Of the four Lehigh Valley-area teams left in the state baseball and softball tournaments, only one is a surprise.
While Northwestern Lehigh’s softball team has been to back-to-back state semifinals, and the Nazareth softball and Liberty baseball teams won championships last year, Notre Dame-Green Pond’s baseball team was just 8-12 in 2024.
And the Crusaders were hovering around .500 most of the regular season before finding their stride at just the right time.
They pulled off a few amazing comebacks in the District 11 tournament and stayed hot with a PIAA play-in win and a first-round victory.
So, while the Tigers, Blue Eagles, and Hurricanes might have been expected to be in the state quarterfinals in the first week of June, Notre Dame may see it as something of a surprise.
Yet, like the others, they find themselves two wins away from getting to Penn State for the state championships next week and three victories away from earning the ultimate prize in Pennsylvania sports.
The local teams are scattered in different locations and at different times of the day on Thursday. Liberty’s baseball team plays Gov. Mifflin in a 6A quarterfinal at 11 a.m. at DeSales. Both the Northwestern Lehigh softball team and Notre Dame-Green Pond baseball squad are in action at 4 p.m. — the Tigers meet Interboro at Boyertown and the Crusaders face Berks Catholic at Methacton. The final local team to play is Nazareth, as the Blue Eagles play at 6 p.m. at Pine Grove against Cumberland Valley.
All want to get to Monday’s semifinals.
“My goal every year is to play past graduation, and we just had graduation last Saturday,” veteran Notre Dame coach Mike Bedics said. “You just live to keep playing another day, and this group of players we have just jelled so nicely this season. They don’t want the season to end, and it makes you as a coach want to keep working for them.”
Bedics has said that the team is a year ahead of schedule in terms of being the best team it can be.
“We have four special seniors, Christian Rivituso, Blake Benolken, Michael Martino, Matthew Robertshaw, and they have all done a great job kind of ushering in this new group of kids we have,” Bedics said. “They have all been senior leaders.”
Bedics said that any team left in the tournament at this point is a good team.
“Berks is good, but if we play the kind of baseball we’re capable of playing and what we’ve displayed the last week and a half, we’ll be able to compete,” Bedics said. “We’ll do our homework on them, as I am sure they are doing on us. But it all comes down to execution.”
Here’s a look at Thursday’s matchups featuring the local teams:
PIAA Class 6A softball quarterfinal
Who: District 11 No. 2 Nazareth (20-6) vs. District 3 champ Cumberland Valley (20-3)
When/where: 6 p.m. Thursday at Pine Grove Area High School
At stake: A berth in Monday’s semifinals against either Chambersburg (District 3, No. 2, 20-5) or Hempfield (District 7 champ, 22-1).
NAZARETH
Coach: Stephen Genzale (sixth season, 82-40)
How they got here: Beat No. 7 Whitehall 6-5 in the District 11 quarterfinals, beat No. 6 Northampton 10-0 in the D11 semifinals, and lost to No. 8 Easton in the district finals. Beat North Penn, District 1’s No. 2, 7-5 in first round of state tournament.
Key players: Shauna McNamee (Sr. C) .448, 18 RBIs, 7 HRs; Alina Weaver (Sr. 2B) .407, 25 runs, 26 RBIs, 8 HRs; Natalie Chloros (Sr. CF) .393, 14 runs, 18 RBIs; Taylor Friel (Jr. 3B) .311, 19 RBIs, 3 HRs; Kylie Grover (Jr. P) 1.14 ERA, 91 Ks, 86.1 IP; Gianna Perillo (Jr. DH) .385, 11 XBH, 20 runs, 19 RBIs, 7 HRs.
Of note: Nazareth beat North Penn with a three-run seventh inning rally. Weaver’s second home run of the game was a two-run, two-out blast that gave the Blue Eagles the lead and they added a home run by McNamee. Nazareth is 7-5 all-time in the state tournament, 2-2 in quarterfinal-round games. Lost to Chambersburg 9-1 in the 2023 quarterfinals.
CUMBERLAND VALLEY
Coach: Gregg Williams
How they got here: Beat Hempfield 7-0, beat Wilson West Lawn 1-0 and Chambersburg 2-1 to win the District 3. Beat Conestoga 14-0 in the first round of the state tournament.
Key players: Janelle Schneider (Fr. 3B); Sydney May (Sr. P); Gracie Lau (So. 1B); Leah Dennison (RF); Annika Shearer (Sr. CF) Emma Stroup (Jr. SS).
Of note: In the 4½-inning win over Conestoga, the Eagles scored nine runs in the second inning. Schneider was 3-for-3 with three runs scored and four RBIs and hit a home run. Shearer and Lau had doubles, and May worked four innings, scattering four hits with a walk and four strikeouts. May is a Fordham commit. Stroup is going to Kent State, and Shearer is headed to Maine. May and Richardson combined on a no-hitter in district quarterfinals. The Eagles are 8-7 all-time in the state tournament, 3-1 in quarterfinal-round games. They lost to Parkland, 4-3, in the 2015 4A championship game.
