Monday, June 2, 2025 | 10:56 PM

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The final lyrics from The Who’s 1971 rock anthem “Won’t Get Fooled Again” seemed appropriate for the latest Neshannock softball win Monday in the PIAA first round against District 10 runner-up Sharpsville.

“Meet the new boss, same as the old boss.”

The Lancers’ 10-0 five-inning whitewash of the Blue Devils not only kept the team undefeated this season, it also broke the WPIAL record for longest softball winning streak at 49 victories in a row.

It broke the record set by the 2022 and 2023 Neshannock teams that won 48 straight.

“It’s exciting, but I always say we really don’t focus on numbers and let’s just focus on one game at a time,” Neshannock coach Jackie Lash said. “That streak, I’m sure parents and the community are talking about it, but we try to squash any kind of conversation at practices because what’s important is this game we are playing right now.”

The current winning streak trumping the former winning streak might not be dugout banter for the Lancers, but the players are aware.

“I know at the end of (Monday’s) game, everybody was really quiet,” Neshannock senior pitcher Addy Frye said. “But it means a lot, especially to the seniors. We had a really good winning streak going until we played Everett (in the 2023 state playoffs), so it’s something really meaningful to the team because we all came together this year.”

Since the start of the 2022 softball season, Neshannock is a mind-numbing 97-1 with the two longest district winning streaks of 48 and now 49 in a row and four consecutive WPIAL titles.

The Lancers’ lone loss in that time period was to Everett in the state semifinals two years ago, 9-6.

There was no “fooling” around by Neshannock in this final home game for the team’s four seniors.

In the bottom of the first inning, senior Miley Anderson beat out an infield single and went to third on a throwing error. She scored on another infield single by Jaidon Nogay.

The small ball ended there as Frye blasted a two-run homer over the left-field fence off Sharpsville starter Jordan Brest to give the Lancers a quick lead, 3-0.

“I went to hitting lessons with coach (John) Sansone earlier and we worked a lot on slow and low (pitches), both inside and out,” Frye said. “He told me if the ball comes in, I could pull it, and when I saw an inside pitch, I just wanted to drive it because I love to pull the ball.”

The Lancers have three freshmen in their starting lineup and one of them, Brenna Frengel, delivered out of the No. 9 spot in the batting order in the second inning with an RBI double that scored Gianna DeSalvo.

Frengel then scored on another run-scoring single by Nogay.

Nearly everybody in the Lancers order chimed in for an offense that hammered out 13 hits.

“We kind of struggled with that through half the season,” Lash said. “You give that harsh talk that everybody has to step into that box with a purpose and you have to do your job. I have to say the girls took it to heart and ever since, we have seen a lot of (production).”

Neshannock sent 10 batters to the plate and tacked on five unearned runs in the bottom of the third inning, highlighted by a bases-clearing double by Anderson, another RBI single by Nogay and a run-scoring hit by senior Gabby Quinn.

It was another day at the office for Frye in the circle.

The Providence College commit improved to 20-0 this season and lowered her ERA to 0.74.

In her five innings of work, Frye allowed three singles with no walks and seven strikeouts.

“I thought she was great,” Lash said. “She was very calm knowing that she knows that entire dugout. I felt good about her the last few days. We know we can rely on her. She is just going to come prepared to play anybody.”

Frye grew up in the Sharpsville school district and moved into the Neshannock school district when she was in eighth grade.

“(Monday) was very emotional,” Frye said. “I was at one of the player’s grad party and the big joke was, the enemy is here. We’ve played together since we were babies, so being on the field with them for the last time was like a full-circle moment.”

The Blue Devils ended their season losing in the District 10 finals to Seneca and then falling to the Lancers to finish 14-9.

Neshannock is 23-0 this season and will battle District 5 champion Chestnut Ridge in the state quarterfinals Thursday.

“We’ll do our research,” Lash said. “Sometimes I feel like all I do is watch games, and I know some of the girls do too. I try to encourage all of them to do some homework and see what you can find, so we’ll do our work.”

Tags: Neshannock