PIAA softball semifinal playoff game recaps from Monday, June 13th:

Armstrong 3 Penn-Trafford 2 (Class 5A) WATCH BROADCAST

For the second time in less than two weeks, Armstrong edged Penn-Trafford by a single run, this time prevailing 3-2 in the PIAA Class 5A semifinals at Mars Centennial Field. As a result, the River Hawks (23-4) advance to the state title game for the second consecutive year, while the Warriors (20-4) were denied an opportunity to claim their second PIAA crown in three seasons. Unlike the WPIAL title game, in which Penn-Trafford staged a comeback, it was the River Hawks who overcame an early deficit, scoring the final three runs. The decisive run came in the bottom of the sixth inning, as Jessica Pugh smacked an RBI single to plate Jenna Clontz, who opened the frame with a double to deep left field. Armstrong pulled even two innings earlier, as Bella Atherton provided a two-run double, plating Clontz and Jordan Klingensmith, who was running in place of Pugh. Those doubles accounted for the only extra-base hits by Armstrong, as six of the 10 hits were infield singles. Conversely, Penn-Trafford scored its runs early, as the Warriors struck twice in the top of the first. Mackenzie Keenan opened the game with a single, but was eliminated on a fielder’s choice off the bat of Kylee Piconi. After a steal and flyout advanced Piconi to third, Hannah Allen provided an RBI single. A subsequent walk to Maddy Rapp advanced Allen to second, and she scored when Mia Smith reached on an error. The Warriors threatened in nearly every subsequent inning, but were unable to plate another run. PT left nine runners on base, including runners at third base in both the fifth and seventh innings. While Armstrong’s Cam Sprankle earned the victory in the circle, permitting eight hits, Smith was the tough-luck loser, as she allowed 10 hits and two walks, striking out five. Armstrong will face Pittston Area on Thursday at Penn State University’s Beard Field.

PIAA softball quarterfinal playoff game recaps from Thursday, June 9th:

Penn-Trafford 16 Southern Lehigh 5 (Class 5A) WATCH BROADCAST

Penn-Trafford broke open a 5-5 tie by scoring the final 11 runs of the contest on Thursday, bouncing District 11 champion Southern Lehigh 16-5 in the PIAA Class 5A Quarterfinals at Norlo Park in Guilford Township.

The Warriors gained the lead for good in the top of the third inning, scoring three times, keyed by a two-run blast from sophomore Mackenzie Keenan. Penn-Trafford (20-3) added to its lead with another run in the fourth, tacked on four more runs in the sixth, and put an exclamation point on its victory by scoring three times in the seventh. In addition to the Warriors’ offense bashing a dozen hits, PT capitalized on a porous Southern Lehigh defense that committed a dozen errors, including four each in the second and seventh stanzas.

Before the Warriors began their surge of unanswered runs, the first two innings were back and forth. Penn-Trafford plated a run in the top of the first, as Keenan led off the game with a single, and her courtesy runner Olivia Popovich stole second and then scored on a single by Kylee Piconi. Southern Lehigh (19-7) responded with three runs in the bottom of the inning, though, as PT hurler Mia Smith uncharacteristically walked a pair of batters, and Kaley Hoffman blasted a three-run homer for the Spartans. Smith subsequently exited the contest with a hand injury, prompting the Warriors to call upon fellow senior McKenzie Rapp in the circle.

Penn-Trafford regained the lead with four runs in the second, despite just one hit – a two-run single by freshman Cameron Ponko. The Spartans deadlocked the contest in the bottom of the frame, though, as Chloe Benner and Hannah Bausher contributed RBIs. With PT back in the lead heading to the bottom of the third, Smith returned to the circle, and was nearly untouchable, as she permitted just one hit and issued one walk, while striking out eight over the final five innings.

Additionally, Keenan provided three hits and reached in all five of her at bats for the Warriors, while Ponko went 3-5 with four RBIs. Meanwhile, Hoffman posted a 2-3 performance for the Spartans.

Penn-Trafford advances to the PIAA semifinals, where the Warriors will seek revenge against Armstrong, the team that defeated PT 6-5 in the WPIAL title game earlier this month. The rematch will take place on Monday at 2 p.m. at Mars Area High School.

