Next goal
Uniontown, LH softball teams look for more after snapping playoff droughts
Jonathan Guth | Herald-Standard
Uniontown and Laurel Highlands both take plenty of momentum into Tuesday’s WPIAL Class 4A softball quarterfinals.
The 12th-seeded Lady Raiders (11-8) are coming off their first postseason win in program history during their fourth consecutive playoff appearance, also a program record.
Uniontown earned a 5-3 upset victory over fifth-seeded Indiana (14-6) at Norwin High School on May 11.
The sixth-seeded Mustangs (11-5) hadn’t been to the postseason in 13 years and their last playoff win was 27 years ago. Those streaks both ended with a convincing 12-0 five-inning victory over No. 11 Freeport (8-11), also at Norwin High School before the Uniontown game.
Now the task for Lady Raiders coach Jason White and Mustangs coach Pat Livingston is to make sure their teams have come down from the emotional high of those significant accomplishments and be ready for the next task at hand which comes on Tuesday.
Both games will be Section 2 vs. Section 3 matchups.
Uniontown, which tied West Mifflin for third place in Section 2, plays No. 4 Hampton, which knocked off No. 13 Greensburg Salem, 14-4, in the first round. The two will meet in a 3 p.m. game at West Mifflin High School.
The Lady Talbots (14-5) finished second in Section 3 behind first-place Blackhawk, which is Laurel Highlands’ opponent.
The third-seeded Lady Cougars (10-4) and Mustangs, who finished second in Section 2 behind top-seeded Elizabeth Forward, clash in a 6 p.m. game at Peters Township’s Pleasant Valley Elementary School. Blackhawk was awarded a first-round bye.
Laurel Highlands and Uniontown were much different in their pitching approach to the first round.
The Mustangs rode the hot hand of sophomore Payton Senge, as they have most of the season. She delivered brilliantly with a five-inning no-hitter, striking out 12 and walking two.
Uniontown, which had depended on senior Emmaleigh Noah and sophomore Alivia Noah in the circle in a majority of their games, started freshman Sincere Dunlap in a surprise move against the Lady Indians. Dunlap gave up two runs on five hits with no walks and three strikeouts in four innings before being relieved by Emmaleigh Noah for the final three frames. She allowed one hit, a solo home run to Rachel Livermore, and no walks with three strikeouts in earning the win.
Graci Rodeheaver broke a 3-3 tie with a clutch, two-out, run-scoring double in the top of the seventh inning and came home with an insurance run on Dunlap’s double.
The winner of the Uniontown-Hampton game will play either EF or No. 9 Derry in the semifinals on Thursday with the site and time to be determined. The survivor of the Laurel Highlands-Blackhawk game will play either No. 2 Knoch or No. 7 North Catholic, also on Thursday.