Mar 23, 2016 6 min read

It was hard to find things that went wrong for the Burgettstown softball team in 2015.

After averaging over nine runs per game and recording eight shutouts, Burgettstown earned a share of the Section 1-AA title with South Side Beaver and a 17-4 overall record.

Things didn’t end so well, however, as the Blue Devils lost three of their final four games, including a 5-0 first-round WPIAL playoff loss to Neshannock.

“I do not really know how to explain it,” said Burgettstown head coach Mark Deer. “We hit a wall.”

The offensive show put on last year might be difficult to repeat with the loss of senior shortstop and All-District selection Caley Ritts. Ritts, now the starting second baseman for Division II Malone University, led the Blue Devils with a .536 batting average and 30 RBI.

“Caley was the ultimate all-around ball player,” said Deer. “She knew the game. She was a captain. You cannot replace a player like that with only one person. Everyone has to pick up their game and step up.”

Burgettstown does return All-District pitcher Kate Tarr. Tarr went 16-4 with a 2.61 ERA while batting .327 with four home runs last season.

Deer knows that Tarr will be successful on the mound, however, the defense behind her has been a focus.

“She is an awesome pitcher,” he said. “She always gives you the opportunity to win every game. We as a team just have to be more consistent day in and day out. The girls know what happened last year and they do not want that to happen again.”

It only takes one word to describe the Highlanders’ 2015 season – abrupt.

Not only did McGuffey’s season come to an abrupt end in a 13-3 loss to Burrell in the first round of the WPIAL playoffs, it started immediately for head coach Jason Kern.

Kern, who was hired just two months before the season began after Bill Loar resigned, was required to quickly learn the roster.

Despite the shared unfamiliarity between Kern and his team, he and lone senior Sammie Weiss led McGuffey to a 14-3 overall record and a playoff spot in Section 2-AA.

Weiss, who batted .426 last season, is a big loss for the Highlanders, but Kern feels the Highlanders will be OK.

“I was pleased with our overall performance,” he said. “I was disappointed with how it ended because we probably played our worst game of the year in the playoffs. We knew Burrell could hit the ball going into that game. We had a couple of injuries going into that game. This year we have depth.”

That deep roster will consist of a good batch of freshmen, eight seniors and seven returning starters, including starting pitcher Moriah McGuier. McGuier allowed 21 runs in 119 innings while recording 150 strikeouts last season.

Defense and hitting have been the team’s biggest focus and Kern has a number in mind for each game.

“Our magic number on offense to score seven runs,” said Kern, whose team did not allow more than six runs in any of its regular season games. “We continue to preach defense and limit the errors. We can make a run at (the section championship) if we play defense behind Moriah.”

Returning behind McGuier will be Carae Wagner, who will switch from third base to first base after labrum surgery in the offseason. Freshman Emily Vinski will take Wagner’s spot at third. McGuier will also have help with the speed of McGuffey’s outfield, highlighted by senior center fielder Meghan Shultz.

For the past three years, Carmichaels could send Erica Burns to the mound and have a shot at winning.

Burns posted a 14-4 record last season and 50-11 record in her three years as Carmichaels’ starting pitcher, helping to extend the Mikes’ section championship streak to nine consecutive years.

Winning a 10th consecutive title without Burns, now pitching at Point Park, in Section 2-AA will be difficult.

“We cannot take days off with the bats or the gloves this year,” said head coach Dave Briggs.

“We will not be able to get away with that this season.”

Trying to fill that void will be juniors Laura Walker and Paige Armstrong, neither of whom has pitched at the varsity level.

Also returning for the Mikes will be Megan Walker, Natalie McNett, Morgan Faddis, Emma Lowry and Emily Lewis.

“We have seven teams, which makes it difficult, and a lot of teams have many girls back,” said Briggs. “There are no easy outs. We have some girls back but most of them are playing different positions – we will see.”

After only graduating one senior, the Bearcats hope to improve on an 11-10 overall record last season.

To find itself higher than the third-place finish it had in Section 2-AA last season, the Bentworth offense must continue its torrid pace of 2015 when it averaged around seven runs per game.

The Bearcats will need to play better against Carmichaels and McGuffey. They went 0-4 and were outscored 35-7 in those games.

Consistency will be the key for the Bulldogs to reach the .500 plateau. After a 6-9 overall record last year, which failed to produce a winning streak longer than two games, it will be important for Beth-Center to improve upon its 1-4 regular season start from 2015 in Section 2-AA.

Third-year head coach Trey Tilghman will look to keep game close this season, relying on hitting and defense, to manifest itself into a better record than last year’s 6-11 overall mark.

Charleroi will rely on shortstop Morgan Riley, first baseman Sydney Toth and the rest of its seven returning starters to compete in Section 2-AA.

The Cougars must improve on their 1-5 record in one-run games from a season ago.

The Prexies’ lone win of last season came against California. However, Washington lost only one player to graduation. The starting point for Wash High to improve begins with pitching, as it allowed opponents to score more than 10 runs eight times last season.

Waynesburg

Despite struggling with youth and inexperience last season, the Raiders reached the WPIAL playoffs for the second consecutive year, going 7-7 in Section 2-AA games and 8-12 overall. Waynesburg must replaced the offensive production of graduated All-District third baseman Hannah Gibbons. Gibbons batted an area-best .627 with 22 RBI last year.