Area teams open the PIAA baseball, softball championships
Shearer determination: Julia Shearer, North Penn win district championship
Shearer ― about to leave for Wilkes University for the Knights’ PIAA 6A quarterfinal game against District 4 champion Williamsport ― checked her email and discovered she had been named the 2021-22 Gatorade Pennsylvania Softball Player of the Year, following in the footsteps of teammate Mady Volpe who won it last year.
“I just ran over to my coach and gave him a big hug as soon as I found out,” Shearer said. “It just felt great. It made me want to go out today and prove myself.”
And prove herself the Knights’ ace certainly did, tossing yet another gem. Shearer allowed just one hit, struck out 11 and walked only one in a 10-0 contest that was halted in the bottom of the sixth when the mercy rule went into effect. The University of Maryland bound junior also was 3-for-4 at the plate with a double, home run, 3 RBIs and a run scored.
“What more can we say about her other than – she does everything all the time,” North Penn coach Rick Torresani said. “The greatest player I’ve ever coached. She’s a six-tool player, she does everything and pitches.”
Shearer didn’t need much run support, but she got plenty. Brie Wilmot singled to lead off the second inning, and one out later, Sophia Collins singled up the middle. Wilmot scored on Maddy Gronback’s groundout, and the Knights led 1-0.
One inning later, Reyna Doherty led off with a single, and Shearer followed with a sharp line drive that got past the right fielder. The speedy junior circled the bases for what was ruled an inside-the park home run that put the Knights on top 3-0.
In the fifth inning, Gronback, who doubled and scored on a Shearer single in the fourth, blew the game wide open with a three-run blast over the left field fence. Wilmot brought an end to the game with a two-run double in the sixth, and the Knights (24-1) are bound for the state semifinals where they will face Spring-Ford in a rematch of a district semifinal contest, a 5-2 North Penn win.
All told, the Knights pounded out 14 hits, which included a 3-for-4 effort by Wilmot (2B, 2R, 2 RBIs) and a 2-for-3 day from Gianna Cimono (2B R).
Gronback (2-for-3, 2B, HR, 4 RBIs), Collins (1-for-2, RBI) and Micki Secoda – the team’s three seniors - celebrated the win and then headed home to celebrate North Penn’s graduation Thursday night.
“It feels great,” Gronback said. “We went into the game saying we would do it for each other so we would get there on time. It’s going to be a good day.”
-Mary Jane Souder
PIAA Baseball Championships
Class 6A
11-1 LIBERTY 10, 12-1 LA SALLE 2
The Explorers saw their season ended by Liberty in the Class 5A quarterfinals, and while they didn’t make it back to the state championship, it was a season that exceeded all expectations.
With Thursday’s lineup featuring just two starters who played in last year’s title game, Brian Baquero and Jephson Hadson-Taylor,.earning a state playoff berth seemed to be a longshot.
Aidan Bretschneider, a reserve on last year’s team, had a breakout season while pitcher Kevin Kell earned the role of the team’s ace. Kell had the best day at the plate against Liberty starter Hayden O’Neill, who gave up just five hits. Kell had three of those hits, including a double and an RBI.
Class 5A
12-1 ARCHBISHOP WOOD 7, 3-1 MANHEIM CENTRAL 0
Gochnauer Stadium does not elicit good feelings for the Archbishop Wood baseball team.
The Vikings reached the PIAA Class 5A quarterfinals last season, but were no-hit by Red Land and sent home for the summer. So guess where District 12 champion Wood had to play in a quarterfinal playoff game on Thursday? Gochnauer Stadium.
Only this time the feeling and result was very different.
Senior Justin MacCain tossed six innings of hitless ball and fellow senior Connor Woodson struck out the side in the seventh to preserve the no-hitter and a 7-0 victory over District 3 champ Manheim Central (22-4). The Vikings (20-4) will play in a semifinal game on Monday. It is their deepest trip ever into the state playoffs.
MacCain, who will continue his career next season at Barry University, walked four and hit three batters, but struck out 10. It was his second no-hitter of the season.