Keith Groller’s pick: Cumberland Valley 7-1
PIAA Class 4A softball quarterfinal
Who: District 11 champ Northwestern Lehigh (25-2) vs. District 1 champ Interboro (21-2)
When/where: 4 p.m. Thursday at Boyertown Area High School
At stake: A berth in Monday’s semifinals against either District 2 champ Valley View (21-2-1) or District 11 No. 2 North Schuylkill (18-5).
NORTHWESTERN LEHIGH
Coach: Kate Farber (second season at NWL, 47-7)
How they got here: Beat Bethlehem Catholic 11-1, beat Tamaqua 5-4 and North Schuylkill 11-1 to win the District 11 title. Beat Athens 11-0 in the first round of the PIAA tournament.
Key players: Rylee McGinley (Sr. CF) .391, 35 runs, 17 RBIs, 12 SBs; Shelby Mitman (Sr. 1B) 9 XBH, 21 RBIs; Abby Dunstan (Jr. C) .506, 46 RBIs, 22 XBH, 10 HRs; Emma Freeman (Jr. P) .434, 34 runs, 18 RBIs; Lizzie Diehl (Jr. 2B) .258; Ella Bressi (Jr. RF) .271; Natalie Connor (Fr. SS) .483, 28 runs, 34 RBIs; Samantha Boyer (Fr., 3B) .262. Freeman pitching, 144 IP, 21-2, 1.07 ERA, 206 Ks, 53 BB. Freeman surpassed 500 strikeouts in her career.
Of note: The Tigers are in the state quarterfinals for the third straight year. They beat Archbishop Ryan 12-2 in 2023 and Valley View 6-1 last year. They are 13-7 all-time in the state tournament and 5-0 in quarterfinals. After being held to six total runs in their three league tournament wins, they have scored 11 runs three times in their last four games and have 25 hits in their last two games.
INTERBORO
Coach: Dave Wilson
How they got here: Beat Villa Maria Academy 18-8 and Merion Mercy Academy 9-6 to win the District 1 championship. Beat Frankford 19-0 in the first round of the state tournament.
Key players: Vanessa Harrity (Sr. C) .451, 12 XBH, 4 HRs, 29 RBIs; Olivia Bulovas (Jr. 1B-3b) .500, 15 XBH, 9 HRs, 30 RBIs; Summer Burrell (Sr. 2B) .483, 37 runs, 26 RBIs, 8 XBH; Ava Rudolph (Sr. CF) .443, 28 runs, 35 RBIs, 19 XBH; Jules Bergen (Sr. P) 16-2, 2.32 ERA, 99.2 IP, 7 BB; 100 Ks.
Of note: The Bucs have a team batting average of .425. They have won 17 straight since a 9-1 loss to Perkiomen Valley on April 4. In the district semis, Rudolph was 4-for-5 with three doubles and a triple. Bulovas homered and drove in four runs in the district final, and Harrity had a two-run home run in the first round of the state tournament. Interboro is located in Prospect Park, Delaware County, near the Philadelphia airport. This is the third time the Bucs have made the state tournament and they have never gone past the quarterfinal round.
Keith Groller’s pick: Northwestern Lehigh 8-5
PIAA 6A baseball quarterfinal
Who: District 11 No. 2 Liberty (21-6) vs. District 3 champ Gov. Mifflin (26-1)
When/where: 11 a.m. Thursday at DeSales University
At stake: A berth in Monday’s semifinals against either Cedar Cliff (District 3, No. 2, 18-6) or Seneca Valley (District 7 champ, 18-6).
LIBERTY
Coach: Andy Pitsilos (22nd season, 385-146)
How they got here: Beat No. 7 seed East Stroudsburg South 10-5, beat No. 3 Freedom 1-0, lost to No. 1 Parkland 1-0 in the district tournament. Beat West Chester Henderson 11-3 in the first round of the PIAA tournament.
