Inside Lehigh Valley Softball: Week 1

The first full week of play is in the books, albeit a very cold and rainy one. Plenty of games got squeezed in, though, so let’s get started on softball season!

Saturday, 3/14:

Pen Argyl kicked off its year with a 20-7 victory at East Stroudsburg South. Sophomore Angelina Beltran knocked in five runs on three hits, including a 2RBI hit late in the game. Reagan Nittle went 2/4 with two runs scored and 4RBI. Abby Scherer hit a solo home run, as well. Six hits and two errors in the fifth inning allowed the Green Knights to pound out seven runs and separate from what had been a 8-5 contest. Taylor Carey led the Cavaliers, going 2/4 with 2RBI. Aubrey Dehart was the winning pitcher, throwing four innings of four hit ball. Only three of South’s runs were earned.
Peyton Eckert struck out seven and walked none over five innings, as Pottsville pounded Daniel Boone 12-1. Reese Ketner went 3-for-4, scoring three runs and driving in four. The Crimson Tide amassed 15 hits and scored six in the sixth to break the game open.
Reading overcame 23 walks to defeat William Penn 20-16 in a wild season opener. Wild pitches and passed ball put four of the first six runs on the board for the Knights. Four walks and a passed ball in the fourth tied the game up at 10-10. For Reading, Yolanda Velez faced all 51 William Penn batters, throwing 231 pitches and only giving up five hits, fanning 13. Jazmine Johnson also threw the entire game for William Penn, tossing 162 pitches.

Tuesday, 3/17:

Fleetwood took a 9-0 lead after three innings in their season opening 12-2 victory over Wyomissing. Sophia Breidegam allowed three hits and six walks, but struck out six in the win. She helped her own cause with two hits and 2RBI. Lainee Guldner was three for four and knocked in four runs. Katelyn Yapsuga amassed 3RBI. Blair Rauenzahn knocked in three runs that made it 8-0 at the time. Two bases loaded walks gave Wyomissing their only two runs in the fourth with Fleetwood already up 9-0.
Antietam doubled up Reading 20-10 behind only four hits combined with 24 walks. Yolanda Velez threw another 169 pitches for the Knights and walked 22 in the loss. Reading did enjoy a 10-7 lead entering the fourth inning, where Antietam exploded for 13 runs. Six walks and four passed balls led to ten of those runs, as the game ended on a passed ball thrown to Kaitlyn Zeiber. Gizelle Garcia and Gerielys Torres both scored four times for the Mounties.

Wednesday, 3/18:

After allowing three 2-out runs to Jim Thorpe in their first turn at bat, Notre Dame Green Pond exploded for seven in the first and ended up routing the Olympians 15-5. Six of those first inning runs came with two outs, as Emily Szczepanski delivered a 2RBI hit and Kelsey Bedics added an RBI single. Nat Lilly, daughter of head coach Grant, was a perfect 4-4, scoring three times and knocking in a run. Szczepanski finished 3-3 and batted in three.
Berks Catholic took a 13-3 loss at Lampeter-Strasburg to open their campaign. Brinley Harter was knocked around for 15 hits and 14 earned runs. Mady Kieffer and Eva Gallo had an RBI hit each for the Saints. Berks did take an early 2-0 lead, but stranded six on the day.
Fleetwood moved to 2-0 on the early year with an 8-7 victory over Pottsville. The Tide led 6-0 in the fifth inning before the Tigers began to roar. An error allowed Sophia Breidegam to reach second base to start the bottom of the fifth, followed by a single for Biehl. Another error kept the inning going, allowing Lainee Guldner and Katelyn Yapsuga to deliver RBI hits and cut the deficit to 6-4. Consecutive two-out errors in the sixth let the Tigers tack on one more with an RBI single from Blair Rauenzahn. The game entered extra innings tied up at 7-7. Breidegam got two huge strikeouts to end the top of the eighth. Off of a Bear bunt try, Rauenzahn slipped in at home plate to end the game and give Fleetwood the victory. Breidegam was hit ten times but struck out eight, as well. Seven Tigers recorded an RBI.
Reading got back in the win column and moved to 2-1, defeating Harrisburg 19-1 in convincing fashion. Eleana Woods took the circle for the Knights and struck out six. Kellyn Paulino started the day with a ball hit to the deepest part of center field that allowed her and two more to score. Two passed balls and an error later, and Reading led 7-0 after one. Yolanda Velez batted in two more runs.

