HS Softball: Tri-Valley, Williams Valley to battle in Division II
Williams Valley senior Sage Smeltz is one of nine returning starters for the softball team. (Staff Photo)
Tri-Valley and Williams Valley. Williams Valley and Tri-Valley.
No matter the order, the Bulldogs and Vikings have established themselves as the teams to beat not only in Division II of the Schuylkill League, but also in District 11 and at the state level.
Expect more of the same from the two valley teams in 2025.
They’re experienced. They have pitching. And they know what it takes to make a run when the games matter most.
Before we get there, however, there are plenty of questions to be answered and plenty of games to reveal those answers.
Today, Division II will be the focus. The Division I preview was published Thursday, March 13.
New look
The departure of Jim Thorpe and Lehighton to the Colonial League continues to have ripple effects around the Schuylkill League. Three divisions have been realigned into two. Minersville, Nativity, Schuylkill Haven, Tri-Valley and Williams Valley remain in Division II. Marian, Shenandoah Valley and Weatherly move up from Division III to form an eight-team division.
Each team will play the others twice (home and away) for a 14-game schedule.
The top three teams in each division will qualify for the Schuylkill League playoffs. The division champions will receive byes in the quarterfinals. The tentative schedule: Quarterfinals on May 10, semifinals on May 12 and championship on May 14 — all at Blue Mountain.
New coaches
There’s been significant turnover in the head coaching ranks, as six of the 16 Schuylkill League teams have new head coaches.
In Division II, those new mentors are Lyndsey Reinoehl at Marian, Kate Rittenbaugh at Minersville and Steve Kleeman at Nativity.
The new mentors in Division I are Paul Leonard at Blue Mountain, Mick Connolly at Mahanoy Area and Jack Flynn at North Schuylkill.
That’s unusual to have so many changes. For example, in 2024, no new head coaches joined the ranks.
Around the division
Supplanting Minersville for division dominance, Williams Valley and Tri-Valley have been the standard at the top of the standings. Since the Miners won their last division crown in 2017, Tri-Valley has three division crowns; Williams Valley has two; and the teams tied at 12-1 last season.
Heading into the season, the Dawgs and Vikings are the teams to beat.
Tri-Valley (20-5 a year ago) reached the Schuylkill League final, won District 11 Class A and advanced to the state quarterfinals before falling 6-5 to Old Forge.
The Dawgs return eight players with starting experience, led by senior pitcher Kora Rodichok (14-4, 1.86 ERA, 124 IP,186 K in her first year as the staff ace). Lydia Rodichok, a sophomore, catches for her sister.
Center fielder Grace Header (.476, 5 HR, 41 RBIs) is the only senior starter lost to graduation, but she will be hard to replace. The seniors — SS Cassi Snyder (.532, 39 runs), LF Mia Artz (.414), 2B Mady Schwalm (.368, 3 HR, 24 RBIs) and 1B Ellie Dunkelberger (.385) — will look to pick up the slack.
Two others started as freshmen: DP-OF Summer Cupsta-Klinger (.414, 3 HR, 29 RBIs) and 3B Olivia Witmer. Junior Ava Snyder (1B-OF) and sophomores sophomore Emma Stehr (2B) and Savanah Stiely (C-OF) played last year, too.
“Our mindset is to compete for the division title and district title and make a little noise in the state playoffs,” Tri-Valley coach Marty Shade said. “The Old Forge game left a little sour taste in our mouth. Our goal is to get better as season goes along. It we lose, we’ll learn from it, but we want to play our best ball at the end of the season when it counts.”
Over in the next valley, the Vikings are primed for another big season, too. They return nine starters and 12 letterwinners from a 19-6 team that beat Northern Lehigh 8-3 in the District 11 Class AA final and routed Elk Lake 10-4 in the first round of states before bowing out 13-2 to Bald Eagle Area in the quarterfinals.
A lot of players are still playing basketball (in the state quarterfinals as of this writing), so it might take some time to get their timing down once they get on the diamond together.
