JEFFERSON TWP — At about 5:30 p.m. Tuesday, following a rousing 12-9 win over section champion Mars, members of the Knoch softball team thought they were playoff bound.

In fact, though, they were not.

The confusion was spawned by a four-way tie for second place in WPIAL Section 5-AAA behind the Planets, who had wrapped up first place more than a week ago.

Knoch and Kittanning both thought they were in when in fact Hampton and Highlands received the other two WPIAL playoff spots from section 5-AAA.

Here’s how it happened:

When there is a tie between multiple teams, the head-to-head records of all the deadlocked teams are looked at first.

In this case, Hampton earned the second spot behind Mars with a 4-2 head-to-head record.

That left Knoch, Highlands and Kittanning tied for the third and final playoff spot. When the head-to-head records of those three teams were compiled, Highlands came out on top at 3-1, while Kittanning was 2-2 and Knoch 1-3.

Knoch players did not find out they were in fact eliminated from the playoffs until Wednesday afternoon at the beginning of practice, said junior pitcher Codi Reed.

“It was a shock to us all,” Reed said. “Coach (Tim Knappenberger) gave us a pre-practice talk and chimed in that gloomy detail. We will have to work harder for next season.”