Skip to content
Irwin homered twice in the Polar Bears’ 10-6 win over Shippensburg.
The District 3 softball playoffs begin Monday with four local teams participating in first-round games.
Mechanicsburg, Shippensburg, Northern and Red Land all look to advance to Thursday’s Class 5A quarterfinals with wins Monday.
Meanwhile, East Pennsboro, Big Spring and Trinity all received first-round byes in Class 4A.
Following is a look at Monday’s Matchups.
Class 5A
Sixteen teams qualified, four advance to states
No. 2 Mechanicsburg (19-1) vs. No. 15 Elizabethtown (10-10)
When/where: Monday, 4:30 p.m. at Mechanicsburg
How they got here: The Wildcats roared to a Mid-Penn Keystone title, winning their first 18 games. The Bears returned the postseason after weathering the Lancaster-Lebanon League Section Two gantlet.
People are also reading…
Next up: Monday’s winner faces either No. 10 Shippensburg or No. 7 Exeter in Thursday’s quarterfinals.
Head-to-head: The two teams faced off in an early season nonleague test with Mechanicsburg holding serve at home for a 7-6 victory. Mechanicsburg also won last year’s District 3 first-round game, 4-3, in Elizabethtown.
Notes: The Wildcats’ win at Elizabethtown in last year’s tournament was their first District 3 playoff victory since 1979 … Mechanicsburg’s Jada Lacey pitches a complete game against the Bears in the regular season, striking out nine with zero walks. Sam Rybacki, Mechanicsburg’s other starting pitcher, did her damage at the plate, hitting a three-run, inside-the-park home run. Elizabethtown’s Sophia Finch and Ava Fair both recorded two hits with two RBIs for the Bears … Elizabethtown lost three of its final four regular-season games and hasn’t played since May 8 … Mechanicsburg lost to Greencastle-Antrim in the semifinals of the Mid-Penn tournament Wednesday.
Greencastle-Antrim holds off Mechanicsburg in Mid-Penn softball semifinal
No. 10 Shippensburg (13-8) at No. 7 Exeter (13-7)
When/where: Monday, 4:30 p.m. at Exeter Township Junior High
How they got here: The Greyhounds defeated Annville-Cleona 18-9 Thursday in a regular-season finale. Prior to that, they dropped three straight games that followed a three-game winning streak. The Eagles finished third in Berks Division I, winning six of their final seven games. The only loss during that stretch was a 4-3 setback to Governor Mifflin, the No. 3 seed in Class 6A.
Next up: Monday’s winner faces either Mechanicsburg or Elizabethtown in the quarterfinals Thursday.
Head-to-head/common opponents: The teams did not cross paths during the regular season, nor did they face any common opponents.
Notes: Shippensburg has won at least one district game in the last two seasons. The Greyhounds finished fourth in last year’s tournament … Exeter won last year’s title and finished fourth in 2021 … A pair of senior pitchers lead their respective teams. Shippensburg’s Cierra Bender, a Sacred Heart commit, has 500 strikeouts and 100 hits in her varsity career … Morgan Herb, a Kutztown commit, keyed the Eagles’ run to a district title last year.
No. 12 Red Land (10-10) at No. 5 Northern (16-4)
When/where: Monday, 4:30 p.m. at Northern
How they got here: The Patriots slugged their way to a .500 record through the Mid-Penn Commonwealth Division. The Polar Bears matched Mid-Penn champion Greencastle-Antrim with the top record in the Colonial Division.
Next up: Monday’s winner advances to face the winner of the first-round game between No. 4 Donegal and No. 13 New Oxford in a quarterfinal Thursday.
Head-to-head: Northern powered past the Patriots 14-4 when the teams met in an April 21 nonleague game in Dillsburg.
Notes: Northern has lost its last three district playoff games, including first-round losses in 2021 and 2022. The Polar Bears last advanced past the first round in 2019 when they lost in the quarterfinals and finished fifth overall … Red Land is making its first trip to the district playoffs since 2015 … Batting .468, Annika Barbour led the Patriots with 29 hits. Fifteen of them were for extra bases … Northern has allowed five runs over its last three games … Northern’s Hailey Irwin recorded her 100th career hit May 13.
Tim Gross is the sports editor at The Sentinel and cumberlink.com. Email him at [email protected] and follow him on Twitter at: @ByTimGross
:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/72319740/1478778659.0.jpg "Rating the Lads: Grading the Sunderland AFC squad 2022/2023 (Part III)")
