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Thursday, May 9, 2024 | 6:07 PM
Christopher Horner | TribLive
Plum’s Jaiden Gentile tags out Shaler’s Ellie Nickel at second base during their game April 24. Plum earned the No. 9 seed for the WPIAL Class 5A playoffs.
The Class 5A bracket was a hot topic of the WPIAL softball pairings show Thursday afternoon with Don Rebel and Sean Saputo on Triblive HSSN.
The conversation included who could have been placed in which positions near the top and where the others in the deep 16-team bracket fell.
Plum, the third-place team from Section 1 behind No. 2 North Hills and No. 5 Shaler, is right in the middle. The Mustangs (11-6) drew the No. 9 seed and will face No. 8 Connellsville on Monday at 4 p.m. at Gateway.
“It’s been like that for a few years in Class 5A,” Plum coach Phil DiLonardo said. “There are a ton of good teams. We’ve been in good positions with seeding in the past and have been beaten short of our goal. You have to rank them somehow, but any number of teams can get hot and make a run. From past experience, anything can happen.”
The Falcons (12-7) and No. 6 Trinity tied for the Section 4 title. The teams split their season series.
“The girls are excited. We had a game yesterday, and we did well,” said DiLonardo, whose Mustangs shut out Class 3A playoff qualifier Burrell, 10-0, on Wednesday. “The talk on the bus ride home was a lot about the playoffs. We had several nonsection games the past week or two, and they were all battles.
“We purposely went on the road to get them in that mindset that they’re not going to be at home and they might not be real comfortable. I think it got them in the right mindset to react to whatever situation their put in.”
Fox Chapel (7-9), the fourth-place team from Section 1, is the No. 14 seed and will play Section 3 champion West Allegheny (16-2) Monday at 7 p.m. at North Allegheny.
Lilley Field at Cal (Pa.) again will host the six championship games May 29-30. The times for the title matchups have yet to be determined.
Burrell, in the WPIAL playoffs for the 18th straight season, found out its fate while traveling to West Mifflin on Thursday for a nonsection game.
The Bucs, runners-up to Avonworth in Section 1-3A at 7-3 and 10-7 overall, hope to make another WPIAL run as well as secure a third straight trip to the PIAA playoffs. They are the No. 7 seed and will open Tuesday at 4 p.m. against No. 10 Ellwood City at Mars High School.
“Our junior class has a lot of that experience, and they will continue to be the leaders for us in the playoffs,” Burrell coach Dave Ferres said. “The younger players definitely are ready to follow their lead. They are a calm and cool bunch. They are excited and ready for sure.”
Consistency has been the key at Knoch, which enters the WPIAL playoffs for the 10th season in a row. The Knights (13-6), runners-up to Indiana in Section 1-4A, drew the No. 7 seed and will play Greensburg Salem at Plum on Monday at 6 p.m. The winner faces No. 2 Hampton in the quarterfinals.
Apollo-Ridge also is enjoying a streak of WPIAL playoff appearances, which has reached seven seasons. The Vikings (7-5), runners-up to No. 4 Serra Catholic in Section 1-2A, matches up with No. 9 Riverside (6-9) on Tuesday at 5 p.m. at Fox Chapel. The winner earns a date with two-time defending Class 2A champ Neshannock in the quarterfinals.
Freeport, led by the pitching of senior Akron commit Sydney Selker and senior leadoff hitter Abby DeJidas, returns to the WPIAL playoffs after a one-year hiatus. The Yellowjackets (10-6) had reached the playoffs 12 seasons in a row before missing out in 2023.
Freeport is the Class 3A No. 12 seed and will take on No. 5 Southmoreland (14-2) in the first round Tuesday at 2 p.m. at Gateway.
Deer Lakes (9-10) handed Class 3A top-seeded Avonworth (12-3) its only loss in Section 1 play. The Lancers, hope to pull the upset against No. 3 South Park (16-1) when the teams meet Tuesday at 3 p.m. at Fox Chapel.
The streak continues for Leechburg (8-9), which is in the WPIAL playoffs for the 37th year in a row.
The Blue Devils, who solidified their playoff berth with a doubleheader sweep of Bishop Canevin on April 29, are the No. 12 seed in Class A and will face No. 5 West Greene (11-6) on Tuesday at 4 p.m. at Peterswood Park.
Highlands, like Freeport, returns to the WPIAL playoffs after a one-year hiatus. The Golden Rams (3-13), three years removed from a WPIAL Class 4A runner-up finish and a trip to states, drew the No. 13 seed and will battle No. 4 Chartiers Valley (14-3) in the first round Monday at 3 p.m. at Montour.
Only the WPIAL champion in Class 6A advances to the PIAA playoffs, while three teams qualify in Class 5A, Class 4A, and Class 2A.
All four teams that reach the semifinals in Class 3A and Class A will qualify for the state tournament.
Michael Love is a TribLive reporter covering sports in the Alle-Kiski Valley and the eastern suburbs of Pittsburgh. A Clearfield native and a graduate of Westminster (Pa.), he joined the Trib in 2002 after spending five years at the Clearfield Progress. He can be reached at [email protected].
