Lady Pioneers continue county’s strong softball tradition
I鈥檓 going to make this statement, and I expect there really isn鈥檛 an argument here and nobody is going to disagree with me.
High school softball in Greene County over the last 20 years has been good 鈥� like really good!
Since 1997, the county has had five WPIAL champions, and that蘑菇视频 more than wrestling, football, baseball and basketball over that same time period.
Carmichaels won back-to-back Class AA titles in 1997 and 1998, while Waynesburg Central grabbed WPIAL gold in 2005.
Jefferson-Morgan ended their magical season with gold medals around their necks last year, and last Friday the West Greene softball team etched its name among those top teams with a 12-3 victory over Chartiers-Houston in the Class A title game at Lilley Field.
And with all due respect to those other squads, perhaps the Lady Pioneers run at a title in the WPIAL is the most impressive.
Well before that fateful morning last week, there were heightened expectations for these young ladies to win gold in February.
From those off-season practices in the winter to early-season training sessions in the gym during those rainy, spring days and throughout the 2016 campaign, there was this pressure to succeed.
It seemed if the Lady Pioneers didn鈥檛 win the title, it would be a shock and almost a disappointment.
I have never been around or covered a team with that many expectations. I mean even MSA Sports ranked them as the No. 1 team in Class A in mid-March, and MSA Sports never gives any love or high praise to any local teams.
They were on the radar of bigger media and print outlets early in the season, and it was definitely a unique thing to see.
But with that being said, Coach Billy Simms and the Lady Pioneers were able to block that hype out and just play the game. And they played the game very well.
They didn鈥檛 buy into the hype and they just do what they do, score runs, be aggressive, pitch well and play a fundamentally sound game in the field. It was a simple approach and it worked.
After Monday蘑菇视频 five inning, 12-2 triumph in the first round of the PIAA playoffs, West Greene is 24-1 and has won 21 straight games. They have scored 282 runs and have belted 31 home runs.
Out of their 24 wins, they have outscored the opponent by at least nine runs 17 times.
There has been a quiet confidence with these Lady Pioneers, and, trust me, it is confidence and not cockiness.
They believe in each other and they believe in the coaching staff. They really never experienced losing and never really wanted to experience it any time soon.
In the four WPIAL playoff games, West Greene outscored the opposition 45-5. The Lady Pioneers hit home runs, they hit with runners in scoring position and they made the winning plays on the diamond.
Their offense has carried them with speed at the top of their line-up from McKenna and Madison Lampe and with power in the middle of their batting order from Madison Renner, Bailey Bennington and Kaitlyn Rizor.
But the reason they have been so successful in 2016 and can call themselves WPIAL champions is because of the balance in their line-up. Lexie Mooney, Linzee Stover and Mackenzie Carpenter are unsung heroes that have been producers in the postseason.
Designated player Savanna Pettitt has been a crucial piece to the line-up, while catcher Shelby Morris adds poise and leadership behind the plate.
This is a deep team and Simms often goes to his bench for courtesy runners, pinch runners and pinch hitters during games. Those ladies have also made plays and deserve a lot of credit.
Like I said, this is a team and a team that believes in each other.
This is also a young team and perhaps that is the most amazing part of this run this year. There蘑菇视频 only one senior (Bennington).
A lot of those players I just named are only freshmen and sophomores, and I have been told there蘑菇视频 even more talent at the lower levels for West Greene.
I know it蘑菇视频 hard to win a championship and to make a playoff run, but who knows, it might be commonplace for the Lady Pioneers on the softball diamond in the coming years.
And if that蘑菇视频 the case, West Greene might be in a class of its own and add more trophies to the ever-growing collection for Greene County softball squads.