Beaver Area 3 Burrell 0 (Class 4A)

Payton List once again showed why she's one of the best pitchers in the state in Beaver Area's PIAA 4A quarterfinal game against Burrell on Thursday at Mars Centennial Field. List rung up 20 strikeouts, a career-high, in the Bobcats 3-0 victory over the Buccaneers. Burrell ace Katie Armstrong was also tremendous as she struck out 15 batters and allowed just five hits. One of those hits came off the bat of List, a Virginia Tech commit, as she homered in the third inning to give Beaver Area a 2-0 lead. She also scored on a RBI single by Hanna Crowe in the first inning and scored on a wild pitch in the fifth. The Buccaneers (14-3) graduate just one senior, Caroline Dynka, and expect to have more depth next year. The Bobcats (21-0) will play District 9 winner Clearfield on Monday.

PIAA softball first round playoff game recaps from Monday, June 6th:

Penn-Trafford 3 Twin Valley 1 (Class 5A)

Hannah Allen drove in two runs and Mia Smith surrendered just one run as Penn-Trafford topped Twin Valley 3-1 in a PIAA Class 5A first round contest at Twin Valley High School. The first batter of the game for the Raiders, Liv Litchner, clubbed a solo home run in the bottom of the first inning to give Twin Valley an early 1-0 lead. In the third inning, P-T's Cameron Ponko grounded a one-out single to right field and moved to third on a double by Mackenzie Keenan. Allen followed with a sacrifice fly to centerfield to bring home Ponko and tie the game at 1-1. On the play, courtesy runner Olivia Popovich was thrown out trying to move to third base but Ponko had already crossed the plate. The Warriors took the lead in the fifth inning as Rillie Moors led off the frame with a single. After a popout, Moors advanced to second on a ground ball and scored on a two-out single by Allen. Penn-Trafford tacked on an insurance run in the seventh on a RBI groundout from Kylee Piconi. Smith yielded one run on five hits while striking out five batters and walking two in a complete game win. Keenan finished with three hits for the Warriors (19-3) who will face District 11 champion Southern Lehigh (19-6) in the quarterfinals on Thursday at a site and time to be determined.

Burrell 6 Villa Maria Academy 0 (Class 4A)

Burrell ace Katie Armstrong was dominant in the circle once again, and the Buccaneers gave her plenty of run support in a 6-0 victory against Villa Maria Academy at Penn State Behrend in the PIAA Class 4A first round on Monday. Armstrong allowed just one hit and did not issue a walk, while striking out 17 batters in the complete-game victory. Burrell (14-2), which won a consolation game last week to qualify for the state playoffs, scored twice each in the first, fourth, and seventh innings. Caroline Dynka posted three hits and scored twice for the Bucs, while Pyper Ferres and Bray Jones each had two-hit efforts. Addisyn Biel had the lone hit for Villa Maria, which will merge with Cathedral Prep beginning next school year. Burrell will face undefeated Beaver Area, which captured the WPIAL title, in the state quarterfinals on Thursday at the site and time to be determined.

Bald Eagle 4 Southmoreland 1 (Class 3A)

Bald Eagle collected 10 hits en route to a 4-1 victory over Southmoreland in a PIAA Class 3A first round match up at Milesburg Little League Complex. The Eagles struck first in the bottom of the first inning on a RBI double by Ava Stere which knocked in Kailey Eckert. They plated two more runs in the second inning on a run-scoring single from Eckert and another hit by Stere to bring home Eckert. The Scotties cut the lead to 3-1 in the fourth inning as Gabrielle Grabiak doubled home Bea Pawlikowsky. Bald Eagle closed out the scoring adding a run in the bottom of the fourth. The three-run lead was plenty for freshman pitcher Sierra Albright who struck out 11 batters. Southmoreland (14-5) graduates just three seniors from this year's squad which defeated South Allegheny 9-8 in the WPIAL consolation game to advance to the state tournament. Bald Eagle (17-4) will face Deer Lakes in the quarterfinals on Thursday.

DuBois Central Catholic 4 Greensburg Central Catholic 2 (Class 1A)

A three-run homer by DuBois Central Catholic’s Emma Suplizio in the fifth inning proved to be the decisive blow, as host DuBois edged Greensburg Central Catholic 4-2 in the PIAA Class 1A first round at Heindl Field. The Centurions (13-7) held a 2-1 lead for most of Monday’s contest, as GCC scored twice in the opening inning, keyed by a triple off the bat of Isabela Marquez. The Centurions had opportunities to score in the subsequent frames, but left six runners on base, including the tying run in the seventh inning. Macee Magill provided a pair of hits for GCC, while Emma Henry went the distance in the circle, allowing nine hits, and she also had an RBI at the plate. DuBois Central Catholic will face WPIAL runner up West Greene in the quarterfinals on Thursda