Teets, No. 2 Monessen not looking ahead as playoffs begin
The Monessen softball team has accomplished several program firsts over the past few years under coach Bo Teets, and it added to that this season with its first-ever section title and highest WPIAL playoff seed.
That came about by the Lady Greyhounds notching one of the biggest wins in their history, a late-season, 2-1 win over defending PIAA champion West Greene, which helped earn Teets’ squad a share of first place. Monessen is seeded No. 2 in the Class A bracket behind the Lady Pioneers.
The Lady Greyhounds reached their first WPIAL final in 2017 when it lost to West Greene. Now the goal is to get back there again and win it with a senior-oriented team led by pitching ace Dana Vatakis, a Robert Morris recruit.
But, whoa now, Teets said. He doesn’t want his team looking that far ahead.
“It’s about taking one game at a time,” Teets said. “We really have stressed over the course of the last few years just trying to be 1-0 at the end of the day. We kind of have had that mantra, just win the day, regardless if we are at practice or in a game or a scrimmage or a conditioning session.
“That’s something we’ve kind of all bought into. It’s just making sure we maintain our focus and our attention to detail on a day-to-day basis. We’ll just take the days as they come.”
It’s not that his team doesn’t have expectation, however.
“We have aspirations and goals. We’ve had that since day one,” Teets said. “We’d like to have at least a repeat performance and get back to the finals, hopefully with a little bit better of an outcome.”
Teets didn’t know what to expect from the WPIAL but was happy with his team’s No. 2 seed.
“I’ve been coaching a long time and I don’t think I’ve ever predicted a bracket even close to right,” he said. “I figured we’d be somewhere in the two-three-four range, being that we split with West Greene, the defending WPIAL and state champs. I figured they’d get the nod at one. I’m satisfied with where we’re at.”
The Lady Greyhounds received a first-round bye. Their postseason will begin on Wednesday with the site, time and opponent to be determined. Monessen will play the winner of Monday’s game between Riverview and Quigley, 2 p.m. at Plum.
Monessen certainly is battle tested as the postseason approaches, thanks to a slew of tough non-section games in addition to two battles apiece with the Lady Pioneers and No. 5 seed Carmichaels.
“We won a close game against Frazier (4-3, against the No. 1 seed in Class AA) early in the year,” Teets said. “We lost a tight game against Belle Vernon (2-0, to the No. 4 seed in Class AAAA and defending WPIAL champion) on Monday, we played Chartiers-Houston (1-0 loss to the No. 2 seed in Class AA). We just played Southmoreland, (No. 3 seed in Class AAA), and we were able to pull out a 5-3 win against them, another quality team.
“Those types of games against quality opponents, especially the ones you play late in the year, I think are really helping us prepare for what, hopefully, is a long run in the playoffs.”
But, again, Teets isn’t prone to glance too far into the future.
“Monday we’re going to get back at it,” Teets said. “We’ll focus on practice and trying to get better, and then see what happens and who we’ll play and go from there.”