PIAA CLASS 5A SOFTBALL
2-1 North Pocono (20-4) vs. 3-3 Greencastle-Antrim (20-3)
When: Thursday, 4 p.m.
Where: Pine Grove High School
Admission: Tickets must be purchased online through Hometown Ticketing. Go to piaa.org, click on the link and find the game you’d like to attend.
How they got here: North Pocono defeated District 1 fourth-placer Upper Moreland, 9-3. Greencastle upset state-ranked Marple Newtown, 9-1.
Up next: The winner advances to Monday’s state semifinals to meet up with the winner of District 1 runner-up West Chester East (17-8) and District 1 third-placer Springfield Delco (18-5).
Breakdown: It’s all about peaking at the right time, and North Pocono is certainly doing that, riding a six-game winning streak into Pine Grove. While the Bell girls, Amelia and Ariella, have certainly done their job in the circle, it’s the bats that have come alive — averaging 11 runs a game during the winning streak. It was the experience of Alyssa Lynch and the freshman power duo of Avarie Roscioli and Riley Grambo that blistered Upper Moreland pitching. Grambo and Lynch hit home runs and drove in a combined five runs, while Roscioli was 2 for 4 with two RBIs. Like in the district final against Abington Heights, freshman Ariella Bell was spectacular, allowing no runs on two hits while punching out five in 4.2 innings of relief to pick up the win. … Greencastle-Antrim entered the District 3 postseason as the No. 1 seed in the bracket before getting upset by No. 5 seed Red Land in the semifinals. Greencastle, which is in the state quarters for the first time in more than a decade, earned the state berth in the District 3’s third-place game with a 11-0 win over Twin Valley, which upset WPIAL champ Shaler, 4-3, in eight innings Monday. Three of the four District 3 teams are still alive: Greencastle, Twin Valley and Red Land. The District 3 school has some hitting, and is senior laden. Caroline Logsdon leads the way with a .471 average, while Meadow Gambacurta and Kaiden Zimmerman are each hitting mid .400. While the Blue Devils have 11 home runs, they do have 40 doubles. Sophomore Kiersten Swain was the winning pitcher Monday, tossing a three-hitter with four strikeouts.
PIAA CLASS 4A SOFTBALL
2-1 Valley View (21-2) vs. 11-2 North Schuylkill (18-5)
When: Thursday, 2 p.m.
Where: Wilkes University
Admission: Tickets must be purchased online through Hometown Ticketing. Go to piaa.org, click on the link and find the game you’d like to attend.
How they got here: Valley View edged District 3 runner-up Northern Lebanon, 1-0. North Schuylkill won a slugfest, 16-13, against District 12 champ Conwell Egan.
Up next: The winner advances to Monday’s state semifinals to meet up with the winner of District 1 champ Interboro (21-2) and District 11 champ Northwestern Lehigh (21-3).
Breakdown: For the Cougars, it was all about defense Monday as Northern Lebanon’s Lynsie Mauser held Valley View to just three hits. Mia Wascura’s girls are riding a long winning streak, with their last loss coming April 28 against Abington Heights, an eight-inning setback. Since that game, no one scored more than three runs on the Cougars, with Tunkhannock scoring three runs in the district final. In the postseason, senior pitcher Taylor Cawley only allowed three runs — two against Dallas and one against Tunkhannock. Only two of them were earned. She’s also on a heater at the plate, homering in four straight games. She’s 8 for 13 with 11 RBIs and five home runs in her last four games. Taking a quick glance ahead, the Cougars have a score to settle with Northwestern Lehigh, which eliminated Valley View from the last two postseasons, winning, 3-2, in Archbald in 2023 and, 6-1, at Central Columbia High School last year. … The good news for the Spartans was the 16 runs scored in the opening round of states. The negative was North Schuylkill gave up 13 to a district that historically struggles in the state playoffs. The Spartans jumped out to a 7-0 lead over Conwell Egan, and gave up nine runs in the fifth inning. North Schuylkill hit four home runs and ripped 18 hits. Jordanna Frie was 4 for 5 in the win. The District 11 runner-up beat Pine Grove twice, handing the Cardinal their only two losses. Pine Grove is considered one of the top teams in Class 3A.
