State softball quarterfinals feature 6 local teams

Six area softball teams will try to advance their bids for a PIAA championship in five quarterfinal games today.

District 1 champion Spring-Ford, District 1 runner-up Central Bucks South, and District 12 champ St. Hubert will be getting the attention in Class AAAA. The Spring-Ford Rams (21-1) will take on District 11 runner-up Parkland at Lyons Field in Fleetwood at 5 p.m., and the St. Hubert Bambies (19-3) are scheduled to play Waynesboro in the 7 p.m. nightcap at Fleetwood.

At 2 p.m., the Central Bucks South Titans (21-3) are set to play Governor Mifflin as part of a doubleheader at Spring-Ford that also involves District 1 champion St. Pius and Brandywine Heights, the District 3 champion, in a Class AA matchup.

The St. Pius Lions (8-12), fresh off a 9-3 win over Kennedy-Kenrick in the opening round on Monday, will play at noon.

Spring-Ford, a 6-0 winner over District 3 third-place finisher Chambersburg on Monday, will be facing a Parkland team that is 21-3. The Trojans lost to Whitehall in the District 11 championship game. Waynesboro beat Whitehall, 4-1, in the opening round of the state playoffs on Monday.

Waynesboro (22-3) is paced by senior pitcher Taryn Ashway, who has recorded more than 1,000 strikeouts in her career. Her team's losses were to Cumberland Valley in the regular season and to Governor Mifflin (18-6), the District 3 champion, and Chambersburg in the postseason.

"From what I've heard, she's pretty good," St. Hubert coach Dave Schafer said of Ashway. "Wayneboro appears to go hot and cold. They're hot right now, and this is the time to be hot."

The Catholic League champion Bambies are competing in the PIAA playoffs for the first time, as the league became a member of the PIAA this school year.

In Class AAA play, Nazareth Academy will travel north for a meeting with District 11 Class AAA champion Bethlehem Catholic at Allentown's Patriot's Park. Game time is 1 p.m. for the Pandas (22-1), the District 1 winners.

The Bethlehem Catholic Golden Hawks (13-7) won the Lehigh Valley Conference East Division crown for the first time in more than 20 years.

Bristol and Old Forge will tangle in the 3 p.m. half of a doubleheader at Allentown. Bristol (21-2) is the District 1 Class A champ.