Key players: Franklin Pichardo (Sr. C) .329, 7 2Bs, 20 RBIs; Kam Kensicki (Sr. (UT) .485, 5 XBH, 19 RBIs; Jaxon Horvath (Sr. 3B/SS) .350, 7 2Bs, 20 RBIs; Dylan Metzger (Sr. 2B) .357, 21 runs, 23 RBIs, 11 XBH; Jacob Matthews (Sr. 1B) .346, 15 runs, 18 RBIs; Justin Frey (Sr. OF) .270, 18 RBIs; Max Landis (Sr. OF) .333, 23 runs, 17 RBIs, 8 XBH; Adam Unangst (Sr. OF) .321, 19 runs, 14 RBIs; Willie Cruz (So. 2B-SS) .333, 16 runs, 14 RBIs. Pitching: Mikey Mariano, Jr. (Sr. P), 11-1, 2.12 ERA, 59 Ks, 18 BB, 85.2 IP; Liam Fitzpatrick (Jr. P) 4-3, 4.89 ERA, 22 Ks, 34.1 IP;
Of note: After scoring just one run in the last two games of the district tournament, the Hurricanes were held to one run by West Chester Henderson before exploding for 10 runs in the last two innings. They have a .331 team batting average with 49 extra-base hits. They have stolen 51 bases on 61 attempts with Frey going 10-for-10. Liberty is 10-9 all-time in the state tournament, 3-2 in quarterfinal-round games. They lost 4-3 to North Penn in the 2023 quarterfinals after beating La Salle College 10-2 in the 2022 quarters.
GOV. MIFFLIN
Coach: Chris Hole (14th season)
How they got here: Beat Northeastern 5-1, beat Ephrata 11-1 and Cedar Cliff 6-1 to win the District 3 tournament. Beat Perkiomen Valley 6-1 in the first round of the PIAA tournament.
Key players: Travis Jenkins (Sr. C); Ethan Grim (Sr. P); Bryce Detwiler (Sr. P).
Of note: Detwiler, a UConn commit, repeated as the Berks County player of the year. During the regular season, the Mustangs senior hit .531 and on the mound was 8-0 with a save and a 0.69 ERA. He is expected to pitch against Liberty. Grim is a Virginia Tech commit, and Jenkins is headed to Canisius. The Mustangs won the PIAA 5A title last year, routing Whitehall 10-0 in 5 innings in the quarterfinals. Until last year, they had never won a state playoff game. They have won 10 straight since a 3-2 loss to Hempfield in nine innings on April 25.
Keith Groller’s pick: Gov. Mifflin 6-5
PIAA Class 3A baseball quarterfinal
Who: District 11 champ Notre Dame-Green Pond (17-9) vs. District 3 champ Berks Catholic (19-7)
When/where: 4 p.m. Thursday at Methacton Hihh School, Eagleville, Montgomery County
At stake: A berth in Monday’s semifinals against either District 4 champ Mount Carmel Area (18-4) or District 3 No. 2 Bermudian Springs (20-2).
NOTRE DAME-GREEN POND
Coach: Mike Bedics (19th season 276-160)
How they got here: Beat Pine Grove Area 3-2, beat Allentown CCHS 8-6 and Palmerton 13-3 to win the District 11 tournament. Beat Bristol 8-1 in the PIAA play-in game and Philadelphia Academy Charter 11-4 in the first round of the state tournament.
Key players: Christian Rivituso (Sr. OF-P) .387 BA, 23 runs, 6 2Bs; Clemente Cintron (So. P-OF) .362, 19 runs, 14 RBIs; Austin Casal (Jr. DH/UT) .400,7 XBH, Jason Frederick (So. 3B) .434, 18 RBIs, 7 XBH. Pitching: Michael Martino (Sr. P) 4-1, 3.42 ERA, 26 KS, 28.2 IP; Cintron 2-2, 3.82 ERA, 29 Ks, 33 IP; Casal 2-1, 3.15 ERA.
Of note: Notre Dame was 8-12 last season and was 6-6 entering the Easter break this year. Since then, the Crusaders have gone 11-3 and have won four in a row since a 5-0 loss to Southern Lehigh in the Colonial League quarterfinals. They are 5-2 all-time in the state tournament. They are 1-1 in the quarterfinals with an 8-0 win over Wyoming Seminary in the 2019 quarterfinals en route to the PIAA finals.
BERKS CATHOLIC
Coach: Brandon Shurr
How they got here: Bea Littlestown 15-5, Trinity 2-1, and Bermudian Springs 8-0 to win the District 3 title; beat Hughesville 1-0 in PIAA opener.
Key players: Mikey Fidler (Sr. P) .380, 3-0, 2.08ERA; Dennys Rodriguez (Sr. C-P) .347, 21 RBIs; Aidan Curley (Jr. 3B) .304, 21 RBIs, 3-0, 1.94 ERA; Owen Schalk (Jr. RF) .407, 39 RBIs, 9 XBH; Trey Stricker (Sr. P) .419, 30 runs, 12 RBIs, 6 XBH, 7-2, 0.64 ERA, 88 Ks, 65.2 IP.
Of note: The Saints have won four in a row since an 11-1 loss to Gov. Mifflin on May 14. In the win over Hughesville, Curley had the game’s lone RBI, a run-scoring single in the sixth. Stricker tossed a two-hitter with a walk and six strikeouts. Berks was able to win despite getting just four hits. Berks is 2-2 all-time in the PIAA tournament. Lost to Valley View 7-2 in the 2018 quarterfinals.
Keith Groller’s pick: Berks Catholic 7-5
Source: Berkshire mont