Jun 7, 2026 By Jerin Steele 4 min read

A 26-6 final score in a softball game like the one Bristol had in its state quarterfinal victory over Northwest Area might seem like an aberration.

For most teams it would be, but that’s not the case for Bristol, which is Chartiers-Houston’s opponent in the state semifinals.

It was the eighth time the Warriors have scored 20 or more runs this season.

If the Bucs are going to make the state championship game for the first time since 2010, then they’ll have to slow down Bristol’s potent offense, a task nobody has completed so far.

The Bucs and Warriors meet in the PIAA Class 2A semifinals at 3 p.m. Monday at Mifflin County High School in Lewistown.

“They score a lot of runs and a lot of their final scores look more like football scores,” Bucs coach Tricia Alderson said. “It’s not necessarily the runs they give up, but the runs they score.”

There’s been several 20-plus to 0 final scores for Bristol, which is seeking its first state championship appearance since winning in 1990. Chartiers-Houston (20-3) is in the state semifinals for a third straight year.

The Warriors (24-1) have scored double digit runs in all but two games and they scored seven and nine in them. Their lone loss was a 10-9 defeat to Council Rock South.

They have six players with 70 or more plate appearances hitting over .500. Sophomore Peyton McClain has an eye-popping .735 batting average with 15 doubles, four triples, two home runs and 70 RBI.

Senior Brianna Slack has belted seven homers and has driven in 55 runs. She’s hitting .667 and is the Warriors’ starting pitcher with a 16-1 record and a 1.65 ERA with 98 strikeouts to 10 walks over 76.1 innings.

“If you’re in the final four teams everybody is good,” Alderson said. “Nobody is playing a bad team at this point.”

After losing the WPIAL consolation game to Laurel, Chartiers-Houston has won two straight in the state playoffs. The Bucs took down District 6 champion Bellwood-Antis, 2-0, in the first round and cruised to a 13-1 win in six innings over District 2 champ Montrose in Thursday’s quarterfinals.

Junior pitcher Taryne Drilak has shined in the state playoffs. She pitched a three-hit shutout against Bellwood-Antis and allowed one run and struck out 10 over six innings in the win over Montrose.

Drilak and catcher Sydney English make up a brand-new battery after the graduation of pitcher Meadow Ferri, who’s at Kent State and Ella Richey, the state’s all-time home run leader. Richey is playing in college at King University in Tennessee.

“It’s been great to watch the kids develop and step into those roles,” Alderson said. “We always have high expectations no matter who has graduated and who’s coming in. We’re excited to have the opportunity again to play in the semifinals. This time’s a little different too, because we’re on the (eastern) side of the bracket.”

East vs. West

In their last two trips to the state semifinals, Chartiers-Houston faced WPIAL opponents, losing to Carmichaels and Neshannock.

This year the Bucs meet a Bristol team that is five hours away from them.

Bristol is located a half hour north of Philadelphia and only the Delaware River separates the city from New Jersey.

To put it in perspective, Bristol is three hours closer to New York City than it is to Chartiers-Houston High School.

Chartiers-Houston advancing through the eastern side of the bracket as the fourth-place team in the WPIAL has created a rare East vs. West state semifinal in a smaller classification.

They have become a little more common in 4A, 5A and 6A because of there being less teams across the state in those classifications.

Mifflin County High School is a pretty good center point for the meeting. Both teams are about three hours from Lewistown.

The distance won’t be a problem for Chartiers-Houston. The Bucs have become seasoned bus riders during the state playoffs. They played at Mt. Aloysius College in Cresson and at Bald Eagle Area High School in Bellefonte, which are both two-plus hours away.

“We’re just like, ‘We’re getting back on the bus on Monday and going somewhere three hours away’ And that’s fine for us now, because we’re used to it,” Alderson said. “It’s been fun for the kids. They get to be with their friends and hang out on the bus. They get to eat dinner together as a team. We were together the whole day (Thursday). We left at 9 a.m. and won’t get home until 10 p.m., so you’re spending a whole lot of time with your teammates, and I think they’ve really enjoyed it. We’re just trying to keep playing.”