There’s too much talent for that to last long, though. Five senior starters lead the way, starting with pitcher Sage Smeltz (.427, 3 HR, 33 RBIs; 11-6, 3.37 ERA, 114.1 IP, 116 K). Joining her are 1B-3B Audrina Fry (.375, 5 HR, 24 RBIs), 2B-OF Kayla Hand (.353), OF Miley Mahoney (.333) and 2B Ally Underkoffler.
Three juniors are returning starters, too: C Quin Smeltz (.470, 29 RBIs), OF Delaney Bixler and SS Ella Kobularik (.351, 31 runs). Sophomore P-2B-3B Olivia Hand (.375; 4-0, 1.98 ERA, 17.2 IP, 19 K) rounds out the returning starters.
Junior 1B Megan Perhach and two sophomores in OF Kaylee Heisey and P-1B-3B Kamri Koppenhaver (2-0, 1.40 ERA, 15 IP, 27 K) provide depth.
“We should have a very good season,” Williams Valley coach Ryan Underkoffler said. “We’re bringing back 9-of-10 starters from last season’s district championship team, with the majority of those players having two or three years of varsity starting experience. Eight of the 15 girls on this season’s roster are on the basketball team, so our early season success could depend on how soon we get them back on the softball field and how quickly they can knock any rust off they might have.
“By the end of the season I fully expect that we’re competing in the league playoffs and for the district championship,” Underkoffler added, “and if things go right, we’ll be making a run in the state playoffs.”
Looking to earn one of the three Schuylkill League playoff spots, and perhaps break into the top two, is Schuylkill Haven. The Hurricanes have steadily built their program in recent seasons and will field a club with seven returning starters and three other returning players. The lengthy and extended swimming and basketball seasons have kept some players from full participation in the early preseason.
Schuylkill Haven has a strong senior class that includes catcher Nikki Domermuth (.321, 1.000 fielding average), outfielder Emmie Scherer (.311), infielder Teagan Wehr (.412, 20 RBIs), outfielder Skylar Bayliff and outfielder Sarah Tiver.
Junior Kate Russo (.347) is a returning starter as are three sophomores: outfielder Ally Becker (.446), pitcher/outfielder Grace Line (6-2, 3.62 ERA, 77.1 IP, 96 K) and pitcher/outfielder Alli Scherer (.356; 6-0, 3.48 ERA, 48.1 IP, 73 K). Sophomore utility player Joie Schoffstall returns as well.
Minersville returns seven letterwinners, led by three seniors: infielder Payton Frantz, catcher Olivia Kopinetz and infielder Ava Long. Frantz hit .417 a year ago, and Kopinetz batted .342.
Also back for the Miners are junior infielder Grace Sterner (.302), sophomore infielder Bella Rizzardi (.372) and sophomore pitchers Cali Laudeman and Eila O’Brien. Both pitchers saw limited varsity action last season and will be called upon to carry more of the load this season.
Marian lost ace pitcher Morgan Kelly to graduation and Misericordia University. Kelly batted .482 last season with six home runs and 29 RBIs. In the circle, she went 12-6 with a 1.00 ERA and 176 strikeouts in 97.2 innings.
The Fillies, though, have nine returning letterwinners, including senior pitcher/first baseman Danica Karlick (.339) and senior outfielder Zoe Katona, junior catcher/shortstop Malina Letcher (.314) and sophomore second baseman DeAnna Pugh (.508), sophomore pitcher/center fielder Emily Upanavage (.392) and sophomore outfielder Gracie Sendatch (.342). The other letterwinners are senior outfielder Katie Barron, junior outfielder Maggie Turano and sophomore outfielder Kayla Birrer.
At Shenandoah Valley, the rebuilding process continues with six returning starters. They are seniors Katrina McNulty (INF), Kaye Sheehan (INF) and Morgan Labosky (P-INF); junior Luz Rodriguez (INF) and sophomores Aubrie Monaghan (P-INF) and Maria Castro (C-INF).
Weatherly welcomes seven starters back on a roster with six seniors. Those senior starters include Rachel Rosenlund (INF), Kiley Holman (OF), Ava Sahaida (INF) and Abby Teodorescu (INF). The other starters back are juniors Abby Weston (INF), Abby Binder (P) and Aisha Zuberi (OF). The Wreckers have Binder and junior Kameron Strohl listed as pitchers on their 15-player roster.