Thursday, 3/19:

Oley Valley opened their year with a 10-5 victory at York Suburban. A nine-run top of the third blew the game wide open. Matalyne Young doubled in two and Makenzie Azzarito’s single up the middle brought home another. Ava Walters batted in two more on a hit into center and Brianna Garcia plated one more.
Palmerton lived up to their name, as the Blue Bombers exploded for a 19-0 rout of Lehighton. Hailey Barry moved from the basketball court to the shortstop position flawlessly, going 4 of 4, scoring three times, and batting in two. Palmerton pounded out 22 hits, with Tessa Sander Jaylin Strohl and Mackenzie Ferber each accounting for three. In four innings of work, Hailey George struck out nine and gave up only two hits.
In a Schuylkill League opener, Pine Grove got by Minersville 3-2. Mistakes by both sides led to runs scored. Callee Leffler scored on a wild pitch for the first run of the game before Jamie Dinger’s groundout to third allowed Hannah Aungst to score and make it a 2-0 Cardinals lead out of the gate. A drop in left field allowed two to come in to tie the game in the fifth. Aungst scored the game-winning run in the fifth off of a Tailyn Bohr RBI groundout. Dinger struck out two with two on in the top of the seventh to lock down the win.
Brigid Flynn’s sixth inning 3-run home run to deep left allowed North Schuylkill to slip by Kutztown 7-3. Flynn then struck out two in the seventh to knock back any hopes of a Cougars comeback. She fanned six on the day. Gianna Capone had a 2-for-3 day and scored a run along the way. Jade Fitzgerald finished the day with an RBI, as did Ava Kutz.
Marian Catholic took Executive Education to task 17-2 in both teams’ opener. Malina Letcher was a perfect 3 of 3 with 4RBI and three runs scored. The Fillies pounded out 14 hits, while Kayla Birrer limited the Raptors to two. Ten of twelve Marian players touched home plate and eight batted in at least one.
Gianna Koch’s five-hit five strikeout performance led Easton in their 7-1 win over Central Catholic. Gianna Menecola gave the Vikettes a 1-0 on her RBI double in the third. Easton stranded five through the first four innings and had two outs in the fifth when Thalia Burns singled into center and Sylvia Stocker scored on a miscue in the outfield. It all came together for the Rovers in the sixth when Emily Materna singled in Kailyn Castellano and Koch bunted in Daelyn Williams. Burns tacked on a 2RBI single up the middle.
Blue Mountain blanked Governor Mifflin 14-0 behind a combined six-K shutout pitched by Emily Leonard and Ava Sweigert. The Eagles pounded out sixteen hits and walked eight times and scored eight times in the third inning. Aveyr Hudock scored the final run on a solo shot in the fourth. Anna Borden and Addyson Fishburn each finished with 3RBI.
Julia MacPhee held East Stroudsburg North to two hits in Pocono Mountain West’s 15-0 blowout of the Timberwolves. Chloe Straub and Cora Gillette combined for three 2-RBI hits to help the Panthers pile up the runs. Angelique Hojnacki and Alyssa Adrover had the lone hits for North.
In an early season EPC showdown, Emmaus went on the road and captured a 9-1 victory over Nazareth. Mari Eiswerth fanned ten and allowed only two runners to reach base in the final four innings. Briana Gitski doubled home Taylor Hauver in the top of the first to give the Hornets a quick lead Eiswerth batted in Gitski on a groundout. Gitski singled in Hauver again in the third, followed up by a solo homer from Abby Derr. Gianna Perillo scored the lone run for the Blue Eagles on a wild pitch. Eiswerth notched a 2-run home run over the fence in center that put Emmaus ahead 6-1. The Hornets hit ten off of Kylie Grover, who had eight runs charged against her.
Whitehall shutout Liberty 9-0 to open the 2026 season. Jillian Pagan blew open a 4-0 game with a 3-run shot to center that scored Molly McFetridge and Amya Espinal. McFetridge doubled in two more in the sixth to cap the scoring. Morgan Laub held the Hurricanes to three hits and struck out ten.
