The state tournaments for both softball and baseball start today and the following is a look at all seven games which feature Sun-Gazette area teams.

Softball

6A

South Western (18-7) at Williamsport (18-3), 4 p.m.

BRIAN HOLTZAPPLE/Special to the Sun-Gazette Warrior Run’s Ella Printzenhoff (37) throws to first for an out during the District 4 Class AAA softball championship against Mifflinburg. The Defenders face Mid-Valley in the first round of states Monday.

Williamsport became the first team from its program to three-peat as District 2-4 Class AAAAAA champions last Wednesday, downing West Scranton, 9-1. The Millionaires also captured their first outright HAC-I championship, after sharing the title with Central Mountain a year ago, going undefeated in league play.

The Millionaires have hit well throughout the roster this season, with reserves also making big contributions. Pitcher Ashlyn Robinson allowed no earned runs and struck out 17 in two district playoff wins and the defense has excelled, featuring experienced infielders, a speedy outfield and exciting freshman catcher Payton Pennycoff.

Williamsport is seeking its first state tournament win since 2022.

South Western is making its second state tournament appearance in three years after reaching the 2024 semifinals. The Mustangs scored two eighth-inning runs in the District 3 third-place game, edging Wilson, 11-9. After being shutout against defending state champion Central Dauphin in the semifinals, South Western collected 13 hits against Wilson.

Pitcher Brooke Thoman is 15-6 with a 4.28 ERA, striking out 130 in 117 2/3 innings, while allowing 156 hits. Kelsey Smith ignites a potent offense and is hitting .439 with eight home runs and 36 RBIs. Liv Bateman hits a team-high 456 with four home runs and 22 RBIs, while Zoe Wilkinson hits .389 and has a team-best 26 RBIs. Laney Lippy also is having an excellent season, batting .460 with a team-leading 28 runs. South Western surged following a 5-5 start and has won 13 of its last 15 games, including nine straight at one point.

Addison Greger of Montgomery slides under the ball as Eva Sockman of Bucktail tries to make the tag in the 7th inning at Elm Park in Williamsport Thursday afternoon. Montgomery won the District IV Class A championship. DAVE KENNEDY/Sun-Gazette

3A

Warrior Run (13-10) at Mid-Valley (19-3), 4:30 p.m.

Warrior Run shook up the 3A district field, upsetting HAC-III champion/previous district champion Loyalsock, 2-1 in eight innings before turning a three-run deficit into a 5-4 semifinal win against Montoursville. Undefeated Mifflinburg denied Warrior Run its first district crown since 2013, winning the final, 10-0.

Warrior Run made a similar Cinderella run in 2023 and gets another crack at Mid-Valley which defeated it in the first round that year en route to winning the state title. The Spartans reached last year’s semifinals, losing to eventual champion Pine Grove.

Mackenzie Litchard struck out 29 batters in three straight wins against District 4 Class A champion Montgomery, Loyalsock and Montoursville. Senior shortstop Maura Woland slammed three home runs against Montoursville, Ella Printzenhoff is hitting .386 and Makenzie Heffner has four home runs.

TIM WEIGHT/Special to the Sun-Gazette Bucktail’s Kelsie Wagner (00) meets with her teammates at the mound earlier this season. The Bucks face Greenwood in the first round of states Monday.

Mid-Valley won 12 straight after opening the season with a loss against Tunkhannock and defeated Lake-Lehman, 5-1 for the District 2 championship. Ava Hazleton threw a two-hitter and struck out 13, while six players combined for nine hits. Hazleton has thrown all but six innings for Mid-Valley, going 18-3 with a 1.88 ERA and 208 strikeouts in 130 2/3 innings. Parker Bennett hits .477; Angela Lakowski .474 with a team-high 35 RBIs and Natalie Hricenak .348 with six home runs. Six starters are hitting .388 or higher.

1A

Holy Cross (18-3) at Montgomery (16-6), 4 p.m.

