Title turns West Greene from hunted to hunters

CALIFORNIA – One popular sports axiom says it’s tougher to defend a championship than it is to win one for the first time.
Another such belief is that it’s difficult to beat a good team three times in a season.
The West Greene High School softball team destroyed both of those theories Thursday afternoon with an impressive 10-0 thumping of Monessen in the WPIAL Class A championship game at California University, even if Pioneers coach Bill Simms says nothing about this season has been easy.
“Emotionally and according to the stress level, I can say that it’s a fact that it’s more difficult to defend a championship than win the first one,” Simms said. “I know the players have handled this better than I have.”
Simms, however, could have sat down, propped up his feet, relaxed and enjoyed this championship game. West Greene, much as it has for two seasons, drained the drama early from this one. The Pioneers scored three runs in the top of the first inning and never slowed down, winning in only six innings.
The WPIAL championship is the second in a row for West Greene, a first for the school in any sport. The Pioneers (22-1) now have matching gold trophies, the first earned last year with a 12-3 victory over Chartiers-Houston in the finals.
The win also continued Greene County’s stranglehold on the Class A title. Jefferson-Morgan won the championship in 2015.
“To do it again, and go back-to-back, is pretty exciting for the school,” said West Greene junior shortstop Madison Renner, who drove in four runs, including a two-run homer to left field that gave the Pioneers an 8-0 lead in the sixth inning.
Renner’s home run would have been impressive in any season at Lilley Field, but was even more so this year after the outfield fences were moved back 20 feet and made higher. That home run is the only one hit this year by a player in a classification smaller than 4-A.
Renner’s shot was just part of a performance that was vintage West Greene. The Pioneers used speed, power and defense to overwhelm a very good and rapidly improving Monessen (15-6) team. West Greene made the win look easier than it was during the regular season when it defeated Monessen 6-2 and 1-0 in Section 2 games.
West Greene had 13 hits off Monessen’s terrific pitcher Dana Vatakis, who is a Robert Morris recruit, stole three bases and made several top-flight defensive plays. Two of those web gems were made by slick-fielding sophomore third baseman Madison Lampe, who took extra-base hits away from Monessen batters by backhanding balls at the foul line.
“I don’t know how to describe the level of play of Madison Lampe,” Simms said. “She might be the best defensive third baseman I’ve seen. Some of the plays she’s made are Brooks Robinson-esque.”
Another key defensive play was made by junior left fielder Linzee Stover. Monessen, which was trailing 6-0, had runners on first and second with two outs in the fourth inning when Carly Rock singled to left field. Stover charged and fielded the ball, came up throwing and fired a strike to home plate, where catcher Shelby Morris fielded the ball that arrived on a tricky short hop and quickly tagged sliding Kelsey Bachinski to end the inning and threat.
Some West Greene players have admitted that there was extra pressure of them this season because they were expected to win the WPIAL championship. After all, they returned all but one starter from last year’s starting lineup. They have been a marked team up to this point in the season.
Now, the Pioneers return to the role of the hunter, chasing the state championship that eluded them last year in a one-run loss to Williams Valley in the finals.
“We don’t want to settle for a WPIAL championship,” Stover said. “People expect more from this team. It took a while for us to get back to where we were last year, to get things right.”
Renner said the Pioneers will play the remainder of the season as a team with something to prove.
“There’s a chip on our shoulder,” she said. “We definitely want to get back to Penn State (the site of the PIAA finals). To get there and lose by one run last year was tough.
“We’re going to take the same approach that we took last season. We’re going to be play loose, take everything one game at a time, not look ahead. We know we have a first round game in the state tournament next. If we stick to that approach, then good things will happen.”
Sports editor Chris Dugan can be reached at dugan@observer-reporter.com.