May 20, 2026 By Jonathan Guth 7 min read

McMURRAY — All good things must come to an end, but for the Laurel Highlands and Uniontown softball teams, both squads hope their setbacks in the quarterfinals of the WPIAL Class 4A playoffs on Tuesday were just the closing of a chapter and not the book.

The Mustangs suffered a 3-1 loss to Blackhawk at Pleasant Valley Elementary School and the Red Raiders dropped a 9-2 decision to Hampton at West Mifflin High School.

Laurel Highlands’ game was a tad cooler, as the contest started at 6:30 in the evening, while Uniontown played in the blistering heat in an afternoon showdown that began at 3.

The crosstown rivals’ season was already a successful prior to the district quarterfinals, as the Mustangs (11-6) had won their first playoff game in 27 years in the first round after a 12-0 victory over Freeport, and the Red Raiders (11-9) edged Indiana, 5-3, for their first playoff triumph in program history, but the tears still flowed from the eyes of both teams when they left their respective fields.

“It is tough to lose a game like this, and the girls are displaying some emotion, but that shows how much they cared and wanted to win this game,” Laurel Highlands coach Pat Livingston said. “I don’t think the moment was too big for our girls. We talked to them before the game and they were ready to go. The place was packed for us tonight, which was nice.”

The good news for both programs is they have the majority of their starters returning, which starts with sophomore pitcher Payton Senge and junior catcher Emme Cavaliere for Laurel Highlands.

“Our shortstop Kayla Howell and our center fielder Harlie Dirda will be graduating, but other than that, we have everyone else coming back,” Livingston said. “We will continue to work in the offseason, and hopefully we can get back to this point next year and win it.”

Uniontown will lose three seniors in Lyric McLee, Emmaleigh Noah and Graci Rodeheaver. Coach Jason White will have a new No. 1 pitcher next year with Noah graduating, but freshman Sincere Dunlap proved she was more than capable of starting in the victory over the Little Indians.

The Mustangs, who entered Tuesday’s game as the No. 6 seed, went toe-to-toe with the third-seeded Cougars, but Blackhawk opened the scoring in the bottom of the second inning with some clutch hitting from Eva Parris.

Ava Elich walked to lead off the frame, and after Senge recorded one of her seven strikeouts, Morgan Alexander walked before Chloe Franitti loaded the bases when she bunted for a single.

Senge buckled down for a second strikeout, but Parris’ ground ball to center field scored Elich and Alexander for a 2-0 lead.

Senge yielded three runs (two earned) on five hits over six innings. She walked five batters.

“You have to score first against her (Senge),” Blackhawk coach Jim Riggio said. “She is such a great pitcher and her stats speak for itself. If you look it up and down, their games this season, it’s a lot of 3-2 and 4-3 games, so we knew how important it was to score first. We put a bat on a ball, took a 2-0 lead and kind of hung on.”

Laurel Highlands cut the deficit to 2-1 in the top of the sixth inning when Senge was hit-by-pitch, stole second and scored on Cavaliere’s line drive to center fielder.

Cavaliere attempted to advance to second on the throw to the plate, as the Cougars were looking to prevent Senge from scoring, but catcher Hannah Nolte was quick to fire the ball to shortstop Brynn Hysong, who was able to get the tag down for the second out of the frame.

The umpire had to make a call on a bang-bang play, which caused some grumblings from the Mustangs faithful, but Blackhawk also expressed frustration with the man in blue when Senge stole second.

“We were being a little bit aggressive in that situation to hopefully get the tying run on second at that point, but, obviously, it went the way we didn’t want it to,” Livingston said. “We had a close play before that with Payton Senge stealing. We knew it was going to be a battle with two good pitchers, but they got the timely hit.”

With the bases clear, Payton Rambo worked her second walk for Laurel Highlands, but Cougars starting and winning pitcher Kylie Prisuta forced a flyout to center field to end the threat.

Prisuta, a senior who will continue her academic and softball careers at Geneva College, allowed one earned run on three hits over seven innings. She had nine strikeouts and walked four.

“She (Prisuta) has been our bulldog all year and a straight player,” Riggio said. “I can’t say enough about the way she battles.”

Blackhawk added an insurance run in the bottom of the sixth when Nolte was safe at first base on an error that scored Maddie Bennett, who was running for Prisuta after the pitcher walked. Alexander also walked in the frame, and Franitti put down her third successful bunt.

The Mustangs had the tying run coming to the plate in the seventh after Liv McClelland walked for the second time, but Prisuta induced a fielder’s choice at second base, recorded a strikeout and forced a flyout to left field to send the Cougars to this evening’s semifinals against North Catholic.

“It is another game against North Catholic, who is in our section,” Riggio said. “We lost to them twice this season, but we will see what we can do.”

Hysong doubled in the first inning for the game’s only extra-base hit, as the two teams combined for eight hits.

Senge singled to left field in the first frame. She added an infield single in the fourth inning. Senge advanced to second on a wild pitch and third on a sacrifice bunt by Rambo, but escaped unscathed with a strikeout.

The Red Raiders were doomed by a five-run fourth inning that put the fourth-seeded Talbots ahead, 6-1. Uniontown scored a run in its half of the fifth frame, but the defending Class 4A champions countered with two runs in the bottom of the fifth inning and one in the sixth to set-up a semifinal matchup with top-seeded Elizabeth Forward.

The Red Raiders’ first run came when Alivia Noah walked with the bases loaded for a 1-0 lead. Juliet White, Emmaleigh Noah and Lauren White all drew walks to load the bases.

Rodeheaver followed Alivia Noah’s walk with a line drive that was snagged by the Talbots’ Katelyn Dubee at first base, who stepped on first for an inning-ending double play.

Lauren White drove in Uniontown’s second run with a base hit to third base that scored Juliet White. Alivia Noah walked to load the bases, but Hampton starting pitcher Josie Fritsch was able to force a groundout to end the inning.

Lauren White had two hits and Dunlap singled to left field in the second inning.

The Red Raiders drew eight walks, three of which were worked by Alivia Noah. Tessa Livingood and McLee also drew a base on balls. McLee and Juliet White each had a stolen base.

Josie and Teresa Fritsch, and Addi Hanna each had a double for the Talbots. The trio had two hits apiece, and the Fritsches each had two RBIs. Marissa Snyder had two singles and worked three free passes.