The Konkrete Kids had no trouble dispatching Dieruff, 16-0. Over two innings, Northampton saw 102 pitches. Mea Allison’s 2RBI single in the first and Kiley Henritzy’s 2RBI double were the biggest hits of the day. Avery Deibert’s 3RBI led the Kids. Rylee Gable and Sierra Kutzler combined on a one-hitter with six strikeouts.
Pleasant Valley outlasted Pocono Mountain East 11-6. Early 2RBI hits by Rylan Knapp and Lila Borger helped the Bears to an early 6-1 lead. Bella Altemose hit a solo home run in the sixth to move her team ahead 8-4. Knapp finished with 4RBI and Emma George added two. A pair of fifth inning errors and a Victoria Lee sac fly RBI kept the Cardinals in it, but they only managed six hits on the afternoon.
Tamaqua came back to defeat Schuylkill Haven 8-7. On a pair of bases loaded walks in the fifth, the Hurricanes went up 5-1 and seemed to have everything in control. Naomi Knitter’s sixth inning RBI single also brought in two more with an error in right field. Allie Scherer’s RBI single and an error in the sixth moved Haven back ahead 7-4. However, Paige Bumbulsky hit a three-run shot in the seventh to tie things up at 7-7. With two outs in the same frame, Knitter hit one that was misplayed in the infield, allowing Sophia Sitlinger to score. Knitter got the Canes in order in the bottom of the inning to lockdown the win. Peyton Faust and Knitter combined to fan 11 Hurricane batters, helping overcome three Raiders errors.
Upper Perkiomen’s Jocelyn Sledgen threw a 79-pitch complete game no-hitter against Daniel Boone. Upper Perk won the game 10-0. Emma Davidheiser was a perfect 4-of-4 with 2RBI.
Early power lifted Exeter to a 10-5 victory at Manheim Township. Alena Dinnini hit a first inning 2RBI double, followed up by a 3-run home run by Jadee Ruiz-Ravelo for the quick 5-0 lead. Avery Gibbons tacked on an RBI in the third to put the Eagles ahead 6-1 and later knocked a solo home run for the tenth and final Exeter score.
Hamburg scored early and often in a 12-0 blowout of Octorara. Early RBI singles by Molly Krick and Brianna Mengel got the Hawks flying, along with 2RBI hits by Kaida Chwatek and Ali Wertz. Ava Epting fanned eight in her four innings of work in the circle. Krick and Mengel ended up scoring three times each.
Fifth inning RBI hits by Ella Herbst and Maggie Stoltzfus kept Twin Valley alive in their match at Northern Lebanon, but the home team pulled away for the 10-4 win. Stoltzfus struck out seven, but was hit seven times and walked five. Twin Valley batters were struck out 12 times despite producing eight hits.
Brooklyn Pronovich did dad and first year head coach Jeff Pronovich proud, walking it off for the Patriots 5-4 over Parkland. Neither side threatened until Freedom got leadoff hits in the bottom of the fourth by Namelia Duro and Payton Besecker. Brooke Rummel and Pronovich then made it four hits in a row, driving in two runs. Despite a double play in the inning, Maddie Bixler tacked on an RBI double to center that chased home Pronovich and put Freedom up 3-0. Parkland countered with a two-out rally in the fifth. Addi Fritzinger capped off four consecutive hits with a game-tying RBI single. Landry Guman promptly responded in the bottom of the fifth, lacing a triple to right and scoring off an error. Fritzinger tied the game again in the seventh with two outs on a single up the middle. After consecutive walks to Duro and Rummel in the bottom of the frame, Pronovich’s flyball to center fell and gave Freedom the narrow win.
Brandywine Heights made quick work of Wyomissing 8-2 to stamp their second win of the young season. Kaitlyn Steventon shutdown the Wyomissing lineup on 81 pitches over a complete game, allowing three hits and striking out five. Jenna Crist went 3-4 with 3RBI. Taylor Watts and Cris Way had both RBI for Wyomissing.

