Lady Mikes seeded second in WPIAL softball pairings; Lady Raiders, Connellsville slotted eighth
Among the many questions that preceded the revealing of the WPIAL softball playoff pairings on Thursday was what to do in Class A?
While defending champion Union was an obvious choice as the top seed, the next three spots were bandied about between Section 2 co-champions Carmichaels and Chartiers-Houston and unbeaten Section 3 champion Frazier.
It was the Lady Mikes who wound up landing in the No. 2 spot, followed by C-H and Frazier.
Lady Commodores coach Don Hartman had no issues with the bracket.
“I think they fell exactly how they should have,” Hartman said. “Just going on last year you’ve got to give Union the one. Carmichaels played for the WPIAL final last year and they split with Chartiers this year. Chartiers beat us in the state qualifier game last year.
“I have no problem with what the pairings committee did at all.”
Lady Mikes coach Dave Briggs wasn’t surprised by the bracket either.
“That’s kind of what I expected,” Briggs said. “There’s not much difference between two and three to be honest. It was just a matter of what they were going to do with Frazier also.”
Carmichaels and Frazier were two of 16 area teams that qualified for the postseason.
Elizabeth Forward, as expected, drew the highest seed among those teams with the top spot in Class AAAA. Uniontown and Connellsville were slotted at No. 8 in Class AAAA and Class AAAAA, respectively. Defending Class AAAA champion Belle Vernon was given the No. 6 spot.
In Class AAA, Southmoreland, which reached last year’s final, was seeded fifth with Yough ninth, Mount Pleasant 11th and Waynesburg Central 13th.
Bentworth and freshman ace Sydney Gonglik were given the No. 2 seed in Class AA which also includes No. 6 Charleroi and No. 13 Beth-Center.
In addition to the Lady Mikes and Lady Commodores, Class A also includes No. 5 West Greene, No. 8 Jefferson-Morgan and No. 10 Monessen.
Connellsville will play No. 9 Plum in a 4 p.m. game at Gateway on Monday.
“I thought maybe we might be a little bit higher,” Lady Falcons coach John Burd admitted. “I was kind of looking at maybe six or seven, something like that, but it didn’t surprise me a whole lot. The last couple games I guess they took into consideration in which we didn’t play real well. Against Penn-Trafford (a 13-3 loss) I didn’t start my No. 1 pitcher (Iris Burd) against them.”
Burd anticipated a meeting with Plum.
“I was really kind of expecting we might match up with them,” he said. “I think they were a third-place team and felt they were a possibility.”
Uniontown, which tied with Belle Vernon for second place in Section 2, will go up against No. 9 West Mifflin in a 2 p.m. game also at Gateway on Monday with the winner drawing EF which has a first-round bye.
“I expected to be about the middle of the pack,” Lady Raiders coach Jason White said. “We didn’t quite handle our business the way we should have finishing out the season.”
Uniontown enters the postseason on a four-game losing streak.
“We had some injuries and some other things that affected our play in the second half of the season,” White said.
While he didn’t want to look ahead, White was aware the Lady Warriors, who defeated Uniontown twice during the regular season, loom for whoever survives Monday’s clash.
“You’ve got to get through the first round first,” White said. “But as far as Elizabeth is concerned, I’m trying to get my program to a certain place and I’ve got to beat them at some point to do that. So we’ll keep working hard.”
White has no issues with the site of the first-round game with West Mifflin.
“I haven’t played at Gateway before but I heard their facilities are fantastic,” he said. “We’re just happy to be playing a game when a lot of other teams are wrapped up for the season.”
Belle Vernon also is in action Monday with a 4 p.m. game against No. 11 Blackhawk at Peterswood Park.
Class AAA opens play on Tuesday.
Southmoreland will face No. 12 Freeport also at Gateway with a 2 p.m. start. The winner will advance to the quarterfinals against the survivor between Waynesburg and No. 4 Mohawk, who play a 5 p.m. game at Montour. Yough takes on No. 8 McGuffey at Norwin and Mount Pleasant plays No. 6 Central Valley at West Mifflin, both at 5 p.m.
In Class AA, Bentworth received a first-round bye while Charleroi plays No. 11 Greensburg Central Catholic in a 3 p.m. game at Norwin and Beth-Center tangles with No. 4 Serra Catholic in a 2 p.m. game at Peterswood Park’s No. 2 field, both on Tuesday.
Carmichaels and Frazier received first-round byes in Class A along with Union and Chartiers-Houston with the rest of the field playing first-round games on Tuesday.
The Lady Commodores await the winner of West Greene and No. 12 Leechburg who play a 4 p.m. game at Peterswood Park’s No. 2 field. The Lady Mikes play the survivor between Monessen and No. 7 South Side who play a 3 p.m. game at Montour.
Jefferson-Morgan matches up against No. 9 Carlynton in a 2 p.m. game at Peterswood Park’s No. 1 field with Union awaiting the winner in the quarterfinals.
“It’s going to be tough. There’s some good teams out there,” Hartman said. “West Greene, assuming they win, that would be a tough game for us. I think Jeannette is very good and they’re pitcher is very good.
“It’s going to be fun to see how it plays out.”
Briggs, like most coaches, didn’t want to glance too far ahead but he is aware of a possible third meeting against C-H in the semifinals. The two split their regular-season contests with the Lady Bucs winning at Carmichaels, 6-5, and the Lady Mikes winning a marathon 15-inning battle, 7-5, in a game that was suspended after 13 innings at Chartiers-Houston.
“We knew because there are four really good teams that if you do make it to the semifinals you’re going to face a tough game,” Briggs said. “But first we have to get past Monessen or South Side.
“If we do match up with Chartiers again it’s like we already played them three times. We’ve played 22 innings against that team.”