PIAA CLASS 3A SOFTBALL
3-1 Mid Valley (21-3) vs. 12-1 Nazareth Academy (10-5)
When: Thursday, 4 p.m.
Where: Patriots Park, Allentown
Admission: Tickets must be purchased online through Hometown Ticketing. Go to piaa.org, click on the link and find the game you’d like to attend.
How they got here: Mid Valley eased past District 4 runner-up Hughesville, 6-1. Nazareth Academy blanked District 1 runner-up Villa Joseph Marie, 3-0.
Up next: The winner advances to Monday’s state semifinals to meet up with the winner of District 11 champ Pine Grove Area (24-2) and District 3 runner-up Kutztown (23-4).
Breakdown: The Spartanettes keep marching along in the postseason after rolling past Hughesville on Monday in Throop. It was a five-run third inning that proved the difference in that win as Ava Hazelton had another sensational outing, tossing a three-hitter with 12 strikeouts. In three postseason games, the sophomore struck out 34 hitters — including 13 in the district final win over Lake-Lehman. She’s up to 219 strikeouts in 130.1 innings. Abbey Mackey and Elise Larson combined for four of the seven Spartanette hits Monday. Larson also had a big game in the district final, going 2 for 4 with two RBIs. Mackey and Larson are two and three, respectively, on the team in hitting as Parker Bennett is batting close to .463. Last season, the Spartanettes were eliminated in the first round by Loyalsock, but during this stretch of consecutive district titles, Mid Valley never played at Patriots Park in Allentown. … Nazareth Academy, from Philadelphia, enters Thursday after shutting out Villa Joseph Marie, which entered the postseason with a losing record. Jill DiMario stuck out eight in the win, while Keiragh Krzywicki had two of the five Panda hits, one being a home run. Hailey Kober also finished with two hits.
PIAA CLASS 1A SOFTBALL
2-1 Holy Cross (22-1) vs. 6-1 Claysburg-Kimmel (26-0)
When: Thursday, 4 p.m.
Where: Central Mountain High School, Mill Hall
Admission: Tickets must be purchased online through Hometown Ticketing. Go to piaa.org, click on the link and find the game you’d like to attend.
How they got here: Holy Cross edged District 11 champ Tri-Valley, 3-2. Claysburg-Kimmel knocked off District 4 runner-up Bucktail, 10-0, in five innings.
Up next: The winner advances to Monday’s state semifinals to meet up with the winner of District 4 Northeast Bradford and District 1 champ Christopher Dock Mennonite.
Breakdown: Holy Cross got a walk-off home run from Ava Schmidt in the seventh inning as the Lady Crusaders knocked off the District 11 champs at the University of Scranton. Holy Cross is on a 14-game winning streak, with its lone loss coming to Mid Valley on April 14. The team scored double figures in 11 of its 22 wins, and Schmidt only allowed more than two runs in five of those games — twice against Mid Valley. She has a 1.29 ERA with 171 strikeouts. Keep an eye on catcher Peyton Graboske. She’s hit safely in nine of her last 10 games — all of those nine with two or more hits. She’s 22 for 30 in that stretch with 16 runs. … Claysburg-Kimmel is located about 30 minutes away from Altoona, and reached the state quarterfinals last season. The Bulldogs destroyed almost every team they’ve played, with the exception of one-run games against Ligonier Valley, Chestnut Ridge, Northern Bedford and Juniata Valley. While the team’s offensive numbers are eye-popping (235 hits, 214 RBIs and 96 extra-base hits), it all starts in the circle with freshman Isabella Paris, who is 17-0 with 149 strikeouts and a 1.98 ERA . She struck out 10 and allowed one hit in five innings of work against Bucktail. Zakera Bush and Bella Francona, both seniors, accounted for five hits and seven RBIs in the victory.
— Tom Fox