"Coming in with the fastball, my arm was feeling really good," MacCain said. "Mechanics felt a lot smoother than usual, getting through the ball. Beginning of the game, I'm always a little tight. But once I start throwing everything, it usually gets loose." Offensively, the Vikings were led by junior Dariel Tiburcio who went 3-for-3 with a double, a stolen base, a run scored and three runs batted in.-Joe Fite
Class 4A
1-1 HOLY GHOST 6, 11-1 SAUCON VALLEY 1
There's no telling what may happen at a Holy Ghost Prep baseball game. There will be good pitching. There will be good hitting. There will dramatic hitting. Above everything else, there will be a winning feeling.
That's what the Firebirds did Thursday afternoon, squeezing out a 6-1 victory over Saucon Valley at Villanova Ballpark. With the win, Holy Ghost Prep advances to the semifinals of the PIAA 4A state tournament. Never before has a Holy Ghost Prep team reached this point in playoff history. Saucon Valley finishes its season at 20-4.
"This is very big for us," said Holy Ghost Prep baseball head coach Greg Olenski. "We've never been here before and it's a nice feeling. We've got a good group of kids who enjoy being together and winning. We are learning a lot as we go along."
Going for gold: Results from the first round of the PIAA baseball, softball playoffs
The Firebirds (17-5) have four seniors who will play college baseball. Tyler McCord (Amherst College), Dillon Rooney (Clarkson University), Andrew Jones (Immaculata University), and Liam Parsons (Penn State-Abington). Senior lefty pitcher Nick Henn, who got the win in relief of Matt Goldenbaum, will be attending Villanova University in the fall. Goldenbaum, a junior who has verbally committed to the University of South Florida, started and gave up only one run before running deep in pitch counts.
Down 1-0, the Firebirebirds rallied to go up 3-1 in the fifth inning. In the sixth inning Reese Acord, a power hitting junior, made sure the lead would stay when he rocked a three-run home run.
"It was something kind of slow and I was able to get to it," said Acord, a right fielder who got his only hit of the game against reliever Rocky Vicito. "Their starter [freshman southpaw Cole Hubert] kept us off balanced with what he was throwing. I knew it was going to be a matter of time before we got everything figured out. I just didn't know when."
Once the Firebirds got going, everything changed. They began to play like a driven playoff team.
"It took us a moment but we got it together," said Olenski. "We began to play better as a team. "
The Firebirds will play the winner of Friday's game between Bonner-Prendergast vs. Mountoursville.
-Daryl Bell
PIAA Softball Championships
Class 6A
1-2 PENNSBURY 10, 7-2 NORTH ALLEGHENY 2
The Pennsbury Falcons' offense puts pressure on an opponent non-stop.
Every batter in the order is a threat, and every inning could be a big one.
And that was never more evident than early Thursday afternoon in the PIAA Class 6A softball quarterfinals here at Messiah University.
Pennsbury pounded out 13 hits, ran the bases at will (and also played great defense, too) on the way to a 10-2 drubbing of District Seven-runner-up North Allegheny in a game the Falcons secured early on.
"We try to put pressure on the other team and the girls did a really nice job of that today," veteran Pennsbury coach Frank McSherry said.
"They listened to everything we told them and got it done against a very good team. Every game at this point is tough and they'll only get tougher."
The win moved the Falcons into Monday's semifinals for the second-straight season where they'll play District Seven-champion Seneca Valley.
Seneca Valley defeated Quakertown 1-0 in the other semifinal here to advance to Monday's game. In the District Seven title game, Seneca Valley defeated North Allegheny 9-5.
"We didn't know too much about them," said Pennsbury senior pitcher Ainsley McClure, who struck out seven and did not walk a batter.
"We just go out and try and play as well as we can and we played really well today. Our defense was really good and our offense did a great job, too."
Pennsbury, now 24-2 and headed to the PIAA semifinals for the second-straight year, scored runs in five of the seven innings and did it with balance as the six through nine hitters contributed as much as the top of the lineup, producing eight hits and six runs.
"The bottom of the order was great today," said McSherry, who has coached five PIAA title teams with the last one coming in 2007.
"Getting that kind of production up and down the order is what you like to see."
The game's key hit was provided by sophomore second baseman Ava Storlazzi in the fifth inning.
