A-K Valley WPIAL softball playoff capsules: Games for Wednesday, May 17, 2023

By: Michael Love
Tuesday, May 16, 2023 | 2:56 PM

WPIAL softball playoffs

Class 4A quarterfinals

6-Knoch (11-8) vs. 3-Chartiers Valley (17-2)

5 p.m. Wednesday at North Allegheny

Winner plays: Winner of 2-Montour (13-3)/7-Indiana (16-4) in semifinals (date, site, time TBD)

Players to watch: Lizzie Danik, Knoch; Madison Crump, Chartiers Valley

Extra bases: Knoch is in the WPIAL quarterfinals for the fourth time in five years, and it seeks its first trip to the semifinals since 2019. The Knights, the Section 1 co-champions, have won 11 of 14 since starting the season 0-5. Knoch needed nine innings to eliminate No. 11 Uniontown, 7-6, on Monday. Brynne Smith delivered a walk-off single in the bottom of the ninth to score Lizzie Danik. Danik collected four hits in five at-bats, and Grace Hensch went 2 for 4. Freshman Marlee Fraser threw all nine innings in her WPIAL playoff debut and struck out 13. She gave up only one earned run. … Chartiers Valley (16-2), which had bye to the quarterfinals, was rolling with 14 straight wins before a loss to Section 3 rival and No. 2-seeded Montour on May 9. The teams shared the section title. The Colts are looking to end a long WPIAL title drought as they haven’t won since capturing back-to-back championships in 1977-78. Crump, a senior, is hitting .514 (36 of 70) and owns 20 RBIs and 33 runs scored. Sophomore Taylor Walsh and senior Rylee Prosperi have knocked in 27 and 25 runs, respectively, while freshman Lily Duffill has enjoyed a breakout freshman year with a .492 average and 32 RBIs.

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 mlove@triblive.com.

Tags: Chartiers Valley, Knoch