Montgomery is back in states for the first time since 2022 when it captured the state championship. The Red Raiders dominated the district field, outscoring Cowanesque Valley and Bucktail, 22-2. Montgomery will be hosting a state tournament game for the first time and has outscored its last three opponents, 35-2.

Ava Hartman has thrown two shutouts in her last three starts, surrendering just two runs and mowing through Bucktail on 74 pitches. The offense has been balanced all season with Montgomery showing quality depth, especially at the 1A level. Five starters are hitting above .400 and Zoe Furman, Madisyn Miller, Addison Greger and Jenna Houseknecht all have at least 20 RBIs.

Logan Kirby of Montoursville throws in the bottom of the third inning against Athens in Williamsport Thursday evening. Montoursville won the District IV AAAA championship 9-3. DAVE KENNEDY/Sun-Gazette

Holy Cross reached last year’s state quarterfinals, losing an eight-inning heartbreaker against Claysburg-Kimmel. The Crusaders split two games against District 2 AAA champion Mid-Valley and have won four straight since losing, 10-0 to 2A state title contender Bristol, blanking Old Forge, 8-0 in the district final.

Pitcher Ava Schmidt is 18-3 with a 1.39 ERA and 186 strikeouts in 121 innings. Like Montgomery, Holy Cross features a deep offense with four batters hitting over .400 and three hitting between four and six home runs. Schmidt hits a team-best .486 with six home runs, while Jules Galella is at .471 with 31 RBIs. Claire Helring hits .441 with six home runs.

Bucktail (15-5) at Greenwood (7-13), 4 p.m.

Bucktail is making its fourth straight state tournament and is trying to make program history. No Bucks team has won a state game in its previous four appearances. The Bucks shared the Mid-Penn West Division championship with Montgomery and split two regular-season games against it.

The Bucks are and experienced team which also features exciting young players like freshman Kelsie Wagner and sophomore Carrie Ditty, both who have pitched well this season. Seniors Eva Sockman, Kendall Wagner, Lola English and Makenna Stone all have topped 100 career hits with Stone generating five hits in two district playoff games. Ditty and Kelsie Wagner each have topped 70 strikeouts in 50 innings or fewer this season.

BRIAN HOLTZAPPLE/Special to the Sun-Gazette Warrior Run’s Colton Ritenour (8) slides home during the District 4 Class AAA final. The Defenders face Dunmore in the first round of states Monday.

Greenwood repeated as District 3 champion, winning a two-team field and beating York Catholic in the final. The Wildcats are seeking revenge against District 4 after losing to eventual state finalist Northeast Bradford in last year’s first round. Pitcher Makenzie Devore has 56 strikeouts in 69 1/3 innings, allowing 82 hits. Sammi Cuccia is hitting a team-high .389 and Kylie Willow is among Tri-Valley League leaders with 17 stolen bases.

Baseball

4A

Wyoming Area (19-4) vs. Montoursville (17-4) at Millionaire Mountain, 6:30 p.m.

Montoursville repeated as District 4 champions, winning a fifth title since 2018, defeating Athens, 9-3 in the final 11 nights ago. The Warriors reached the sixth state final in program history a year ago, but were not listed as one of the eight serious state title contenders in a pre-playoff publication, while Wyoming Area was.

Austin Davidson and Jonah Heddings combined for three hits and five RBIs against Athens and both are hitting above .400 as is Elijah Eck. Noah Kirby has a team-high 25 RBIs and his older brother Logan is 7-0 this season, earning a second straight district final win against Athens.

Wyoming Area was the top seed in District 2 but was upset by Mid-Valley, 6-2 in last Friday’s championship. The Warriors allowed just one hit, but made six errors. Wyoming Area won 16 of 17 games entering the final, scoring at least six runs in its previous four victories.

All the Warriors pitchers are available with Ryan Nemshick and lefty Jake Snyder each throwing fewer than four innings. Nemshick is 5-2 with a 1.60 ERA and 31 strikeouts in 43 2/3 innings. Snyder, a Rutgers recruit who has made massive strides this season, is 4-0 with a save and 1.60, striking out 54 and walking 24 in 35 innings.

