Trinity softball wins 1st WPIAL softball title
CALIFORNIA – Trinity’s Ryleigh Hoy was not being coy when she smacked two home runs in the Hillers’ 11-7 victory over Armstrong to win the WPIAL Class 5A softball championship at PennWest California’s Lilley Field.
Hoy, a senior and Mercyhurst University recruit, entered Thursday’s game with three homers, but said she would never be confused with teammate Hanna Suhoski, who leads Trinity with seven.
“When you think of a home-run hitter, you don’t think of a 5-foot-1 person hitting it over the fence,” said Hoy while laughing. “We knew Armstrong could hit, so we knew we had to keep hitting. We are so happy to win a WPIAL title, but we want to keep on winning.”
Trinity (19-2) not only defeated the No. 1-seed and defending WPIAL champion River Hawks (19-2) but won its first district title in program history. The Hillers were making their third appearance in the championship game, with losses coming in 1999 to Seneca Valley (4-1) and 2009 to Franklin Regional (2-0).
“Being able to bring this home was one of the goals that the girls set, so this is very special,” Trinity coach Shawn Gray said. “They achieved the first goal, and the next one is a state championship, so we will enjoy this one tonight, but get ready for the state tournament next week.”
Armstrong was on a 19-game winning streak, but Trinity jumped out to a 3-0 lead on Hoy’s three-run blast to right-centerfield to score Suhoski and Maddy Argo, who reached on a fielder’s choice and walked with two outs.
“I was just looking for the first pitch and wanted to lay off the changeup,” Hoy said. “We’ve been practicing her speed and the location for past couple of days, so I was just looking for a hit. She threw me a fastball right down the middle, and I was looking to attack, so that pitch was great for me to hit.”
The Hillers increased their advantage to 7-0 heading into the bottom of the second on back-to-back two-run singles from Addy Agnew and Suhoski.
Finley Hohn singled to right with one out and starting pitcher Taylor Dunn reached on a sacrifice bunt when the ball was overthrown to first base. Amber Morgan reached on an infield single and Hohn and courtesy runner Hanna Stedman scored on Agnew’s hit. Agnew advanced to second as the River Hawks attempted to throw Morgan out at third on the play.
Morgan and Agnew scored on Suhoski’s hit.
Armstrong coach Keith Shaffer took out starting pitcher Cameryn Sprankle and inserted Madison Baker after Suhoski’s single.
“We’ve always been fighters, and the girls really fought back,” Shaffer said. “Unfortunately, we dug ourselves too big of a hole, but give credit to Trinity. They are a great hitting team, and I got to hand it to them. They were the best team today.”
Trinity added two more runs in the fourth for a 9-0 lead after Hoy went deep again, this time to left field, as the ball landed in the lap of one of the pierogis that race at PNC Park during Pittsburgh Pirates games, but made the trip to Lilley Field, as the team is one of the sponsors for the WPIAL championships.
Suhoski singled to right before scoring on Hoy’s homer.
Gray said he would have liked a few more runs to invoke the 10-run mercy rule.
“It would have been nice to get a few more runs, but we figured it would be a close game,” Gray said. “We were thinking maybe an 8-5 game.”
The River Hawks cracked the scoreboard in the fourth on Jenna Clontz’s homer to left after Isabella Atherton doubled to cut the deficit to 9-2.
Armstrong added four in the fifth, as Atherton singled, Clontz was intentionally walked before Jesse Pugh’s three-run homer to center trimmed the Hillers’ advantage to 9-6. Baker singled and courtesy runner Marlee Smith scored on a wild pitch to score the first run in the inning.
Trinity added two insurance runs in the sixth on Hohn’s single that dropped in over second base to score Argo and Hoy, who had singled and walked.
Argo moved to third on Kristina Bozek’s sacrifice fly to right and Hoy stole second before Hohn came through in the clutch for an 11-6 lead. Hohn had three hits.
“I was looking for an inside pitch, and that’s what I got,” Hohn said. “We knew we were going to have to outhit this team, and that’s what we did. It felt really good to ease the pressure off my teammates.
“This is really special to win a WPIAL title, and we are looking forward to the state tournament. I think a few of our loses this year helped us because we learned that we are not invincible. It humbled us, and I think that turned out to be good for us.”
The River Hawks scored one in the bottom of the inning on Emma Paul’s double to left that scored Smith.
Pugh was intentionally walked with one out after Clontz had popped to second, but Agnew snagged Shelby Cloak’s line drive at first and stepped on the bag to double off Pugh for a game-ending double play.
Dunn yielded seven earned runs on 10 hits. She struck out and walked two.
“We knew that we weren’t going to be able to shut them out,” Gray said. “They are a good-hitting team, and Taylor (Dunn) was actually keeping them off balance. This is a team that you can’t hold down the whole game, especially after coming through the lineup the second or third time because good hitters adjust.”
Morgan and Mirranda Rinehart doubled for two of the Hillers’ four extra-base hits.