West Greene softball led a strong county contingent
Evan Sanders
West Greene蘑菇视频 McKenna Lampe scores one of her 50 runs this season in the first inning of the Lady Pioneers鈥� PIAA Class A quarterfinal game against Claysburg-Kimmel on June 8 at Somerset High School. Lampe was named to the 2017 PaHSSBCA All-State Softball Team as the Class 1-A Co-Player of the Year along with her twin sister Madison Lampe.
Holly Tonini
Carmichaels catcher Megan Walker gets the out at home against Monessen蘑菇视频 Destiny Habeck, but the Lady Greyhounds held on to with the WPIAL Class A semifinal game, 6-2, over the Lady Mikes on Tuesday at Peterswood Park in Peters Township.
Carmichaels third baseman Shelbee McCann (10) ducks to avoid the throw to shortstop Natalie McNett (22), but it was not in time to stop West Greene蘑菇视频 McKenna Lampe (16) from stealing third during a Section 2-A game at Carmichaels High School, May 4, 2017. The Lady Pioneers won, 4-3. (Photo by John F. Brothers)
John F. Brothers | 蘑菇视频
John F. Brothers | 蘑菇视频 West Greene蘑菇视频 Madison Lampe (4) races past coach Billy Simms toward home plate to score a run on an RBI single by Jade Renner in the fourth inning of the PIAA Class A softball championship game against Williams Valley, Friday, at Nittany Lion Softball Park in University Park. The Lady Pioneers rallied from a 7-0 deficit to win, 9-8.
John F. Brothers | 蘑菇视频
John F. Brothers | 蘑菇视频 West Greene pitcher Jade Renner helped lead the Lady Pioneers to their 10-0 victory over Monessen in the WPIAL Class A softball championship on Thursday at California University蘑菇视频 Lilley Field.
West Greene was the dominant fixture in the 2017 softball season, but trust me, the other four Greene County squads had plenty of memorable moments this spring on the diamond.
The Lady Pioneers capped off a stellar 2017 softball campaign a couple of weeks ago by winning the PIAA Class A title after rallying from seven runs down for a 9-8 victory over Williams Valley at Penn State University.
The state championship was the first for a Greene County team (in any sport) since 1998 when star pitcher Nikki Gasti and Carmichaels softball won the Class AA crown.
I say this all the time, but to me softball is the most consistent and dominant sport for Greene County over the last two decades. The championships, the wins and the resumes speak for themselves.
Before we put a final punctuation mark on the 2017 softball season, let蘑菇视频 take a quick look at the All-Greene County Messenger awards and team.
Hitter of the Year: McKenna Lampe, West Greene 鈥� Three numbers are what really gave the sophomore center fielder this award, 6 鈥� 4 鈥� 3. Lampe batted a robust .643 for the Lady Pioneers and was the spark plug for the potent offense in the regular season as well as in their playoff run.
Lampe added a .766 on-base percentage and a 1.036 slugging percentage. Besides playing superb defense in center field, Lampe led the team in singles (36), hits (54), runs scored (64), walks (23) and stolen bases (48). She also had seven home runs, 10 doubles and 33 RBIs.
Pitcher of the Year: Jade Renner, West Greene 鈥� The freshman lefty compiled a 19-1 record in the circle and was 7-0 in the postseason. She tossed 114 1/3 innings and only allowed 36 runs (31 earned) for a 1.90 ERA.
Renner, who was a threat offensively with a .405 batting average and 24 RBIs, had 84 strikeouts to just 11 walks and limited opposing batters to a .208 batting average. In the seven playoff contests, she was at her best, throwing 42 2/3 innings with 26 strikeouts and two free passes.
Coach of the Year: Billy Simms, West Greene 鈥� The bull蘑菇视频 eye was squarely on West Greene蘑菇视频 back to start the year and the Lady Pioneers were able to battle through the pressure and the high (very high) expectations under coach Simms.
He was able to juggle his line-up and got production from everyone, one through nine. He had the confidence in a freshman pitcher to give her the ball in key games and in the postseason. West Greene won back-to-back section titles for the first time ever in a highly competitive Section 2-A.
The Lady Pioneers claimed their second straight WPIAL crown with a 10-0 rout of Monessen. Simms led the team to the PIAA finals at PSU and was able to gain redemption with a win after last year蘑菇视频 title loss to Williams Valley. The last two seasons, West Greene has compiled a stunning record of 52-3.
Freshman of the Year: Kylie Sinn, Carmichaels 鈥� Sinn grew into the full-time starter for the Lady Mikes in the circle at the midway point of the season and shined in big games for Carmichaels. She pitched to contact and relied on her strong defense the whole season for a 10-5 overall record.
Sinn had several clutch games in her first varsity year, including a 12-strikeout, one-hit performance against rival Jefferson-Morgan, a 6-0 shutout of Monessen in the regular season and an eight-strikeout outing in a 3-2 triumph over Leechburg in the PIAA play-in game.
Other Notable Numbers
Statistics don鈥檛 lie and West Greene posted one of the best offensive team performances I have ever seen this year. Three key cogs in that offense were Madison Lampe, Madison Renner and Kaitlyn Rizor.
Lampe batted .567 and collected 29 extra base hits (14 doubles, seven triples, eight home runs). Renner smashed a team-high 12 home runs with a team-high 58 RBIs and a .500 batting average, while Rizor was consistent from her clean-up spot with a .540 batting average, 28 singles and 33 RBIs.
Waynesburg Central蘑菇视频 Tara Staley ended her stellar career with the Lady Raiders with another solid year on the diamond. The California University of Pa. recruit batted .466 and struck out only once in 61 plate appearances.
Carmichaels鈥� Megan Walker and Natalie McNett were both strong defensively for the Lady Mikes, but also added some offensive punch at the plate. Walker carried a .397 batting average with 10 doubles, 26 runs scored and 10 stolen bases. McNett was a .500 hitter and led Carmichaels in hits (42) and RBI (21).
Rest of the All-GCM Team
Carmichaels: Gina Ranieri, Morgan Faddis, Kaitlyn Wilson, Laura Walker.
Jefferson-Morgan: Caitlyn Dugan, Brooke Diamond, Autumn Tedrow, Krista McCartney.
Mapletown: Abigail McIntire, Makenzie Cree, Taylor Vanata, Sara Chory, Hannah Dusenberry.
Waynesburg Central: Jordan Sibert, Paige Rutan, Rachel Elsenheimer, Sydney Hare, Emma Ricciuti.
West Greene: Marissa Rode, Linzee Stover, Lexie Mooney, Mackenzie Carpenter, Shelby Morris.