Southmoreland softball team counting on youth
ALVERTON – The Southmoreland softball team will count on youth to carry them through the 2003 season. The Lady Scots lost only one player through graduation in center fielder Nicole Bauman. Only three seniors return to the starting lineup with juniors and sophomores filling the remaining spots.
The returning seniors include pitcher Channah Zapotoczny and outfielders Lynn Fretts and Christa Kaylor. A fourth senior, Jill Michalczyk, is also expected to receive some playing time.
“My infield has had a full season together and should be much better this season,” coach Kim Pfeifer said. “I lost only one player in the outfield, which I will be able to replace, so I’m expecting us to be much stronger defensively overall.”
Even though Zapotoczny returns to the mound, Pfeifer would like to see her pitching improve. In addition to Zapotoczny, Fretts is also working on the mound and Pfeifer hopes she will develop enough to give her a solid one-two combination during the season.
One area Pfeifer is working hard on is trying to get her kids to be more aggressive at the plate. “We had only three hits in our first game,” she said. “In our last game we were able to collect 10 hits. This is something we continue to work on.”
She pointed out her team was a little behind in its pre-season drills. “Our field held a lot of water and did not dry off, so we were forced to hold a lot of practices inside,” she explained. “They should get better the more they can work on game situations and get a few more games under their belt.”
Pfeifer said the girls really need to work hard on their fundamentals in practice to make up for lost time. She thinks the girls can be competitive this season if they can maintain their focus for an entire game. If she can establish that, she feels her kids will be all right.
One pleasant surprise this spring for Pfeifer has been the play of sophomore shortstop Jen Santmyer. “She is showing the will to win and I think her attitude is carrying over to other members of the team,” she said. “It’s nice to see some of my younger players willing to take more of a leadership role.”
With losing only one senior, the Lady Scots have their lineup pretty well in place. Zapotoczny will pitch and junior Alicia Guzy will catch. At first will be sophomore Jamie Kaylor, while junior Emily Morrison will be at second. Santmyer will play shortstop and junior Meghan Lemley will play third. In the outfield will be seniors Fretts and Christa Kaylor and sophomore Terri Bundridge.
Pfeifer would like to see the Lady Scots improve enough to challenge for a playoff berth this season. “Everyone enters the season with hopes of making the playoffs,” she said. “We have a couple of new teams in the section, so I don’t know what to expect from them.”
The new teams she referred to are East Allegheny and Steel Valley. The remainder of section 3-AA will remain the same. Pfeifer feels that Derry and Greensburg Central Catholic could be the top teams in the section. Mt. Pleasant and Yough will be competitive.
Pfeifer will get a chance early to see if her team has the ability to make a race of it in the section. The Lady Scots play East Allegheny today and at Greensburg Central Catholic Friday. She hopes things will work out well for the Lady Scots so they can play for a few more weeks into the post season.
Other home games for the Lady Scots include Yough (April 7), Mt. Pleasant (April 14), California (April 16), Derry (April 23), Greensburg Central Catholic (April 28) and Steel Valley (May 5). On the road, Southmoreland will face Steel Valley (April 11), East Allegheny (April 25), Yough (April 30) and Mt. Pleasant (May 7).