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Only a few times in history has the Wyoming Valley Conference had multiple baseball teams reach the state semifinals.
On Monday, local baseball fans will get to watch some league history with a WVC doubleheader scheduled in the PIAA semis. And softball fans won’t have far to go to see a WVC squad play for a spot in the finals.
The league has three spring squads still left standing with two rounds to go as Lake-Lehman and Wyoming Area baseball are joined by Tunkhannock softball in the final four of their respective brackets.
The PIAA announced details for Monday’s semifinals in both sports.
Both baseball teams are headed to DeSales University for a twinbill. Lake-Lehman is up first in the Class 3A semifinals, taking on District 3 champ Oley Valley at 3:30 p.m. The next game at the field will be the Class 4A semifinal between Wyoming Area and District 12 winner Bonner Prendergast at 6:30 p.m.
Tunkhannock softball, meanwhile, will have a shorter trip. The Tigers face District 11 champion Bethlehem Catholic at 4 p.m. at Marywood University.
The Tigers will be looking to return to the PIAA finals for the first time since 2017, when they finished as state runner-up. Holy Redeemer was the last WVC squad to win a state championship in softball, going back-to-back in Class 2A in 2015 and 2016.
Tunkhannock will be looking to avenge its last state tournament loss when Becahi eliminated the Tigers 4-1 in the 2018 quarterfinals.
In baseball, Lehman and Wyoming Area are looking to join Berwick (2008) and Dallas (2017) as the WVC’s only state champions.
The Black Knights’ opponent, Oley Valley, beat Scranton Prep 8-6 in the state quarters. Lehman defeated the Cavaliers 5-0 for the District 2 championship a week earlier.
Both the Knights and Warriors are looking for their first state finals appearance.