Spotlight on sports: Softball championship preview

For the second time in four seasons, and first since 2021, the Pennsylvania College of Technology women’s softball team is in the United East Conference Championship series. An automatic bid to the NCAA Division III Regionals also is on the line.

As the UE Volt Division winner, the Wildcats will host UE Skye Division titlist Wilson College in a best-of-three-game UE Championship series at Elm Park. Game 1 is set for Saturday at 10 a.m., with Game 2 at noon. Should a third “if necessary” game be needed, it will be played on Sunday at a time to be announced.

Penn College enters the series with records of 28-9 overall and 18-5 in all UE games, while Wilson's records are 28-11 and 17-4.

Facing common opponents during the season, Penn College was 4-0 against Gallaudet University and Wilson was 2-0, Penn College was 4-2 against Penn State Harrisburg and Wilson was 0-1, Penn College was 1-0 against Cairn University and Wilson was 2-0, Penn College was 1-0 against Cedar Crest College and Wilson was 2-0, and Penn College was 2-0 against Rosemont College and Wilson was 3-2, including back-to-back wins on Monday to claim the Skye title.

Statistically, against all opponents:
Team batting average: Wilson College .346, Penn College .324.
Pitching staff ERA: Penn College 2.00, Wilson College 4.11.
Team fielding %: Penn College .953, Wilson College .944.

Individually, Wilson College has three players with at least 90 at-bats hitting over .400, Taylor Barker is at .467, Haiden Brookens at .429 and Madison Hauer at .415.

In the circle for the Phoenix, Rylee Piper is 18-4 with a 3.23 ERA, 70 strikeouts and 22 walks. Elena Worthington and Paige Dill have pitched about 60 innings each with ERAs of 3.78 and 6.32, respectively.

For the Wildcats, Madison Shaffer of Trout Run is batting .427, with Madison Herriman of Danville at .388, Margaret Mangene of Boalsburg at .344, Lexi Snyder of Hegins at .342, Grace Lorson of Jersey Shore at .330 and Ivvy Morder of Mechanicsburg at .300.

Pitching-wise, Mackenzie Weaver of Montoursville is 15-7 with a 1.72 ERA, 140 strikeouts and 26 walks for Penn College, while Fayth Anderson of Lykens is 12-2 with a 2.41 ERA, 91 strikeouts and 27 walks.

Commenting on her team’s three-game sweep in the Volt Division playoffs last Friday and Saturday, Penn College coach Angela Stackhouse said, “The postseason can be unpredictable, but I said the team that was going to hit would take it all and our bats showed up. We were able to jump on every team we played pretty much right away and it helped give us that feeling of control throughout each game.

“Weaver throwing two shutout games in the postseason was absolutely amazing. Both of my pitchers worked incredibly hard in the bullpen all week preparing, so they went in with a game plan and they executed.”

Assessing Wilson, Stackhouse said, “Wilson can definitely hit. They put up a lot of runs on Monday. … They were pretty big on chipping away and getting one run at a time. We need to be ready to go on defense and not get caught off guard in those situations.

“From what I can see, I think my pitching staff has the edge, but it’s all about who shows up. Every day is different. I think my pitching is going to be a little bit quicker and has a lot more spin than maybe they’re used to seeing on a regular basis, so that should help in our favor.

“… We’re actually pretty comfortable in that three-game series mindset, just because we have depth in the bullpen where maybe a lot of teams do not. I think we’re a very difficult team to beat once, let alone twice.

“As long as we stay composed and show up and play our game at our level, we’ll look to be successful.”

Schedule/Record/Series History
Overall: 28-9
UE Volt Division: 18-5 (15-5 regular season)
UE Championship at Elm Park
Saturday, May 11 — Penn College vs. Wilson College, 10 a.m. (Wilson leads 1-0)
Saturday, May 11 — Penn College vs. Wilson College, noon
Sunday, May 12 — “If necessary” Penn College vs. Wilson College, TBA
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Thursday-Saturday, May 16-18 — NCAA D-III Regionals, TBA
Thursday-Friday, May 23-24 — NCAA D-III Super Regionals, TBA
Thursday, May 30-Wednesday, June 5 — NCAA D-III Championship, TBA

For more about the United East, visit the conference website.
For additional information, visit the Wildcats Athletics website.