Friday, 3/20:

Stroudsburg scored nine in the fourth inning to break away from East Stroudsburg South 14-3. Prior to the big inning, it had been a narrow 3-2 lead for the Mountaineers. Six walks and a wild pitch aided Stroudsburg’s explosive inning, along with a 3-run bomb by Kat Lavra. Maddie Vargas went 3 for 5 and knocked in three runs. Lavra finished her day with 4RBI. Vargas and Jordan Cook combined to give up six hits and strike out seven Cavaliers.
Saucon Valley rallied late to get by Bangor 8-7. Through five innings, this one was tied at 2-2. Matty Seyfried struck out two Slaters in the second with two in scoring position. A pair of errors an inning later let the Bangor getting on the board first, as Maddie Impeciati came around to score. A two-run shot by Neveah Quinones in the fifth put Saucon Valley on top. Pitching began to falter in the sixth, as Rowan Best singled home her sister Rylan and Savannah Schlegel. A two-run hit by Emma Christie with two outs in the bottom of the inning scored Kaylynn Firgurski and Kelli Snow. An error then allowed Bangor to tie it up at 5-5. Maddie Giera and Emma Chaney’s RBI hits moved Bangor ahead 7-5 after six. An error in the infield plated two for Saucon in the seventh with two outs, followed by a Bianca Jauregui RBI hit into right that had the Panthers back on top. Bangor was poised to knot the game or get the walk off victory, as they got two on with one out, but Figurski was thrown out at home and a flyball into center was gloved by Gall to bring the game to an end.
Emmaus broke through first against Blue Mountain, but ultimately facing two top teams in the area in two days was too much for the Hornets, as they fell 5-2. Blue Mountain got two on in each of the first two innings, but big strikeouts by Mari Eiswerth held the Eagles at bay. A pair of fourth inning errors allowed Blue Mountain to break through and tie the game at 1-1. Hailey Place put her team ahead for good with an RBI single in the fifth, scoring Avery Hudock. Two batters later, Aryana Reilly extended the lead to 3-1 with a ball hit to second base. Emerson Frie and Hudock tacked on in the sixth. The Hornets did get two innings from Kandis Barthol, younger sister of Danika Barthol, now at Eastern University.
Southern Lehigh did not allow a run for a second game in a row, blowing by Catasauqua 15-0. Delaney Young and Clara Detwiler combined on the four inning no-hitter, striking out ten. It was a hitting parade, on the other hand, for the Spartans: Isabella Germani collected three, Lily Kelly had three, and Isabelle Witt added two. Kelly and Witt led the way with 3RBI apiece.
Easton took down non-conference foe Council Rock South 9-2. Gabby Orsato provided a 2RBI single in the second after a bases loaded walk put the Rovers ahead in the first. Daelyn Williams added two more RBI and Gianna Koch doubled in the seventh that allowed two more to come in. Koch pitched a complete game on 88 throws, fanning six and walking one while giving up six hits.
Jim Thorpe had an offensive breakout in their second game, blasting Wilson Area 15-4. A four run first and seven run fourth put the Olympians ahead 11-0. An infield error allowed the first two runs on a ball hit by Isabella Sully. Kylie Sullivan and Jocelyn Montefour provided two out RBI singles to cap the first frame. Two walks and a Kelsie Huff single from the bottom of the order kicked off the fourth. Maddi Schwartz drove in two before a passed ball chased home the seventh run of the game. A hit by pitch, walk and error led to the last three. Schwartz threw a five hit game with nine strike outs.
Notre Dame Green Pond kept the offense in gear in their second game, routing Lehighton 16-1. Riley Palank’s sac fly started the scoring in the first, followed by an RBI double by Apgar. Emily Szczepanski doubled with two outs in the second to chase home two more runs, making the score 4-0. Madelina Moyer fanned two in the third when it seemed Lehighton may have a rally. After Palank reached on an error to start the bottom of the third, Rachel Fisher put one out of the park to left, moving the lead to 6-1. Nat Lilly ended the scoring for the day with a 2-run shot to deep left. Fisher, Szczepanski and Lilly all notched 3RBI efforts. Moyer struck out eight in the circle and had a 2RBI performance.
