UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — There aren’t many guarantees in life, but one thing is certain.
You will never see another WPIAL softball dynasty quite like these Neshannock Lancers.
Already in a league of its own when it comes to the sport’s most prolific stretches of dominance, Neshannock (26-0) capped its unprecedented four-year run Thursday afternoon with an 8-3 triumph against District 4 champion South Williamsport (18-6) in the PIAA Class 2A softball championship at Penn State’s Beard Field. The historic victory marks the Lancers’ second consecutive state title and third in the past four years while extending their WPIAL-record winning streak to 52 consecutive games.
“You can tell they’re scrappy. They play with heart,” Neshannock coach Jackie Lash said about South Williamsport. “I think they have a great coaching staff. You can just see it. … I totally expected a really good competition like this.”
Dating to the start of the 2022 season, the mighty, mighty Lancers have compiled an overall record of 100-1 — including the two longest winning streaks in WPIAL history — with four consecutive WPIAL titles and three undefeated seasons in that span. Neshannock’s only loss in the past four seasons came in the 2023 state semifinals against eventual PIAA champion Everett.
Only five other WPIAL teams have won a state title with an unbeaten record since the PIAA championships began in 1975, and no other school has done it more than once.
“We have a wonderful program, but when you have players like [ours] who are so committed to their coaches and their teammates — they’re giving it everything they’ve got all the time,” Lash said. “You just know you have kids who completely buy in, and they’re bringing the others along with them. It’s a great feeling.”
Two-way star Addy Frye put the ultimate stamp on her spectacular career for the Lancers, allowing one earned run on seven hits while striking out 13 and walking none. Frye also blasted a majestic solo home run to help her cause — her second year in a row with a homer in the state title game.
A Providence recruit and the 2024 Pennsylvania Pitcher of the Year, “The Great 8” will graduate with 30 career home runs, 166 RBIs and an overall record of 81-1.
“This game was really important to me,” Frye said. “[I was] just really doing everything I can to get us out of the innings, get us out of the heat, to go back into the dugout and hit again.”
Frye’s longtime partner in crime, senior catcher Gabby Quinn, added one more signature performance to a career filled with them. Although this was her first game without a home run in three PIAA championship appearances, “Big Game Gabby” still finished 2 for 4 with 4 RBIs — including a two-out, bases-clearing double to help put the game out of reach.
A Kent State recruit, Quinn finished her decorated high school career with 29 homers, including a team-high 11 this season.
“It makes me speechless,” Quinn said about reflecting on her four-year journey. “I haven’t even given it that much thought yet, because we try to push out the numbers and everything. … Coming in freshman year, you would have never thought we were going to make history like this.”
As for the Lancers’ player of the game, look no further than unsung freshman second baseman Brenna Frengel. Neshanock’s No. 9 hitter finished 2 for 2 with a pair of runs scored and a game-tying RBI single to spark the Lancers’ five-run fifth-inning rally. She also made a tremendous basket catch in shallow right field before hauling in the final out of the game on a championship-clinching popout.
“It’s just such a surreal moment,” Frengel said. “I knew it was going to be such a big game. We just had to go all out, and I think I really did that. … Our coaches just always preach, ‘one through nine.’ They wanted everybody hitting. I think we just truly put a lot of work in.”
The game played out in stark contrast to the previous meeting between the teams in the 2024 state final, in which the Lancers rolled to a 12-2 win by mercy rule. This time around, the scrappy South Williamsport squad held onto a slim lead for most of the contest until Neshannock put together a five-run outburst in the fifth to regain control.
From that point on, it was simply a matter of time before Frye put the finishing touches on the victory and her one-of-a-kind career.
“This team means so much to me. They’re just like sisters,” Frye said. “It’s great to come out on top.”
Stepping up to the plate with two outs and nobody on in the bottom of the first, Frye waited for her pitch before calmly crushing a hanging changeup for a solo homer to straightaway center. She then worked her way out of trouble after allowing back-to-back baserunners to open the bottom of the first, punching out three batters in a row to escape the jam.
After avoiding any damage in the first, though, Frye was unable to do the same in the second. First, Sage Lorson led off the inning with a double off the right-field wall, then Abigail Lorson followed with a bunt single, as both runners came all the way home to score on two throwing errors.
All of a sudden, Neshannock found itself in extremely unfamiliar territory — playing from behind. The Lancers threatened to tie it up in the third after Gianna DeSalvo’s leadoff single, but DeSalvo got thrown out at the plate after making a mental mistake on the basepaths to end the inning.
“It shows what they’re made of,” Lash said about her team’s ability to overcome adversity. “They aren’t just good ballplayers. These kids can dig themselves out of a hole. … You’ve got to dig deeper and play better.”
After Frye silenced South Williamsport’s bats over the next two innings, Neshannock still found itself trailing by one entering the fifth. With only nine outs left to work with and their historic streak hanging in the balance, the Lancers surged for five runs in the top of the fifth to take a commanding 6-2 lead.
First, Frengel tied the score with a run-scoring single, then junior outfielder Jaidon Nogay brought home the go-ahead run with a sacrifice fly. After an intentional walk to Frye, Quinn made South Williamsport pay by roping a three-run double down the left-field line.
“I had the opportunity to break this [game] open for my team,” Quinn said. “It was just an amazing feeling.”
South Williamsport responded with a run on a sacrifice fly before bringing the tying run to the plate in the bottom of the sixth, but Frye stranded two runners to keep Neshannock’s three-run lead intact going into the final inning. The Lancers then tacked on two more insurance runs to give Frye a comfortable five-run cushion, and the star senior retired the side in order to clinch her third state title.
After the final out, Frye and Quinn embraced each other in the infield as their teammates celebrated in a dog pile behind them. The two standout sluggers will go their separate ways next season, but the legacy they left together at Neshannock will last forever.
“I’ve been playing with her since I was 9 years old in travel ball,” Quinn said. “We have been best friends for longer than I can even imagine. … Knowing this was my last game with her — she has done so much for me. Hitting, fielding, pitching, everything.
“It was just an amazing moment to be able to make history with my best friend.”
Steve is a sports writer at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, but he's currently on strike. Email him at srotstein@unionprogress.com.
