Mount Pleasant riding strong senior class into final
Mount Pleasant coach Chris Brunson saw the tal-ent when he coached his cur-rent group of seniors as 8- and 9- year-olds. He continued to see it when he coached them in ju-nior high when they lost just one game over two seasons. Friday, the group will play together one last time when they try to match the feat of the 2017 Mount Pleas-ant team by winning a state title .“It’ s kind of like‘ almost mission accomplished .’ We’ re at the finish line, ”Brunson said .“The girls have been talking about this since seventh and eighth grade when the older group won the state championship. They’ ve had this goal since they were young .” Mount Pleasant (20-3) will take on District 2 champion Mid Valley (22-2) for the PIAA Class 3 A title at 1:30 p.m. at Penn State. Hay lie Brunson (daugh-ter of the coach ), Courtney Poulich, Mary Smith no sky, Hannah Gnibus, Lexi Pus-k ar and Lexis S hawley are the senior son a team loaded with next-level talent that won the program’ s second WPIAL title. B run son( Pitt ), Pou li ch( Liberty ), Smith no sky( Western Mich-igan) and Gnibus (Pitt-Johnstown) will all play in college. Pou licha nd Gnibusboth had sisters who started on the 2017 team. Led by Brunson, Poulichand junior Katie H utter( Akron recruit ), Mount Pleasant has been outstand-ing offensive ly all season, av-eraging 8.6 runs per game. But a huge factor int her unto Penn State has been the improved play of Smith no sky, who has daz-zled on the mound. Smith no sky has shut out each of the team’s six post-season opponents .“She’ s stepped up her game,” Chris Brunson said. “Mentally, she’s committed. She recommitted herself to pitching. They have that goal of being state champions. I think everybody got together and said, ‘ It’s go time.’”
Here is a look at three other PIAA title games involving WPIAL teams:
West Greene vs. Tri-Valley
Class 1A West Greene willl ive up to its Pioneers nick-name Friday when it plays in a PIAA final for the fourthtime since the turn of thecentury, the most of any WPIAL team. All of the titlegame appearances have come in a span of five sea-sons. The Pioneers lost inthe 2016 championship game before winning back-to-back titles in 2017 and 2018.“It says that the girls havea lot of buy-in to what wedo,” coach Bill Simms said after his team’s 12-1 semifi-nal win against DuBois Cen-tral Catholic, which elimi-nated West Greene in the2019 semifinals. What West Greene does is win. Earlier this month, the Pioneers (21-2) became just the third team to win fiveconsecutive WPIAL titles. They will play Tri-Valley (20-2) in the final at 11 a.m. Senior outfielder Jersey Wise is the only current player who played a signifi-cant role on the 2018 champi-onship team. Wise started inthe final and had two hits.She also had two hits in Monday’s semifinal win, and is batting .435 this sea-son to go along with 40 runs scored and 21 stolen bases. “She bats leadoff for usand she’s always a terror when she gets on the bases, ”Simms said. “Hopefully she’ll impart some wisdom on to the other kids.”
Ligonier Valley vs. Line Mountain
Does Ligonier Valley ace
Maddie Griffin have one more spectacular pitching performance left in her?
She might need to be at her best Thursday when the Rams (22-2) shoot for their first title when they take on Line Mountain (22-3) in the Class 2A final at 11 a.m.
In what might be the best pitching matchup of the championships, Griffin, a junior, will go head to head with Line Mountain senior Kya Matter, a Maryland-Baltimore County recruit who has had a tremendous season. Matter tossed a one-hitter with 17 strikeouts in the quarterfinals and a two-hitter with 19 strikeouts in the semifinals.
Griffin has thrown 11 nohitters and four perfect games. She goes into the final sitting on 299 strikeouts for the season after firing a two-hitter with 12 strikeouts in the semifinals. She tossed a one-hitter and fanned 11 in the quarterfinals.
Ligonier’s Valley’s only losses were to Mount Pleasant in a non-section game and to Shenango in the WPIAL semifinals. Shenango topped the Rams despite Griffin throwing a nohitter.
Armstrong vs. Lampeter-Strasburg
Class 5A Armstrong is a PIAA playoff newcomer, having made its first trip to the tournament this season. After stringing together three wins to reach the final, the River Hawks (18-5) face a team that has made the trip to State College annually in recent seasons.
Lampeter-Strasburg (261), the District 3 champion, is in the final for the third season in a row and the fourth time in five seasons. The three previous appearances all came against WPIAL foes. The Pioneers lost to Yough in 2016, beat West Allegheny for their only title in 2018, and lost to Penn-Trafford in 2019.
Just like Ligonier Valley, Armstrong has reached the final after not winning a WPIAL title. Armstrong fell to North Hills, 12-2, in the WPIAL final, but avenged that loss by beating the Indians, 7-4, in the PIAA semifinals. The River Hawks have been swinging some hot bats, as they have totaled 32 runs in three PIAA games. Jessica Pugh homered twice in the quarterfinals and Emma Smerick twice in the semifinals.
Armstrong and Lampeter-Strasburg will square off at 4 p.m. Friday.