H.S. SOFTBALL: Pine Grove, Tri-Valley eye state championship berths
· Yahoo Sports
Then there were two.
Only two Schuylkill League teams remain in the PIAA state softball playoffs: Class 1A representative Tri-Valley and Class 3A representative Pine Grove.
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Both teams will look to book their ticket to the state championship game on Monday afternoon in Hazleton. Tri-Valley will take on the Holy Cross Crusaders at 2 p.m. at Hazleton High School before Pine Grove faces off against Mid-Valley at 4 p.m.
Here’s what you need to know about Monday’s semifinal matchups.
Tri-Valley searches for third state title
Led by the Schuylkill League’s all-time winningest coach, Marty Shade, Tri-Valley is searching for its third state championship this decade, having won in 2021 and 2023.
The Bulldogs, after a slower start to the season, have won 15 of 17 games and outscored opponents 182-54 in that stretch.
Tri-Valley arrives at Monday’s semifinal matchup against Holy Cross after defeating Dock Mennonite 7-1 in the first round last Monday, before defeating Bucktail 13-4 in Thursday’s quarterfinals.
Through two playoff games, the Bulldogs are hitting .403 as a team with nine extra-base hits, including six doubles, two triples and one home run.
Summer Cupsta has been the Bulldogs’ leader at the plate this season with a batting average well over .550 and 23 RBI. Myah Schwalm leads the Bulldogs with 33 RBI, while also pitching to a 2.11 ERA in 69.2 innings pitched.
On the other side of the field will be District II champion Holy Cross out of Dunmore. The Crusaders enter Monday’s semifinals with a 21-3 overall record, including 14-1 in the highly competitive Lackawanna League.
The Crusaders are led by senior Peyton Graboske, who is hitting .486 with 10 home runs and 37 RBI.
Holy Cross possesses plenty of firepower at the plate with 35 total home runs, 52 doubles and six triples. Overall, Holy Cross has outscored opponents 228-72.
In the circle, senior Ava Schmidt has pitched all but one out for Holy Cross in their 23 games, pitching to the tune of a 0.87 ERA. She’s been a strikeout machine with 205 strikeouts in 137 innings.
Notably, Tri-Valley and Holy Cross met in the first round of last year’s playoffs, with the Crusaders winning 3-2.
Cardinals looking for second-straight trip to Happy Valley
The Cardinals, the defending Class 3A champions, are looking to make it back-to-back crowns this upcoming week. They previously won a state championship in 2019 while finishing as runners-up in 2017.
This season, the Cardinals didn’t miss a beat as they returned all but one starter from last year’s state championship team and entered Monday afternoon with a 25-2 overall record. Their lone losses have come against North Schuylkill and Blue Mountain.
Since the Cardinals’ last loss against Blue Mountain to close out the regular season on May 5, Pine Grove has won seven straight and has outscored opponents 66-10 in the process.
The Cardinals have had to sweat out both of their first two state playoff games. The Cardinals defeated Littlestown 5-4 in last week’s first-round matchup, needing to stage a comeback to survive the upset bid.
Pine Grove has been a juggernaut at the plate, totaling 279 runs while hitting .412, with a team total of 29 home runs, 47 doubles and 20 triples.
Senior Callee Leffler has been one of the state’s true elite players with a .646 batting average, clobbering 16 home runs and 48 RBI. Four other Pine Grove regulars are hitting over .400, but few have been more impressive this postseason than freshman Khloe Jessman.
Over her last seven games, Jessman is 12-for-21, with a .571 batting average, four extra-base hits and five RBI.
In the circle, the Cardinals have two legitimate ace pitchers in Jamie Dinger and Chelcy Clark. Both pitchers have been phenomenal, Dinger posting a 0.76 ERA in 100.2 innings while Clark boasts a 0.51 ERA in 55.1 innings.
While Dinger pitched much of the regular season as Clark worked her way back from an injury, Clark has been the go-to pitcher for Pine Grove coach Ryan Leffler over the last few weeks. In five playoff appearances, Clark has pitched 21.2 total innings, allowing just two runs with a 0.83 ERA, while striking out 21.
Leffler doesn’t make his decision of who’s pitching until minutes before the game, but either way, the Cardinals will be in good hands.
This past Thursday, they took on undefeated Mifflinburg, defeating the Wildcats 3-0 behind a home run from Callee Leffler, a two-RBI double from Hannah Aungst, and a terrific performance in the circle from Chelcy Clark.
Pine Grove will be taking on another Lackawanna League representative in the Mid-Valley Spartans out of Throop.
The Spartans enter Monday with a 21-3 record and are riding a six-game winning streak, outscoring opponents 41-6 in that time span. They defeated Warrior Run in the first round before dispatching Villa Joseph Marie in the quarterfinals 8-0.
Sophomore Marley Morano leads the Spartans with a .478 batting average and 13 RBI. Angela Laskowski leads Mid-Valley in the RBI department with 35 while also collecting five home runs. The Spartans’ home run leader is Natalie Hricenak with six, who also sits second on the team with 32 RBI.
Mid-Valley will have junior Ava Hazleton in the circle. Hazleton has a 1.69 ERA in 144.2 innings pitched, striking out 236.
Like Tri-Valley and Holy Cross, Pine Grove and Mid-Valley met last season in the PIAA semifinals, with Pine Grove winning 3-0.