West Greene stays hot against Char-Houston
ROGERSVILLE – The West Greene High School girls softball team spent last weekend in sun-baked Myrtle Beach, S.C., enjoying the beach and temperatures in the 70s, bonding and mixing in nine softball games – four varsity and five junior varsity – over four days. The Pioneers went 3-1 in those varsity contests, including a landmark victory over defending WPIAL Class AA champion Deer Lakes.
Back in Greene County, where the temperature was in the upper 30s at game time Tuesday, West Greene proved that it’s like the postal service and can deliver in any weather conditions. The Pioneers knocked off another program that knows a little about winning in the WPIAL playoffs, rolling over Chartiers-Houston, 11-1 in a six-inning Section 1-A opener.
The wins over Deer Lakes and Chartiers-Houston, the latter an eight-time WPIAL champion and last year’s Class A runner-up, give credence to the early scuttlebutt that that this could be a very good softball season for West Greene, a program that is on the rise and has a future as bright as any in the area.
”Without question, this was a measuring stick game for us,” West Greene coach Bill Simms said. “Chartiers-Houston doesn’t have 14 banners for softball and eight trophies in that school for nothing. We treat them with the utmost respect. We’ve wanted to be where they’ve been, even when we’ve been mediocre. I don’t know if we’re there yet.”
This time, there was nothing mediocre about West Greene (1-0, 6-1). The Pioneers, who some have tabbed the No. 1 Class A team in the WPIAL, looked the part of a quality and confident club while Chartiers-Houston (0-1, 1-3), in a rare rebuilding year, looked like the mediocre and error-prone team.
West Greene sophomore pitcher Madison Renner fired a three-hitter and helped her cause by driving in three runs. Shortstop Bailey Bennington, who sat out the first two games of the season with a bruised shin, the result of an injury in practice, had two hits and two RBI. Twins MacKenna and Madison Lampe, the first two hitters in the Pioneers’ lineup, combined for three hits and four runs.
Seven different Pioneers had at least one hit.
”I was worried about getting acclimated to the weather,” Simms said. “We went from the 70s with sun on our back and the beach to the high 30s, and I was worried about that. I didn’t think we would have a letdown, though, because we’ve preached to the kids how good (Chartiers-Houston) is.”
In this game, and in two of its previous three, Chartiers-Houston’s defense wasn’t up to snuff. The Bucs committed six errors, including three in West Greene’s five-run sixth inning.
”With the defense we played today we’re not going to beat anybody,” Chartiers-Houston coach Tricia Alderson said. “The game we won, against North Catholic, we played good defense. But we lost to Monessen when we had eight or nine errors. We’re not making routine defensive plays. We have only 10 healthy players, so it’s not like we have a lot of moves to make.”
West Greene took a 3-0 lead in the third inning against C-H’s Kaitlyn Dittrich, who pitched better than the final score suggests. MacKenna Lampe blooped a leadoff triple to left field, just off of the glove of diving left fielder Lauren Lober, and scored on Madison Lampe’s single. Bennington then laced a run-scoring double to left centerfield and scored on a single by Kaitlyn Rizor.
The Pioneers scored three more runs in the fourth after loading the bases with no outs. C-H almost got out of the jam unscathed because of two infield-fly-rule popouts, but Renner drove in two runs with a single to right field. An error allowed the Pioneers’ sixth run to score.
Chartiers-Houston spoiled Renner’s shutout bid in the fifth when Jaylese Lombardi, who had walked, scored from third base on a fielder’s choice. West Greene ended the game after six consecutive batters reached base in the sixth.
”That trip to South Carolina was amazing,” said Renner, who is one of eight underclassmen in the starting lineup. “Everyone is on the same page now. We have the same goal, which is winning a state title. Softball is now our main priority.”
That togetherness has created an interesting motto for West Greene.
”The players will hear me say ‘Texas hold ’em’ sometimes. That refers to poker. We’re all-in,” Simms explained.