JEFFREY REINHART jreinhart@LNPnews.com
NOTE NEW STARTING TIME FOR THIS GAME: 1 p.m. at Lyons Field in Fleetwood.
I put together a preview box for Donegal’s game against Palisades in the PIAA Triple-A quarterfinals on Thursday. Enjoy …
PIAA TRIPLE-A SOFTBALL TOURNAMENT
THE GAME: District 3 runner-up Donegal (22-4) vs. District 11 champ Palisades (14-9), in a state quarterfinal matchup.
FIRST PITCH: Friday, 1 p.m.
WHERE: Lyons Field in Fleetwood.
WINNER GETS: District 3 champ Greencastle-Antrim or District 4 champ Milton in a state semifinal game next Monday. The Triple-A title game is set for June 13 at noon at Shippensburg University’s Robb Field.
ABOUT DONEGAL: After falling to Greencastle-Antrim 9-0 in the District 3 title game — the Indians’ third trip to the district finale in a row — Donegal rallied nicely with a 3-2 win over District 1 champ St. Basil Academy in its state opener. … DH Katie Robinson stole two bases and scored two runs, LF Laura Gebhart knocked in a pair of runs, and ace righty Abby Hoover, a 20-game winner, scattered five hits and earned the victory. … Donegal, which topped Punxsutawney 3-0 to win the state Triple-A title in 2006, fell to Springfield (Delco) 2-1 in the first round of the PIAA playoffs a year ago. Springfield fell to Susquehannock in the state finale. … Donegal went 16-0 in league play and won the Section 3 title this spring before falling to Solanco 1-0 in the league semifinals. … Top hitters are CF Nicky Hess (.452), who bats third, and SS Morgan Kibler (.441), who bats leadoff. Both are juniors, and started on the state-title team. … Tom Hartman is in his fourth season as head coach.
ABOUT PALISADES: The Pirates are on a Cinderella ride of sorts, winners of six games in a row after not making the Colonial League playoffs. … Freshman P Krista Morrone, a righty, has been lights out in her last two starts — In the Pirates’ 3-1 win over Bethlehem Catholic in the District 11 title game, she allowed just two hits and struck out seven. It was Palisades’ first district championship. … And in the Pirates’ 10-0 rout over District 12 champ Philadelphia Creative and Performance Arts in their state-opener, Morrone fired a perfect game, fanning 14 and retiring all 18 hitters she faced. She’s struck out 181 and walked just one batter in 138 innings, and is pitching to a 0.84 ERA. Morrone is also hitting .338 with a team-best 21 RBIs. … 2B Brittany Hendricks is hitting .382 with 16 steals from the leadoff spot. … Third-year coach Al Trump starts three freshmen and a pair of sophomores.
