PIAA softball quarterfinal playoff results from Thursday, June 8th 2023:

Hempfield Area 2 Downingtown East 0

Riley Miller was stellar in the circle and Lauren Howard provided the offense to lead the Spartans to a 2-0 triumph against Downingtown East in the Class 6A quarterfinals at Cumberland Valley High School. Miller tossed a shutout for the second game in a row, as she permitted four hits and issued two walks while striking out three. Additionally, she retired the first 13 batters of the game before allowing a single with one out in the fifth. The Cougars, the third-place team from District 1, loaded the bases in the frame, but Miller induced a groundout to end the threat. Howard, meanwhile, staked the Spartans (20-3) to the lead with a solo home run in the third inning. Three innings later, she added a double and scored, as she accounted for the only two hits for Hempfield. Pitcher Rachael Schumann went the distance for Downingtown East (22-4), distributing three walks while striking out 10. With the victory, Hempfield Area advances to the state semifinals to face District 3 champion Cumberland Valley on Monday at a time and location to be determined.

Elizabeth Forward 4 Belle Vernon 3   LISTEN BROADCAST

Potentially one strike away from a win, the Leopards could not finish off Elizabeth Forward, as the Warriors rallied for a 4-3 victory in the PIAA Class 4A quarterfinals at Hempfield Area High School. EF’s Alivia Grimm was the hero, as she delivered the decisive two-run double to center to put the Warriors in the lead in the top of the seventh. Grimm’s hit plated courtesy runner Maddie Patton and Lauren Vay. Playing as the home team, Belle Vernon Area threatened in the bottom of the frame, with the tying and winning runs on base, by EF hurler Shelby Telegdy retired Mia Zubovic and Lauren VanDivner to seal the victory. Prior to the dramatic finish, the teams exchanged leads, as Elizabeth Forward built a 2-0 edge, but the Leopards scored three times in the bottom of the fifth. The Warriors (20-1) opened the scoring in the third, as Telegdy provided an RBI single that brought in Julia Resnik, who doubled to begin the stanza. Telegdy struck again in the fifth, as she smacked a solo blast. Belle Vernon (19-5) responded in the bottom of the frame, as Olivia Kolowitz drew a leadoff walk, Katie Sokol followed with an infield single, and Alexa Daniels walked. Gracie Sokol’s sacrifice fly put BVA on the board, and after a groundout, Mia Zubovic smacked a two-run single. In the defeat, Daniels posted a single and three walks, while Talia Ross went 2-for-3, including a double. Ross took the loss in the circle, however, giving up four runs on seven hits, issuing five walks while striking out seven. In addition to her 2-for-3 effort at the plate, Telegdy went the distance in the circle, permitting six hits, issuing six walks, and fanning three. Grimm, Resnik, Carlee Soukup, and Addy Nigut all reached base safely twice for EF. While the season ends for the WPIAL champion Leopards, the Warriors advance to play WPIAL runner-up Montour on Monday in the semifinals.

PIAA softball first round playoff results from Monday, June 5th 2023:

Hempfield Area 5 Mifflin County 0 (6A)   LISTEN BROADCAST

Behind sterling performances from Riley Miller and Lauren Howard, Hempfield Area earned a trip to the PIAA quarterfinals with a 5-0 shutout of Mifflin County to begin the state tournament. The Spartans tallied single runs in each of the first three innings to jump out to an early lead. Lauren Howard started the offense by singling and scoring on an error to make it 1-0 after one. Maggie Howard's RBI single in the second inning made it a two-run game and in the third Lauren Howard scored on a ground ball hit by Emily Griffith to put Hempfield Area ahead 3-0. The Spartans created some breathing room in the fifth as Peyton Heisler drove in a run with a one-out single and Griffith brought her home with another single to give them a 5-0 advantage. Mifflin County had two runners on base in the fifth and sixth innings but Miller kept the Huskies off the board. She pitched another gem striking out eight over seven shutout innings. Miller yielded three hits and three walks. Lauren Howard finished with three hits, including a double, and scored three runs. Sophie McCurdy collected two hits for Mifflin County (12-10). Hempfield Area (19-3) will face District 1 No. 3 seed Downingtown East (22-3) on Thursday at Cumberland Valley at 4:00 p.m.

Belle Vernon Area 6 Trinity 3 (4A)   LISTEN BROADCAST

Belle Vernon held off a late charge from Trinity to capture a PIAA 4A first round playoff victory 6-3 at Hempfield Area High School.

Chestnut Ridge 4 Southmoreland 1 (3A)

Southmoreland, the WPIAL Class 3A runner-up, saw its season come to an end with a 4-1 loss at District 5 champion Chestnut Ridge in a PIAA Class 3A first round playoff game. The Lions scored twice in the first inning on an error by Scotties right fielder Beatrix Pawlikowsky and plated two more runs in the fourth inning on RBI singles from Maya Wingard and Alyssa Henderson. Southmoreland scored its lone run in the sixth on an RBI single from Taylor Doppelheuer. Britni Motter racked up 11 strikeouts in the game for Chestnut Ridge which advances to the quarterfinals where it will play District 10 champion Jamestown on Thursday. The Scotties finish with a 16-4 record.

Juniata 1 Burrell 0 (3A)

Burrell came out on the losing end of a pitchers duel in the first round of the PIAA Class 3A playoffs as the Bucs fell at Juniata 1-0. The majority of the game may not have contained much excitement but featured a thrilling ending. With Juniata in front 1-0 in the seventh inning and hurler Liz Gaisior throwing a no-hitter, the Bucs were down to their final out. That's when Pyper Ferres stepped up and blasted a double to right-center field to break up the no-hitter. The throw came in to third base but got away allowing Ferres to reach third. She then tried to score on the play but Gaisior, who was backing up the throw, picked the ball up and fired to the plate to nab Pyper and end the contest. The lone run allowed by Burrell pitcher Katie Armstrong was unearned in the fifth inning. Armstrong finished with 11 strikeouts while Gaisior collected 18. The Bucs finish their season with a 14-7 record while Juniata (23-3) plays WPIAL champion Avonworth on Thursday in the quarterfinals.

Cranberry 8 Greensburg Central Catholic 7 (2A)

A Greensburg Central Catholic error permitted Cranberry to score the game-winning run in the bottom of the seventh inning as the Centurions dropped a back-and-forth game 8-7 in the first round of the PIAA Class 2A playoffs. With the contest knotted up at 7-7, Denali Wenner led off the final inning with a bloop double for the District 9 champion Berries. Her courtesy runner, Katelyn Beggs, would then score on a GCC throwing miscue on a ground ball hit by Jadyn Shumaker. Emma Henry had three hits and three RBIs to lead Greensburg Central Catholic (14-4) the No. 3 seed out of District 7. Abigail Dei tied the game at 7-7 with an RBI single in the seventh. Dei and Macee Magill each finished with two hits. Wenner and Shumaker both collected three hits for Cranberry (14-7) which will play Everett in Thursday's quarterfinals.