Weather playing havoc on spring sports
Jefferson-Morgan's Jake Bissett holds up on third after a hit in the Rockets' non-section game Friday against Brownsville at Jefferson-Morgan High School.
Brownsvile's Jaryn Addis (3) scoots back to first shead od the throw to Jefferson-Morgan first baseman Devin Stoneking During their non-section game Friday at Jefferson-Morgan High School.
I don’t want to rain on anybody’s parade … but the start of the softball/baseball season in Greene County has been kind of frustrating.
From rains to cold temperatures and to yes, even, snow, Mother Nature once again wreaked havoc on the fields and scheduling for county teams.
But there is good news, warmer weather and no rain is in the forecast.
So as teams try to make-up or reschedule games for the upcoming weeks, let’s look at the top five things this spring that has caught my eye.
5.) Crazy Eights in Section 2-AA — Just like it was in 2015, Section 2-AA softball has been a highly-competitive section and it seems between the eight squads anybody can beat anyone on any given day.
Carmichaels, who won the section last year, has posted a 3-1 section record as of Tuesday and brings an overall record of 4-4. The Lady Mikes have wins within Section 2-AA against Washington, Beth-Center and Brownsville.
The Lady Mikes are scheduled to host Charleroi today, while welcoming in Washington on Tuesday and traveling to McGuffey on Wednesday.
Waynesburg Central has struggled out of the gate and will need a strong second half to get back into the playoff picture.
The Lady Raiders (1-5, 1-2) will be on the road for the next five games, with games against Belle Vernon today, Bentworth on Saturday, Canon-McMillan on Monday, Charleroi on Tuesday and Chartiers-Houston on Wednesday.
4.) Up For Grabs in Section 1-A — California was the favorite to win Section 1-A baseball at the beginning of the season and I don’t think that has changed in the last couple of weeks.
What has changed now is the uncertainty of the rest of the section. The playoff picture is very unclear, but as these teams face each other in the next couple of weeks it should clear up which two teams will get those playoffs berths and which three squads will be left out.
Carmichaels will play Bentworth on Saturday at CONSOL Energy Park (11 a.m.), and will then be on the road the next two games against Jefferson-Morgan (Monday) and California (Wednesday).
J-M travels to West Greene today before hosting Carmichaels on Monday and traveling to Mapletown on Wednesday.
Mapletown is at California today and will welcome in West Greene on Monday.
3.) Mixed Results in Myrtle — Four out of the five county softball teams made trips to Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, for the Ripken Experience Tournament this season.
West Greene had one of the most successful trips, taking three out of four games down south. The Lady Pioneers’ biggest win on the trip was a 7-6 triumph over Deer Lakes, the defending WPIAL Class AA champions.
Jefferson-Morgan made the trip last weekend and captured wins in two out of their three games with solid victories over Ballard Memorial (Ky.) and Chateaugay Central (N.Y.).
Both Waynesburg and Carmichaels went 0-3 at the Ripken Experience.
2.) Feeling Out Process for the Raiders — After going 1-2 in non-section play to start the season, the Waynesburg Central baseball squad picked up its first section win last week versus Washington. Six days later, the Raiders suffered their first section loss to Brownsville, 13-3.
So the Raiders are 1-1 in section play and these next couple of days are going to be critical for Waynesburg’s hopes of winning the section and their high expectations in 2016.
Waynesburg welcomes in Beth-Center today, and will play against non-section foe California on Saturday at CONSOL Energy Park (2 p.m.). The Raiders will then host Charleroi on Tuesday and Brownsville on Wednesday.
1.) The Lady Pioneers are Legit — The biggest story so far in Greene County during the spring has been the play of the West Greene softball team. Everyone knew they were going to be good in 2016, but I don’t know if anyone knew that they were going to be this dominant.
As of Tuesday, West Greene was 8-1 overall and 3-0 in Section 1-A. Besides beating Deer Lakes down in Myrtle Beach, the Lady Pioneers’ biggest win of the young season came against Chartiers-Houston last week, 11-1 in six innings.
The Lady Pioneers, which has only one senior on their roster, has been led by a potent offense with speed at the top of the lineup from McKenna and Madison Lampe, and power from the likes of Madison Renner, Bailey Bennington, Kaitlyn Rizor and Lexie Mooney.
West Greene also has a very underrated bottom of the lineup that includes Linzee Stover, Mackenzie Carpenter and Shelby Morris that flips over the lineup game to game.
The Lady Pioneers, which still has to play at Chartiers-Houston and has two match-ups with defending Class A champion Jefferson-Morgan, hosts Monessen on Monday and travels to Cameron (W.Va.) on Tuesday in non-section action.