With runners on second and third with one out, Storlazzi smoked a hard grounder up the middle that hit the lip between the infield dirt and outfield grass and bounded high over the head of North Allegheny center fielder Annalyn Isaacs and rolled all the way to the wall, allowing Storlazzi to circle the bases easily.
"Ava hit that hard and then it took the big hop and there was nothing the center fielder could do," McSherry said.
The Falcons, who also won their PIAA opener by a 10-2 score over Manheim Township, saw their seniors leave in a hurry after the game in order to get to graduation.
"I'm looking forward to graduation," McClure said. "But nothing beats being out here and playing."
-Drew Markol
7-1 SENECA VALLEY 1, 1-5 QUAKERTOWN 0
Missed opportunities haunted Quakertown at exactly the wrong time on Thursday at Messiah University.
The Panthers, playing in the PIAA Class 6A quarterfinals for the second-straight season, came close numerous times, but couldn't crack Seneca Valley freshman ace pitcher Lexie Hames in what turned out to be a 1-0 loss that ended their season.
"We had our chances, but just couldn't get the big hit when we needed it," Quakertown head coach Dave Scott said.
"And that's a credit to their pitcher. She did a good job and got the big outs when she needed to."
Hames allowed just three hits and struck out 11.
Quakertown senior standout pitcher Sydney Andrews matched Hames nearly pitch for pitch as she also yielded only three hits while fanning six. The Raiders nicked her for the game's lone run in the bottom of the first inning.
"I felt pretty good warming up and the whole team was ready to go," said Andrews, who will continue her softball career at Cabrini.
"I know I'm going to miss this team. We have a really good group of players coming back and they're going to keep this going."
Quakertown (21-5), the fifth-place finisher out of District One, had a runner reach third in first, fourth and fifth innings, but couldn't push a run across.
"We needed that clutch hit," Scott said. "We hit some balls hard when we had runners on, but they just didn't go through."
While the loss stung, Scott has a strong group of underclassmen returning in 2023.
"We only lose three seniors and they'll all be missed," Scott said. "And losing Sydney will really be tough.
"She has meant so much to this program. We have a lot of talented younger players coming up and they're only going to get better."
-Drew Markol
Class 4A
More:Wood junior Dakota Fanelli wins PCL softball crown, Pitcher of the Year...and she isn't finished yet
1-1 VILLA JOSEPH MARIE 2, 11-1 BETHLEHEM CATHOLIC 1
The Jems scored both of their two runs in the first inning, in rather unusual fashion, but a lockdown-pitching performance from Jill Evans secured Villa Joseph Marie’s win against District 11 champion Bethlehem Catholic. The Jems loaded the bases in the first inning, scored their first run on a bases-loaded walk, with the second scoring on a bases-load hit-by-pitch.
2-1 TUNKHANNOCK 10, 12-1 ARCHBISHOP WOOD 0
A record-breaking season filled with milestones came to an end in the Class 4A quarterfinal, but not before Dakota Fanelli added her name to the Archbishop Wood history books. Fanelli, a junior, broke the Vikings’ single-season strikeout record with her 161st of the season. Fanelli was the winning pitcher in the Vikings’ first-round win, which was the first ever state playoff win for Wood softball.
Class 2A
12-1 CONWELL-EGAN 7, 6-1 SOUTHERN HUNTINGDON 5
Conwell-Egan’s quarterfinal win over Southern Huntington was a milestone not just for the team, but for the entire Philadelphia Catholic League. The Eagles are just the second PCL softball team to win a state quarterfinal in league history. Lansdale Catholic was the first in 2014.
Class 1A
4-1 MONTGOMERY 13, 1-1 FAITH CHRISTIAN
A historical season for the Lions came to an end against Montgomery in the Class 1A quarterfinals. It marked the first time in school history that the Lions played in a state quarterfinal game.
The Lions, who finished with a 16-7 record, were one of the hottest hitting teams in the league this season. Morgan Pepkowski and Salma Lampack led the way offensively, while freshman Kamryn Pepkowski, Morgan’s sister, dominated from the circle. Kamryn was the winning pitcher in the Lions’ first-round win, giving up five hits and one run through eight innings.
This article originally appeared on Bucks County Courier Times: PIAA: Baseball, Softball scores, recaps, photos, from quarterfinals
