May 15, 2007 By Jonathan Guth For The 3 min read

OLSH avenges 2006 playoff loss to West Greene CALIFORNIA – Our Lady of the Sacred Heart got even with West Greene for last year’s early exit in a big way Monday with a 9-0 victory over the Lady Pioneers in the first round of the WPIAL Class A softball playoffs.

OLSH took advantage of four West Greene errors in the second inning and strong pitching from Emily Kyrargyros to defeat the Lady Pioneers at California University of Pa.’s Lilly Field.

Lady Pioneers coach Bill Simms pointed out that he has a young team with only three seniors graduating.

“Alyson Clark, Sarah Veltre, and Katie Horr have got to be dying inside,” Simms said. He also credited Horr for returning from an injury last season.

After six quick outs in the first inning, the Lady Chargers exploded in the second inning for six big runs and never looked back.

The Lady Pioneers’ fortunes started to turn for the worse when leadoff batter Ky Plocinick reached on an error. Third baseman Barian Ouzts singled for the Lady Chargers before Ouzts scored for a 1-0 lead. The Chargers moved ahead 4-0, but an obstruction play forced one OLSH runners back.

The Lady Pioneers, however, were not able to hold off the Lady Chargers much longer. Kara Hertzberg singled and later scored to put her team ahead 6-0 in the middle of the second inning.

“Tough to come back from six runs down in the second inning.” Simms said. “And it’s tough to end the season on probably our worst defensive game.”

Winning coach Bill Wills said revenge was not really on his mind, even though West Greene had ended his team’s season a year ago in the first round of the playoffs. He was more focused on his team experiencing playoff success this time.

“This is a really talented bunch of girls, who have just experienced their first playoff win,” Wills said, “We focus on team speed and batting. We are hoping to go all the way.”

Wills also credited his assistant coach, Bill Shrimp, and his three seniors, Hertzberg, Danielle Nardozzi, and Plocinick.

Hertzberg stepped up as the senior led her team with three RBIs while Ouzts had three hits and scored two runs.

Kyrargyros pitched a complete-game shutout for the Lady Chargers, allowing seven hits and striking out three. She did not walk a batter.

On the other hand, Rachel Burns experienced a tough loss as she allowed nine runs on 10 hits while striking out two.

Reflecting on the season, Simms said, “I’m quite pleased with the season. These girls gave me 12 good wins.”

Simms also looked forward to the future with Burns, who is only a sophomore. “She had 87 strikeouts coming into this game and now she has about 90.”

Simms described the whole experience in one word: “Bittersweet.”