Salisbury held Dieruff hitless in a three-inning mercy rule shortened 17-0 ballgame. Tessa Kemmerer struck out eight consecutive Huskies batters as the Falcons proceeded to score five in the first and 12 in the second. Julia Carney, Leilanna Negron and Kemmerer all accounted for 3RBI each.
Palisades has lost Karlye Teman to graduation, but the Pirates were back in full form in their opener, defeating Pen Argyl 13-1. Eight runs in the first inning put this one away quickly. A bases loaded walk to Nadia WIlt started the scoring, followed by a Jordyn Bonelli RBI double. With two outs, Julianna Hershey put one back up the middle for two more runs and Catie Russo slammed the door with a 3-run homer. Wilt popped one out of the park for three more runs in the fourth. Kendra Leidtke took the circle, giving up four hits and three walks while striking out five.
Julia MacPhee and Kaylee Masotti combined to shutout William Allen in a 19-0 Pocono Mountain West victory. Riley Evans and Masotti came away with 3RBI days, while Lilliana Rodriguez and Emma Covino contributed two each. The Panthers got ten hits and walked 13 times. Chloe Straub walked four times.
Pottstown racked up 17 hits and eight walks in their 21-0 rout of Antietam. Pottstown’s Lexi Oswald went 2-for-2 with 5RBI and two runs scored. Angelina Quiles scored three times and batted in four. Antietam’s lone two hits came from Brianna Wolf and Jaslene Rodriguez.
Berks Catholic sputtered again on the road at Northern York, falling 16-1. Nineteen hits came off of Brinley Harter and all 16 runs were earned. Thirteen runs in the fourth blew the game wide open. Trinity Artman, Jay Welch and Izzy Hobby all homered in that fourth, accounting for seven runs. Ally Coley scored the lone run for the Saints, temporarily giving Berks a 1-0 lead in the second inning.
As Berks County found itself on the wrong end of several Friday blowouts, Brandywine Heights provided an exception, clobbering Columbia 17-0. Kaitlyn Steventon pitched a perfect game, striking out all nine batters she faced. Coupled with eight Columia errors, the Bullets shot off ten runs in the second inning. Lizzie Tomaine tripled and then scored on an error at short; she accounted for 5RBI on the day. Jenna Crist was 2 for 2, scoring three times and driving in three.
Conrad Weiser fell to ELCO 17-6, squandering a 5-0 fourth inning lead. The Scouts walked three times to load the bases in the first before Aleena Martino hit an infield RBI single. Payton Kramlich laced one into left to bring home two more. Maddie Derfler’s RBI triple in the second made it 5-0. But seven runs in the fourth and eight in the fifth blew the game wide open in the other direction. ELCO’s Kylie Cruz ended up with 4RBI and three other players had mult-RBI days. An error in the fourth allowed four runs to come across, followed by an ELCO home run from Chloe Shirk.
Solanco held Exeter to three hits in an 11-0 defeat. Despite the score only being 4-0 through five innings, the Eagles never really threatened, stranding five runners on the evening. Delaney Gote led Solanco with 3RBI on a three hit day, scoring twice. Kira Roark struck out nine Eagles. Lianna Dinnini, Haley Schwenk and Jillian Warner had the only three hits for Exeter.
Pequea Valley dispatched Oley Valley in six innings 11-1. Izzy Graham from the leadoff spot for Pequea amassed four RBI and Grace Melson batted in three more. Graham’s output included a solo home run. Kadyn Rhoads had three hits on the day for the Lynx, knocking in the only run.
In four innings, Reading defeated Lebanon 17-1. Four walks and two hit by pitches led to the Knights plating 13 runs in the top of the fourth. Eleana Woods had the big hit of the day–a 3RBI triple in the fourth. Angelisse Chavez-Gonzalez was also credited with a 4RBI day. In the circle, Woods struck out six and walked eight in a no-hitter.
A three-run sixth inning lifted Kutztown past Northampton 3-2. The Cougars had no baserunners through four innings, striking out four times to Gable and not getting anything out of the infield on eight groundouts. On the other hand, the Konkrete Kids stranded five runners through four before finally breaking through on a two-out Hannah Duerr RBI double. In the bottom of the sixth, trailing 2-0, Kutztown got consecutive RBI hits with two outs from Flip Oldt, Jayden Gehris and Savannah Follweiler to go up 3-2. The Kids had a chance in the seventh, as Duerr doubles and Avery Deibert was intentionally walked with two outs. But Kutztown got the final out and the victory on a fielders choice.

