West Greene softball eyes first state title
If you been to any West Greene softball games this season, you will see plenty of fans with blue and gold Lady Pioneers T-shirts on.
On the backs of some of those shirts you will see two words that have been a rallying cry for the 2017 campaign:
“UNFINISHED BUSINESS”
Today, the Lady Pioneers will be looking for redemption and the school’s first ever PIAA team title when they face off with Williams Valley at Nittany Lion Softball Park on the campus of Penn State University.
First pitch is scheduled for 11 a.m.
In 2016, West Greene dropped a heartbreaker to Williams Valley in the title game with the Lady Vikings pulling out a 3-2 victory in the bottom of the seventh after a two-out, walk-off single by Rayanne Hawk.
Hawk, winning pitcher Tianna Yanoscak from last year’s title game, and three other key seniors are gone from that Lady Vikings’ squad.
The Lady Pioneers (25-1) only lost one senior (star pitcher/shortstop Bailey Bennington) from a year ago and coming so close to a championship has been one of the driving forces for this season.
“It was a great game last year,” West Greene coach Billy Simms said. “Both pitchers were dealing and neither offense could string hits together. They were able to get that final hit and came away with the win. It was a tough loss and hard to swallow after coming that far.”
West Greene has faced several pressure-packed situations this season, and the 12-year coach loves the makeup of his gritty squad.
“The bull’s eye has been on our backs the whole year and every game we get everyone’s best,” Simms stated. “There’s been a lot of pressure on these kids and they never backed away from it. As a coach, there have been plenty of sleepless nights. You just don’t want to sell these kids short. You want to give them the opportunity to win and to succeed on the softball diamond.”
In their six playoff games in 2017, the Lady Pioneers have outscored the opposition by a 55-7 margin.
Freshmen lefty Jade Renner has picked up all six postseason wins in the circle for West Greene and brings an 18-1 record into the final. In the playoffs, Renner has allowed only seven runs in 35.2 innings with 21 strikeouts and four walks.
Offensively, West Greene has gotten a ton of power from Madison Lampe, Madison Renner and Kaitlyn Rizor these last couple of weeks. In the six playoff games, the three have combined for 15 extra base hits (six doubles, one triple and eight home runs).
McKenna Lampe is still the catalyst from her leadoff spot and brings a .654 batting average into this morning’s game.
The Lady Pioneers must also get contributions, both on offense and defense, from the likes of Marissa Rode, Lexie Mooney, Linzee Stover, Mackenzie Carpenter and Shelby Morris.
“I really like our lineup and our defense,” Simms said after West Greene’s semifinal win on Monday. “We had both of our corner outfielders diving for balls and Shelby (Morris) did a really nice job of blocking balls. We got those clutch, timely hits in our lineup. We get contributions from everyone.”
West Greene will be batting against Williams Valley’s freshmen pitcher Stevie Unger.
Other key cogs for the Lady Vikings (20-5) offensively are senior Caitlyn Pinchorski (she scored the game-winning run in last year’s final), junior Kali Whitcomb, sophomore Kenna Ferron and senior Autumn Calnon.
This will be the first rematch of a title game in PIAA Class A softball history and just the third overall.
In 2002 and 2003, North Allegheny and Neshaminy met in back-to-back finals, and in 1983 and 1984 Kutztown and Iroquois faced each other in consecutive seasons.
Both times, the squads split the championship game.
No matter the result today at Penn State, the 2017 season was once again a stellar season for West Greene. But for the Lady Pioneers and their fans, they still have some unfinished business in Happy Valley.