Observer-Reporter Athlete of the Week
Name: Linda Rush
School: Canon-McMillan
Year: Senior
Sport: Softball
Rush’s week: The Big Macs’ four-year starter at shortstop led C-M to three wins in four games, going 9-for-14 with four home runs, 10 RBI and nine runs.
Her two-run homer in the fifth inning helped Canon-McMillan defeat Baldwin in a Section 4-AAAA game and she had another memorable performance in a wild win Thursday over Upper St. Clair.
Rush went 4-for-4 with two home runs and four RBI, and the Big Macs scored 13 runs in the sixth inning for a 19-2 win.
“My goodness, the week she had,” Canon-McMillan head coach Michele Moeller said. “Everyone keeps saying how short our fence is, but she hit the one at Upper St. Clair over 225 feet and Baldwin has a deep fence. She’s really striking the ball well.”
Powering through: Rush, a Drexel recruit, started the season strong at the plate, helping Canon-McMillan (6-1, 11-2) score at least nine runs in seven of its first nine games, but she wasn’t hitting for much power.
It was a surprise considering she hit an area-best 11 home runs as a junior. Moeller and assistant coach Steve Moskal noticed a small hitch in Rush’s swing that was preventing her from getting a lift on the ball.
Within minutes, Rush was back to hitting for power. She’s batting .667 with eight home runs, 30 RBI and 27 runs in 13 games.
“At the beginning of the season, I was just hitting in the middle of the ball and hitting line drives or ground balls,” Rush said. “Coach Moeller and Coach Moskal told me to angle my bat a little bit more.”
The offensive numbers aren’t anything new. It was Rush who hit the game-winning two-run homer to give the Big Macs the PIAA championship in 2013.
Rush has 31 home runs and 120 RBI in her career, and it all began when she filled in for Veronica Rothka, who tore her ACL prior to the 2013 season.
She has led C-M to the WPIAL playoffs three years in a row, and with the graduation of Abby McCartney, who is now playing at Robert Morris, Rush has taken on a bigger role – frequently asking coaches questions to improve and leading by example in the No. 2 or No. 3 spot in the order.
“Her bat speed has always been incredible,” Moeller said. “She’s going to have her good and bad days, too, but the last week, the week that she had – she really helped power us through some things.”
Expectations: It wasn’t long ago that Canon-McMillan was the talk of the WPIAL, clubbing home runs out of every park in the section and dominating competition with a handful of Division I recruits.
With all eyes on other programs this spring, the Big Macs continue to thrive. They’re sitting in first place in Section 4-AAAA and are batting .406 as a team.
The success has come using two different pitchers who had practically no varsity experience prior to this season. Regardless, Abbi Michelluci and Kaylee Gohring have an ERA of 2.58.
“I don’t know why people are looking down on us,” Rush said. “We bring good competition to the table. I like an underdog story though, so we’ll see.”
Compiled by Lance Lysowski