Armstrong ace, Beaver standout in showdown
With all six WPIAL champions advancing to the quarterfinal round of the PIAA playoffs, Monday’’s PIAA first-round slate was certainly a successful one for the WPIAL contingent.
Four potential WPIAL championship rematches are still on the table for the PIAA semifinals in Class 1A, 3A, 5A and 6A, provided those teams can advance through Thursday’s quarterfinals. As for the quarterfinal round, there will be only one game involving two WPIAL teams — but this is one you don’t want to miss.
As far as playoff pitching matchups go, it doesn’t get much better than Beaver’s Payton List vs. Burrell’s Katie Armstrong. List, a senior, is a Virginia Tech recruit and the reigning PostGazette Player of the Year. Much has been written about the tremendous season she’s having, both at the plate and in the circle. But as great as List has been, Armstrong has been just as lethal on the rubber for the Buccaneers (14-2).
In a PIAA first-round matchup on Monday vs. District 10 champion Villa Maria (17-4), Armstrong delivered arguably her most spectacular performance yet in a season filled with them. She pitched a complete game one-hitter with 17 strikeouts in Burrell’s 6-0 win to set up a marquee matchup on Thursday vs. List and the back-toback WPIAL champion Bobcats (20-0).
“We hit the ball really well, we played good defense, and Katie pitched a heck of a game,” said Bucs coach Rick Nealer. “The kids are starting to find their groove. They’re getting rid of the nerves in the playoffs.”
One of only 12 active players on Burrell’s roster, Armstrong has done some serious heavy lifting to get the Bucs this far. The junior has pitched every inning of every game, sporting a 14-2 record to go with 242 strikeouts and only 13 walks in 113 innings pitched. List is 18-0 with 243 strikeouts and 30 walks in 121 innings. Both have 10 shutouts on the season.
Those numbers alone are mind-boggling, but that’s only the beginning. If you’re looking for List and Armstrong’s ERA, you might need a microscope to find them.
List sports a miniscule 0.29 ERA to go with a 0.55 WHIP while allowing a batting average of only .089. As for Armstrong, Burrell’s ace has given up only two earned runs all year, giving her a 0.12 ERA along with a 0.47 WHIP and a batting average against of .103.
“Payton is just a great athlete in general,” Armstrong said. “Just knowing we have a chance to go up and hit against her, I get to pitch to her — it’s a great feeling.”
Although their star pitchers’ numbers are virtually identical, most observers will likely point to Beaver as a clear favorite in this matchup. After all, the Bobcats have won 41 games in a row and are the defending PIAA Class 4A champions. Burrell, on the other hand, is making its first PIAA playoff appearance in 11 years.
Nealer doesn’t necessarily see it that way, though — not with Armstrong in the circle.
“They’re a good team and we’re a good team,” Nealer said. “Anything can happen. It’s a game and that’s why you play.”
Of course, this game will be decided by more than just the two pitchers. Like so many other playoff pitching duels, it might just come down to one timely hit from an unsung hero that can make all the difference.
For Beaver, this is a familiar scenario to where the Bobcats found themselves last year, when they ran into Elizabeth Forward ace Kailey Larcinese in a highly anticipated PIAA quarterfinal matchup. All year long, fans had clamored for a showdown between List and Larcinese, and it lived up to the hype, with Beaver storming back from a 3-0 deficit for a 53 win.
List cemented herself as the WPIAL’s premier pitcher last year with that performance, and she’ll look to do so again when she faces Armstrong and the Bucs at Mars Centennial School on Thursday at 3 p.m. A win by Burrell would send shockwaves through the PIAA playoff landscape — but it wouldn’t shock the Bucs.
“You want to see good players. You want to see good competition, and they’re a great team,” Nealer said. “Let’s play the game and see what happens.”
Laurel
Although the teams didn’t meet in the WPIAL championship game, there has been no better rivalry in WPIAL softball this year than the series of games between Laurel and Class 2A champion Neshannock.
The section rivals have met three times so far this year, with the Lancers taking the first battle at the Spartans’ home field, 6-1, on April 13. Neshannock then won a thrilling back-andforth game in extra innings in the rematch at home on May 4, 8-5, thanks to a walkoff home run by freshman Addy Frye. The teams then met for a third time in the WPIAL semifinals on May 25, and again the game went to extra innings — and again, it was Frye who walked it off, this time with an RBI double in the bottom of the eighth to give the Lancers (23-0) a 1-0 win.
Laurel was the three-time defending WPIAL Class 2A champion before this season, and the Spartans (18-4) are 18-1 in games not against Neshannock, with their only other loss coming against undefeated WPIAL Class 4A champion Beaver. Many believe Laurel is even stronger than it was last season, and Neshannock’s coaches and players have said all along they believe the Spartans are their toughest challenger in Class 2A.
In order to set up a fourth showdown in the PIAA semifinals, both teams need to advance through Thursday’s quarterfinal round — and Laurel will have to knock off another undefeated team to do so.
After a 17-7 win vs. District 10 champion Reynolds in a first-round matchup on Monday, the Spartans are set to take on District 5 champion Everett (22-0), which defeated WPIAL runner-up Frazier in first-round action, 3-2. Fresh off a 6-0 first-round win vs. Our Lady of the Sacred Heart, Neshannock will face District 9 champion Johnsonburg, which defeated Muncy, 3-1, in the opening round.