Wyoming Area features a potent offense and is hitting a collective .393 with nearly every starter above .400. Alex Vacula is hitting a team-best .525 with three home runs, four triples, eight doubles and 38 RBIs. Ben Rogish and Robbie Yatsko each have 23 RBIs and freshman David Favata has hit six doubles. The Warriors have made a seven-win improvement this season after going 12-10 a year ago.

3A

Warrior Run (17-6) vs. Dunmore (16-8) at Marywood University, 4:30 p.m.

Warrior Run is making its first state tournament appearance this century after finishing as the runner-up in District 4. The Defenders rallied from two down to defeat Troy, 6-3 before taking out top-seeded Wellsboro, 5-0 as Griff Harrington threw a one-hit shutout and struck out 11. Harrington and James Keifer both threw well in the district final against Mifflinburg but a late rally fell short in a 3-1 defeat.

Warrior Run has overcome injuries and adversity to reach states and a decorated senior group has kept the team together through some rough times. The Defenders repeated as HAC-III champions, sharing the crown with Mifflinburg, and Keifer and Harrington are a combined 13-4 on the mound. They both average more than a strikeout per inning and have sub-3.00 ERAs.

Six players have double figure RBI totals and Cohen Zechman has surged down the stretch, hitting .414 with 31 runs.

Dunmore has won six straight games and defeated top-seeded Riverside, 4-2 in the District 2 final after the rivals had split two regular-season games. The Bucks won that game after winning one of the state’s most exciting games this season when they outlasted Lake-Lehman, 6-5 in a 19-inning marathon semifinal. That game featured 11 straight scoreless innings before Dunmore walked off with the victory.

Dunmore repeated as district champions and lost to eventual state finalist Mount Carmel, 5-0 in last year’s opening round. Jamie McMynne, Mason Stets and Jackson Cady all threw well in the 19-inning semifinal win and McMynne hurled five innings of three-hit ball with seven strikeouts in the final. Stets and Cady closed out that victory. McMynne is 5-1 with a 2.22 ERA and 64 strikeouts in 47 1/3 innings. Stets is 6-0 with a 1.38 ERA and 38 strikeouts and Cady 2-1 with a 3.96 ERA and 35 strikeouts.

Nine players had hits against Riverside and Evan Mizenko is hitting a team-high .394 with four home runs and 27 RBIs. McMynne is at .354 with 15 RBIs.

2A

South Williamsport (14-7) at Halifax (21-1), 4:30 p.m.

South is making its fifth straight state tournament appearance after repeating as district champions and reached last year’s quarterfinals where it gave eventual champion Faith Christian its toughest postseason game. The Mounties defeated the top two seeds in districts, Montgomery and Southern Columbia again, doing so against teams who were a combined 32-6 entering those games.

Cole Gerber and Chance Quimby combined on a four-hitter against Southern and 10 players either reached base and/or drove in a run. Jaymes Carpenter was 2 for 4 with two RBIs and Gerber and Trace Wertz each hit sacrifice flies.

Halifax exacted revenge on Camp Hill after losing to it in last year’s District 3 championship, thumping it, 10-0. Eli Miller threw a five-inning, one-hit shutout and struck out nine. The sophomore is 5-1 with a 1.38 ERA and 57 strikeouts in 45 2/3 innings. Fellow sophomore Josh Zahurak is 6-0 with a 2.70 ERA and 45 strikeouts in 36 1/3 innings.

Miller also hits a team-high .453, while Matthew Kocher is at .423 with a team-best 32 RBIs. Zahurak is at .410 and is one of four players with 20 or more RBIs. The Wildcats went 18-3 last year and have won nine straight since losing, 4-3 against Greenwood on April 24. Halifax split two games against the Wildcats this season.

Levi Butler of South Williamsport connects on a 2 RBI single against Montgomery in Williamsport Wednesday evening. South Williamsport won 3-2. DAVE KENNEDY/Sun-Gazette