Penn-Trafford in hunt for first PIAA title
A day after his team was bounced from the WPIAL playoffs in the semifinals, PennTrafford coach Denny Little drove past the office of a local chiropractor and glanced at his advertising board.
“The saying on the board that week was ‘The comeback is stronger than the setback,’” Little recalled.
In Penn-Trafford’s case, the words of that chiropractor turned out to be true. The loss didn’t prove to be back-breaking. Instead, it loosened and limbered up the Warriors, who are now a win away from their first PIAA title.
Penn-Trafford (22-2), making its state championship debut, will play defending champion Lampeter-Strasburg (28-1) in the Class 5A final at 4 p.m. Friday at Penn State’s Nittany Lion Softball Park.
With a 17-1 record and No. 1 seed next to its name, PennTrafford marched into the WPIAL playoffs like a lion before exiting like a lamb. The Warriors coughed up a four-run lead in a 10-4 semifinal loss to Connellsville.
A first WPIAL title was out of the picture, but a PIAA title was still a possibility. That’s when sophomore outfielder Brooke Cleland said the Warriors decided to “hit the reset button.”
“After the game, coach Denny said there’s one thing better than a WPIAL title, and that’s a state championship,” Cleland said. “We wanted to work hard because we knew we needed to get there. The loss hurt for a couple of days, but we got back to practice and got back to working hard.”
Penn-Trafford beat Franklin Regional, 6-2, in the WPIAL third-place game to earn a PIAA berth, and then picked up its first state playoff win since 1990 when it beat District 6 champion Central Mountain, 13-5, in the first round. Then came a 6-2 quarterfinal win against WPIAL champion West Allegheny and a 5-4 triumph against District 3 runner-up Donegal in the semifinals. Donegal won a PIAA title two seasons ago.
This Penn-Trafford team has been a big hit, largely in part because it has some big hitters. The Warriors have clubbed a schoolrecord 29 home runs. Cleland has a team-high nine, including two in the quarterfinals.
There have been some big, timely hits, too, perhaps the biggest coming in the semifinals when Emma Armstrong smacked a two-run single in the fourth inning to give Penn-Trafford the tying and winning runs.
“I really think it was business as usual for her,” said Little. “She’s been coming through all year with hits like that. She carries the team on her shoulders sometimes.”
Armstrong, a first baseman, is one of four seniors on the team, all of whom will play in college: Armstrong at Hartford, shortstop Morgan Nedley at Carlow, second baseman Madison Forsythe at Geneva and catcher Carlee Lamacz at Muskingum.
Little’s daughter, Emma, is a starting outfielder and one of the team’s best hitters.
Junior pitcher Morgan Hilty isn’t overpowering, but she’s efficient and has around her what Little called an outstanding defense. Freshman Mia Smith has gotten some key outs in the later innings. She pitched two perfect innings to close out the semifinal win.
After taking down the 2017 PIAA champion Tuesday, PennTrafford will try to do the same to last year’s champion. Like PennTrafford, Lampeter-Strasburg was the top seed in its district playoffs, but had to settle for third place. The Pioneers were 24-0 before losing to Twin Valley, 10-6, in the semifinals. All three of their PIAA wins have come against district champions, one being a 93 quarterfinal triumph against Twin Valley.
Lampeter-Strasburg, which is located near Lancaster, is led by senior pitcher Brynne Baker and junior outfielder Summer Peters. Baker was the winning pitcher and Peters knocked in two runs when the Pioneers defeated West Allegheny, 6-2, in last year’s title game. Baker took a no-hitter into the sixth inning in Tuesday’s 5-2 semifinal win against West Chester East. Peters is batting a team-best .557 to go along with five home runs and 41 RBIs.
Excited. Nervous. Cleland said she will probably feel a lot of different emotions when she and her teammates take the field Friday.
Afterward, she hopes to feel like a state champion.
“It would be so memorable and so rewarding,” Cleland said. “It would mean a lot to us. We’re just going to go out and enjoy the moment as much as we can.”