Spring championship season concludes in the WPIAL with a trip to Lilly Field for the softball championships on Thursday. All four title games from Cal U. can be heard right here at MSA Sports.

Here are previews of the title games:

WPIAL CLASS A CHAMPIONSHIP
AVONWORTH ANTELOPES VS. VINCENTIAN ACADEMY ROYALS 11:30 am at msasports.net
Announcers: Don Rebel and Jess Levo

The Section 3 foes will square off in the lid-lifter. Vincentian Academy won both games this season 6-0 at Avonworth on April 2nd, and 1-0 at home on April 24th. The Royals have won 12 straight games, the last Lopes’ win was in April of 2004. Both teams are in the PIAA tournament, starting Monday.

AVONWORTH (14-6 overall)
Head Coach: Chris Knox
Playoff Road:
First Round: Monaca 14-0
Quarterfinals: Serra Catholic 4-0
Semifinals: Leechburg 4-3

Marissa Milbert homered for the Lopes in the semifinals, breaking a two-all deadlock. Avonworth has won eight straight games since the second loss to Vincentian Academy. The Royals defeated the Lopes in last year’s semifinals.

Pitcher Julia Eck is now 12-6 on the season. She posted 118 k’s during the regular season.

VINCENTIAN ACADEMY (19-2 overall)
Head Coach: Pete Scanga
Playoff Road:
Quarterfinals: Chartiers-Houston 7-0
Semifinals: Carmichaels 5-0

Vincentian Academy is the defending WPIAL and PIAA champion, they became the first team other than Sto-Rox or Char-Houston to win a Class A title with the 3-2 win over Leechburg in 2008, the Royals then defeated Upper Dauphin to win the PIAA crown. It’s the fourth straight title game appearance for Vincentian Academy, falling to Char-Houston in both 2006 and 2007.

The Royals received a first round bye as the top seed, they have not been scored upon in the playoffs. Nina Melvin has been outstanding this season, she has tossed two shutouts in the post-season, including a one-hitter vs. Char-Houston to run her record to 19-2, she struck out 142 batters in the regular season.
Nicole Lindner and Ashlyn Mallison each drove in two runs in the semifinals.

The Royals lost their opener to Riverside and the final game of the regular season to Shaler, both teams are WPIAL finalists, won 17 straight between. 10 shutouts this season for the Royals.


WPIAL CLASS AA CHAMPIONSHIP
RIVERSIDE PANTHERS VS. STO-ROX VIKINGS
2 pm on WBVP 1230-AM and WMBA 1460-AM and at msasports.net
Announcers: Bob Barrickman and Tom Hays

If anyone needs directions to Lilly Field, call either Pam McCarty or Bill Palermo. The Panthers are the defending champions, the Vikings are ten-time champions. Both teams have already qualified for the PIAA playoffs starting next week.

RIVERSIDE (17-1 overall)
Head Coach: Pam McCarty
Playoff Road:
First Round: South Fayette 5-1
Quarterfinals: Deer Lakes 1-0
Semifinals: Bishop Canevin 2-0

Riverside was the number one seed, the only loss was to second-seeded Mohawk in early April. Riverside and Mohawk shared the Section 5 title with 13-1 records. The Panthers claimed WPIAL gold in 1994, 1996, 2001 and 2008. Riverside has won 13 straight games. 12 wins by shutout this season.

Pitcher Kari Falk was 12-1 during the regular season with 101 strikeouts. She has only allowed one run so far in the playoffs and also homered in the first round win over South Fayette.

STO-ROX (18-4 overall)
Head Coach: Bill Palermo
Playoff Road:
First Round: Mount Pleasant 2-1
Quarterfinals: McGuffey 5-1
Semifinals: Greensburg Central Catholic 4-3

The Vikings will play for an eleventh WPIAL title. Sto-Rox has five Class AA titles(1985-86, 1989, 1993 and 2006) and won the Class A title five times from 2000-04. Sto-Rox won in dramatic fashion in the semifinals, scoring three runs in the bottom of the seventh to move on as Alexa Golling delivered the game-winning hit.

Kristin Olejar allowed only four hits in the quarterfinal win over McGuffey. Olejar is now 18-4. She struck out 128 in the regular season.

Sto-Rox has won nine straight since back to back losses to Bishop Canevin and Center. It’s the first title game appearance for the Vikings since the 2006 win over Neshannock. The Vikings were the Section 1 runner-up, finishing 1 ½ games behind Bishop Canevin.


WPIAL CLASS AAA CHAMPIONSHIP
TRINITY HILLERS VS FRANKLIN REGIONAL PANTHERS 4:30 pm on WJPA 1450-AM and at msasports.net
Announcer: Bob Gregg

It’s a pair of teams each looking for their first softball crown. Trinity makes it to the Triple-A title game after spending the last few seasons in Quad-A. Franklin Regional is the only unbeaten team remaining in the WPIAL. Both teams are in the state playoffs.

