May 16, 2023 4 min read

McMURRAY – It was beginning to look bad for Kendall Lemley, the left-handed fireballer and leadoff hitter for Waynesburg High School’s softball team.

This was going to be her final at-bat in Tuesday’s quarterfinal game against Valley at Peterswood Park. The Raiders were holding on to a 3-1 lead, which wasn’t so bad considering how much trouble Valley hitters were having catching up to Lemley’s fastball.

But we are talking about pride here and Lemley had nothing to show for her first three at-bats other than a giant letter K, two pointed to the right and one to the left, in the scorebook.

That’s when Morgan Dunkel released a fastball and Lemley’s eyes grew big. She connected and sent the softball far over the centerfield fence. Gina Tedrow, who got on before Lemley stepped to the plate, gave a yell before rounding the bases then greeted Lemley with a hug.

Waynesburg would go on to win the game, 5-1, and Lemley, a Salem commit, played a huge roll in the win.

Now Waynesburg will play Ligonier Valley Thursday in the Class 3A quarterfinals. The top four teams in this WPIAL tournament advance to the PIAA Championship.

“The three strikeouts were very frustrating,” said Lemley after the game. “Hitting that home run felt good because it gave my teams some extra runs. It made the last inning a little easier.”

The home run was one of 12 hits by Waynesburg (15-3). But the Raiders didn’t pull away until Lemley’s blast.

“Lemley did a great job today,” said Waynesburg coach Jim Armstrong, who has helped the Raiders win 13 out of the last 14 games. “She throws so hard.”

Lemley said her fastball has been clocked as high as 62 mph.

“She’s a very good pitcher,” said Valley coach Carol Perroz. “A school is going to be glad they (recruited) here. We got a couple of bunts laid down. We had the opportunity; we just didn’t take advantage of it.”

Perroz bemoaned the third inning, when Valley (6-12) loaded the bases with no one out. Lemly got a force play at home on a come-backer to the mound then struck out the Nos. 3 and 4 hitters in Valley’s lineup to get out of the jam.

Waynesburg catcher Hannah Wood went 4-for-4 with three doubles, all to left field. The diminutive catcher has a .536 batting average.

“I think those hits rattled them a little bit,” said Wood, a senior who will attend Waynesburg University next fall and play catcher on the Yellow Jackets softball team.

Tedrow went 2-for-3 and right fielder Dani Stockdale went 2-for-4.

Jefferson-Morgan 7, Northgate 4

In the middle of the season, Northgate went on a four-game winning streak where the Flams outscored their opponents 86-25. That’s an average of a little more than 21 runs per win.

The 86 runs were more than Northgate would score the rest of the season.

On Tuesday, against Jefferson-Morgan in the Class 1A first round, Northgate managed just four runs in a 7-4 loss to the Rockets.

Jefferson-Morgan (9-7), which came into the Class 1A playoffs as the No. 6 seed, will play third-seeded Frazier (13-1) Thursday at a site and time yet to be determined.

Northgate, the 11th seed, had its season end with an 8-6 record.

Jefferson-Morgan broke the game open with a four-run third inning. Payton Farabee would hit the first of three doubles, drive in a run and scored on Karlee Crockard’s two-run single up the middle.

“I’m not sure I’ve had three doubles in a game before. My coach usually keeps track of that stuff,” said Farabee. “I just try to get the runs in to help the team out.”

J-M had eight stolen bases, including one on catcher’s indifference. Ava Wood scored in the first inning without the benefit of a hit. She walked, stole second, went to third on a throwing error and scored on a passed ball.

Kayla Larkin followed suit with a walk, two stolen bases and scored on a wild pitch for a 2-0 lead.

“Right now, we’re in the playoffs and I’ll take the win,” J-M coach Rick Rush said. “I only have two seniors on this team and only two juniors.”

Northgate scored three runs in the sixth inning to make it closer.