West Point girls add another Little League title; Penn-Trafford juniors fall in state championship

West Point added its 38th Pennsylvania Little League softball title Wednesday.

Jocelyn Luft singled home twin sister Jayelyn Luft with the winning run in the bottom of the sixth inning as West Point edged Williamsport, 2-1, in the 11U girls championship at Wellsboro.

Jayelyn Luft was the winning pitcher. The left-hander allowed two hits, walked one and struck out nine.

West Point grabbed a 1-0 lead in the fourth inning when Morgan Maiers scored on a Piper Hoppel groundout.

Williamsport, which lost to West Point, 9-1, on Monday, tied the score in the fifth inning on a wild pitch.

Jocelyn Luft had two of the six hits by West Point. Others collecting hits were Jayelyn Luft, Braylyn Graft, Hoppel and Lily Carroll. Hoppel swiped two bases and had 10 putouts. West Point didn’t commit an error.

West Point went 4-0 in the tournament, outscoring its opponents 32-3.

It was the first title since the 2019 team won the 11U championship. That team featured Riley Miller, Lauren Howard, Morgan Griffin, Ella Berkebile, Audrey Semow, Mia Shipman and Claire Mitchell, who are key members of the 2023 WPIAL Class 6A champion Hempfield High School team. Jen Bova was the coach.

Penn-Trafford Juniors come up short

Upper Perkiomen got an RBI single by Ryan Sink in the fourth inning and defeated Pen-Trafford, 1-0, in the Pennsylvania Junior Legion state championship game at Berwick.

Sink’s single scored Billy Weiss.

Penn-Trafford pitcher Zach Feldman allowed three hits and walked two.

Upper Perkiomen’s duo of Jonathan Lewis and Zac Saeger combined on a three-hit shutout. Penn-Trafford stranded eight runners.

Ethan Septak, the tournament MVP, had a double, and Braden Kane singled and walked twice.

Neither team committed an error. Penn-Trafford, which won in 2021, was hoping to make it two titles in three years.