Jun 25, 2016 5 min read

In a season like no other in their history, Madison Renner noticed them.

The adoring fans, the cluster of media pushing tape recorders in front of their faces and the probing photographers snapping pictures of seemingly their every move.

Renner, the sophomore riight-handed pitcher for West Greene’s softball team, also noticed something else. Filtering through the crowd were dozens of young girls, dressed in West Greene’s school colors of blue and gold, some carrying their baseball gloves and making their cheers heard.

Renner realized that these girls were just like she was only a few years ago, when she was looking forward to becoming the player she is now.

It surprised her.

“I didn’t realize that we were in a position to be role models for these young girls,” Renner said. “I realize now that we have really made an impression on these young girls and their desire to play softball.”

The Pioneers did so by compiling a year like no other in the program’s history: a record 26 wins, a WPIAL title, a trip to the state finals and a heart-breaking, one-run loss to Williams Valley in that final.

In the process, these Pioneers brought back to newspaper life the 1983 team members, whose accomplishments stood as the standard for every other team that came after.

“This community thinks that our team is pretty special,” said Renner. “We think that these fans and the community are actually the special ones. Their loyalty and dedication never went unnoticed or unappreciated. We wanted to bring a championship home for them. We came up short, but this is a goal that we will not give up on.”

Renner was one of the key cogs for this team, going 19-2 in the circle and hitting .565 with nine home runs and 66 RBI, more than any other player had in the state regardless of classification.

For these accomplishments, Renner is the Observer-Reporter Softball Player of the Year.

“During open gym back in August, when school first started, that’s when I knew we had something special going on,” said Renner. “When you have girls on the basketball team staying (after practice to practice softball), that’s when you know you have something special.”

The hallmark of this year’s West Greene team was the cool, calm and collected way it approached games. The roster had five freshmen starting and only one senior on the team. But they played like grizzled veterans and Renner was unflappable.

“Just like I’ve said about our freshmen all year long about not being typical freshmen, she is not a typical sophomore,” said West Greene head coach Bill Simms. “That’s just a grade she’s in in high school. She has played on a high-level travel team, been to South Dakota and back, and her dad and mom put her in similar game situations. Yes, it’s different when its the state finals but she has been in pressure games before. She is well beyond her years maturity-wide, that’s for sure.”

Simms is a veteran coach and knew this was a talented team. But there was a part of Renner that surprised him early on.

“What surprised me the most was her composure on the mound,” said Simms. “There was a time when she was in middle school, she was the No. 1 pitcher on her team and on her travel team. Last year, she was the No. 2 or 3 pitcher and she was more a fielder position and power hitter. When she became our starting pitcher and she got into jams … I thought her composure was so impressive.”

Renner’s 66 RBI was an incredible number and the most in the state, according to MaxPreps.com, 14 more than the 52 by Cortney Claypoole, a junior shortstop and pitcher from Moniteau High School in West Sunbury.

“That’s something out of Madden,” said Simms. “To give her as many personal accolades, we don’t have enough time (to say). But 66 RBI is a testament to the kids getting on in front of her. If we look at that, we made the decision for her to hit (in the No. 4 spot) behind Bailey, to the No. 3, so we flipped it up a little bit. It worked well early. The numbers Madison put up is a direct correlation to her talent and her surrounding cast. The bottom part of the order got on and with the Lampes up top, it seemed like she was having an RBI opportunity every time she would come up.”

Renner was actually a first baseman/shortstop/pitcher but the slashes were removed when Bailey Bennington, a fireballer who has more than 500 strikeouts in her career, was injured early in the season. That opened the door for Renner to step in. She Bennington the opportunity to be the everyday shortstop and spot starter, and the reconfiguration was complete.

“At the beginning of the season, Bennington was hurt,” said Simms. “She fouled a ball off the instep of her foot, so we didn’t have much (of a decision) for the first six games of the year. Looking at where the two were, Bailey was a powerhouse pitcher and Madison jumped up the charts in controlling her changeup in the offseason and her two-seam and down pitch. So we figured she might give us a better option because of her selection of pitches and Bailey would transition into the closer’s role but still be a solid starter when we needed her. And she did; Bailey went 7-0.”

But there was another important part that made this team so great.

“The chemistry,” Renner said. “You can’t play for yourself; you have to play for the team. That’s what is important. We had it at the beginning because we played with each other before this. Once we got the nerves out of the way, it all fell together.”