La Salle baseball, North Penn baseball, softball brace for state semis
Three local squads will try to punch their tickets to the PIAA-6A State Final on Monday when North Penn softball takes on Canon-McMillan, and North Penn and La Salle baseball square off against each other in semifinal showdowns.
North Penn, coming off a 9-0 shutout of Neshaminy, will be facing District 12 Champion La Salle, which defeated Emmaus 21-8, at Bears Stadium in Boyertown at 4 p.m.
The winner advances to take on Spring-Ford or North Allegheny, who play at PeoplesBank Park in York at 4 p.m.
The state final will be at Medlar Field at Penn State University’s Lubrano Park on Friday at 4:30 p.m.
In softball action, North Penn is coming off a 4-0 shutout of Penn Manor and now takes on Canon-McMillan, which prevailed 5-3 over Neshaminy, at 2 p.m. at Mechanicsburg High on Monday.
The winner plays Haverford or Pennsbury, which do battle at Spring-Ford at 3 p.m.
The softball state final is set for Penn State University at 4 p.m. Thursday.
Said Knights coach Rick Torresani of possibly reaching the state final: “I told them, ‘one more win. One more win, and we’re there. That’s all it’s gonna take, is one more effort.'”
Next up: It looked like it might be another North Penn-Neshaminy battle in the state semis, but Canon-McMillan got past the Skins.
It was Abby Allen, an unexpected hero for the Big Macs, that provided a two-run, walk-off home run in the bottom of the 10th to give Canon-McMillan the win.
The Big Macs came from behind twice to advance past Neshaminy.
The game provided a little bit of deja-vu for those involved with Canon-McMillan. The Big Macs won the state championship back in 2013 by defeating Neshaminy in extra innings in the title game.
This time around, Brooke Perri was the winning pitcher for Canon, throwing six innings in relief. She allowed one unearned run, striking out six with zero walks.
The Big Macs outhit Neshaminy 7-5.
Grace Higgins was the lone Big Macs player with more than one hit, going 2-for-3 with a double and two runs. She scored the tying run in the fifth on an RBI hit by Taylor Eckles.
The western power is running into a North Penn team firing on every cylinder. Mady Volpe has not allowed a run in two state games and the lineup – from top to bottom – is producing hits.
Area powers >> Two offenses in peak form will clash in the PIAA-6A baseball semis, as North Penn and La Salle combined for 30 runs in their quarterfinal wins.
NP scored nine runs in the first three innings alone.
“Guys put together some really tough at-bats,” Knights coach Kevin Manero said afterwards. “Made them work a little bit, didn’t go out of the zone, came up with some big hits when we had to. I was just really impressed with our whole approach at the plate today.”
Justin Egner, Ryan Sullivan and Steve Corrado all had key hits for the surging Knights.
La Salle also showed its ability to erupt in its state quarterfinal win, plating 15 runs in the fifth.
Mason Sermarini was one of five Explorers with multiple hits, and he went 4-for-5 with a pair of RBI and three runs scored.
“To come back in that way was unexpected and I’m just really proud of them,” La Salle coach Kyle Werman said of the win.
