High school softball: TJ knocks off 7th-seeded South Fayette
Defending champ Belle Vernon eliminated
Eleanor Bailey/The Almanac
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Zoe Krizan hit a two-run homer, Addi Bracco had two doubles and scored twice and Thomas Jefferson held off seventh-seeded South Fayette 6-4 in a WPIAL Class 5A first-round softball playoff game Monday at Peterswood Park.
South Fayette (11-6) led 2-0 after two innings, but Thomas Jefferson (10-7) scored three in both the third and fourth innings. The Jaguars held on when South Fayette scored one run in the bottom of the seventh but left the tying run on base.
Krizan’s home run gave TJ a 3-2 lead in the third. South Fayette’s Maddie Cavenaugh hit a solo home run that tied the score, 3-3, in the bottom of the third. Following a South Fayette error in the fourth, Bracco had an RBI double in the fourth and TJ never trailed again.
Aubrey Shaffer was the winning pitcher. She gave up six hits, including a double by Emma Smith and two singles by Steph Binek.
Blackhawk, the No. 10 seed, will play in the quarterfinals Wednesday.
Blackhawk 7, Belle Vernon 5
There will be a new WPIAL champion in Class 4A.
Karma Malcolm hit a home run and two Blackhawk pitchers combined on a four-hitter as 11th-seeded Blackhawk upset defending champion Belle Vernon 7-5 in a Class 4A first-round playoff game at Peterswood Park.
Blackhawk (9-7) scored the game’s first five runs and then held off a late charge by Belle Vernon (13-7).
The Cougars, who will play third-seeded Indiana in the quarterfinals Wednesday, scored two runs in the third inning and three in the sixth to go up 5-0. Belle Vernon scored twice in the fourth inning and three times in the sixth, on a home run by Lauren VanDivner, to close to within 7-5.
Bella Williams had a two-run single for the Leopards.