TRINITY (12-7 overall)
Head Coach: Linda Rebish
Playoff Road:
First Round: Kittanning 4-0
Quarterfinals: Yough 3-2
Semifinals: West Allegheny 10-1

The Hillers were on fire in the semifinals, pounding out 17 hits, including seven doubles. Ashley Moran has homered in two straight playoff games. Michelle Massey allowed just four hits, she fanned nine.

Trinity has not won a WPIAL softball title. The Hillers did not finish strong in the regular season, losing four of their last five games, but it’s the post-season that counts. Trinity finished third in Section 3 with an 8-4 record.

FRANKLIN REGIONAL (19-0 overall)
Head Coach: Jim Armstrong
Playoff Road:
Quarterfinals: Moon 6-2
Semifinals: Belle Vernon 14-2

The Panthers received a first round bye as the top seed in the tournament, they are also the only undefeated team in the WPIAL in either softball or baseball. Sam Johnson went 4-4 with three rbis and scored four times to lead the Panthers into the final. Ally Vrcek allowed two runs on six hits and struck out eleven for the win. She also fanned twelve in the quarterfinal win. She is now 16-0 on the season, she has struck out 186 batters this season. Kacey Siegel went 3-4 in the quarterfinal win, leading an eleven hit attack.

The Panthers have posted nine shutouts this season, including the last five regular season games. Franklin Regional has never won a WPIAL softball title and before this season, had not made it out of the first round three straight years. The Panthers ran away with Section 4, winning the section title by three games


WPIAL QUAD-A CHAMPIONSHIP
HEMPFIELD SPARTANS VS. SHALER TITANS
7 pm on msasports.net
Announcers: Sam Hall and Greg Warnock

This is the only bracket where at least one of the top four seeds did not make the finals, but Quad A was probably the hardest bracket to draw. The game is a rematch of the 2005 title game, won by Shaler 7-2. Both teams with the semifinal wins make the PIAA tournament which starts on Monday.

HEMPFIELD (14-4 overall)
Head Coach: Bob Kalp
Playoff Road:
First Round: Peters Township 2-0
Quarterfinals: North Allegheny 3-2
Semifinals: Connellsville 13-4

Hempfield dumped both the number one and four seeds to enter the championship game. The Spartans jumped out to an 8-0 lead against section rival Connellsville in the semis and never looked back, avenging two earlier losses to the Falcons. T’Nia Falbo was almost unhittable, except for a four-run fourth inning, she retired the first 13 batters she faced, then sat down the final seven hitters of the game. Melissa Lupinacci had four hits in the semifinal win, Jordan Sherrow and Alyssa Grossman each had three hits, to pace a 16 hit attack.

The Spartans got a pinch-hit single from freshman Nina Italiano to move into the semis, coming thru in the bottom of the seventh vs. North Allegheny.

Falbo is now 11-3 on the season, she struck out 82 during the regular season.

Hempfield won a WPIAL softball title in 1998, won a PIAA title in the following season. The Spartans have won eight straight games since a loss to Connellsville. Hempfield finished third in Section 1, one game behind co-champs Connellsville and Latrobe.

SHALER (13-4 overall)
Head Coach: Skip Palmer
Playoff Road:
First Round: McKeesport 9-2
Quarterfinals: Latrobe 5-3
Semifinals: Mount Lebanon 1-0 in eight innings

The Titans dumped the second-seeded Blue Devils in the semifinals for their seventh straight win, they handed Mt. Lebanon both of their losses this season. Shaler has won two WPIAL titles in 1982 and 2005. Over the last seven seasons, Shaler has made at least the semifinals in five of the seven seasons, played for a WPIAL title in four of the seven, and won PIAA titles in 2004 and 2006, and was state runner-up in 2005. In the playoff run, the Titans also knocked out two time defending champion Latrobe, who defeated Shaler in last year’s WPIAL title game and also in the quarterfinals of the state playoffs.

Pitcher Abby Nichter was 10-4 during the regular season with 90 strikeouts. She allowed just four baserunners in the semifinal win. Shortstop Chelsea Siar has a .468 batting average. Freshman catcher Lauren Hackett hit .330 in the cleanup spot, she also drove in two runs in the Latrobe victory. Left fielder Holly Pefferman made a shoe-string catch to end a Blue Devil threat in the semis. Shaler got the only run of the semis from an unlikely source, courtesy runner Sarah Giebel came around from first base on a bunt attempt and throwing error.

The Titans were the Section 3 runner-up at 7-3, two games back of North Allegheny.