Saturday, 3/21:

Notre Dame Green Pond ran its record to 3-0, shutting out Bangor 4-0. Emily Szczepanski scattered five hits in the complete game shutout, making a throw to first in the fourth inning when Bangor had two on with two outs. Rachel Fisher’s 3-run shot over the fence in left in the fifth provided more than enough separation from the Slaters, as she drove in Riley Palank and Szczepanski.
Southern Lehigh shutout Central Catholic 5-0. On three occasions, the Vikettes got two runners on with one or two outs, but in two of those situations, Clara Detwiler got big strikeouts to get the Spartans out of trouble. Rylan Messinger had a two hit day with 2RBI. Delaney Young knocked in another and threw four innings of three hit ball with three strikeouts.
Two runs in the first were all Palmerton would need in their 3-0 victory at Northern Lehigh. Kyla Trumbore doubled on the ground to right to knock in Hailey Barry and Sander. The only other run came on a Graver sac fly in the sixth. Northern Lehigh managed only three hits. Emily Gad had two of those for the Bulldogs. Hailey George fanned ten and walked six. In the first, second and fifth innings, Northern Lehigh got two runners on, but could not push across a run.
East Stroudsburg South fell behind to North Pocono 9-0, eventually losing 9-3. Three consecutive singles in the second led to three straight runs and a 6-0 Cavaliers deficit. Mayla Mathew and Emily Ehrhardt notched an RBI each for ES South.
Palisades continued their early success, rolling over WIlson Area 15-0. Kendra Leidtke was impressive again, holding the Warriors to two baserunners–one hit and one walk. Leidtke’s 2RBI single in the first following Fleck scoring on a wild pitch made it 8-0 after the first turn at bat. Catie Russo also added a 2RBI single and accounted for three on the day. The Pirates racked up twelve hits, eight walks and did not strikeout all game.
Whitehall made it two shutouts in a row, trekking up to Hazleton for a 10-0 victory. Seventeen Zephyrs got involved on the game, combining for 15 hits. Morgan Laub had a three hit effort with an RBI, part of a group of six players who each had one RBI. Laub pitched a complete game three-hitter, fanning nine Cougars.