West Greene earns top seed in WPIAL softball pairings
West Greene was named a top seed as expected, but there were a few surprises among other area playoff teams when the WPIAL softball pairings were released last Thursday.
Frazier, which played in the last two Class AA finals, was not among the top four seeds and was put on the same side of the bracket as Section 3 rival and top-seeded Chartiers-Houston.
That decision didn鈥檛 please Lady Commodores coach Don Hartman.
鈥淭hat鈥檚 what I鈥檓 not happy about,鈥� Hartman said. 鈥淎ll year long we were one and two (in the rankings) with Chartiers. We dropped a game to Carmichaels but then again we beat West Greene. We played some quad-A playoff teams, beat West Mifflin and lost a close game at Yough.
鈥淲e played a really strong schedule and I had hoped that would help our seed but obviously it didn鈥檛.鈥�
Jefferson-Morgan drew its highest seed in the Class A since it won the WPIAL championship as a No. 3 seed in 2015. The Lady Rockets are No. 5 this year.
The Lady Pioneers earned a first-round bye by being named the No. 1 seed in Class A.
鈥淚 think we鈥檝e earned it,鈥� said Lady Pioneers coach Bill Simms of his two-time defending PIAA and three-time defending WPIAL champions being at No. 1.
鈥淲e had three one-run losses down in Myrtle (Beach) and the only game we lost up here was to Frazier, which is probably one of the top five teams in the state in double-A. So I think our battle-tested schedule was indicative of us getting a one seed.鈥�
Other area teams were seeded, according to the brackets, as follows: Carmichaels, No. 11, in Class AA; and Mapletown, No. 7 in Class A.
J-M was slated to play No. 12 Rochester 4 p.m. at Trinity.
Mapletown was set to meet No. 10 Jeannette at 6 p.m. at Peters Township on Tuesday.
Carmichaels was scheduled to take on No. 6 Seton LaSalle at 4 p.m. Wednesday at Peters Township.
Carmichaels coach Dave Briggs, whose team was bumped up a classification this year, was OK with the Lady Mikes鈥� placement.
鈥淚t鈥檚 about where I thought we鈥檇 be,鈥� Briggs said. 鈥淚 don鈥檛 mind where we鈥檙e at. But there are a lot of good teams.鈥�
Briggs, like Hartman, didn鈥檛 expect Frazier and C-H to be on the same side of the bracket.
鈥淚 thought they might make them two or three just to separate them from Chartiers-Houston,鈥� Briggs said. 鈥淚 was a little bit surprised. You kind of felt they would split them up and maybe split up (Section 4 co-champions) Neshannock and Laurel, but they didn鈥檛.鈥�
West Greene won鈥檛 open its postseason until Monday, May 20.
It was a little more important to the Class A Lady Pioneers (16-4) to get the first-round bye that accompanies a No. 1 seed due a situation that has nothing to do with the ballfield.
鈥淚 was just talking to my principal and superintendent here,鈥� West Greene coach Bill Simms said. 鈥淲e took a great guess and factored that (a potential first-round bye) into the equation because one of the deals where they could get the senior trip on a great discounted rate was next week. So it just happened that they took the gamble, and now my seniors get to go on their senior trip and not have to worry about the possibility of coming back to play in a first-round game.
鈥淲e鈥檙e very excited it fell the way it fell. Not that I like an entire week off, but they get to relax on their senior trip and have a little fun with that, then we鈥檒l get back to work and probably try to work a scrimmage in right before we have to play the following Monday.鈥�
The Lady Pioneers have been the best program in the WPIAL since 2016. They are seeking their fourth consecutive WPIAL title and third straight PIAA championship.
West Greene will play the winner of Tuesday鈥檚 game between Bishop Canevin and Greensburg Central Catholic on Monday, May 20, with the site and time to be determined.
Jonathan Guth contributed to this story.