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Inspiration, perspiration drives West Greene

5 min read
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Early in the season, far from the pressure of playoff softball, Bill Simms turned to a friend to help motivate his West Greene softball team.

The Pioneers had just gone through a spectacular season, winning a WPIAL championship and coming within a play or two of capturing a state title.

Simms wanted someone who had been under that type of pressure to share their feelings on how to handle the expectations.

And Rob Cole was more than happy to oblige, giving a motivational speech to the Pioneers about the exploits of the 1998 Carmichaels team he coached to a second WPIAL championship and the state’s Class AA title.

“Bill thought he could draw on my experience a little bit and I could talk to them about going into this season about being the defending champions and what that means,” Cole said. “They were very attentive and it was a real honor for me just to get to spend some time with them.”

Cole hopes his words help the Pioneers Friday, when they take on the defending PIAA Class A champion Williams Valley at 11 a.m. in Nittany Lion Park on the campus of Penn State University.

West Greene enters the game with a 25-1 record and with the advantage of vengeance to wipe away last year’s 3-2 loss to Williams Valley last year.

This is the first time the same two programs will meet in the Class A finals in back-to-back seasons and only the third time in state history a rematch has occurred in the finals of any classification.

Cole coached seven seasons at Carmichaels and he remembers the churning going on in his stomach before that 5-2 win over South Williamsport that secured gold.

“I remember hitting infield practice and I was shaking,” he said. “It wasn’t a nice day but the girls were pretty calm. After a couple innings, the clouds cleared and it was a nice day.”

Made even nicer by the victory.

“It was an exciting time,” he said. “One thing the group of girls from West Greene has done is they brought our team back to life, so to speak. People are talking about the team of ’98 again and that’s just great. I told the West Greene girls that when they get to the state championship game, there will be a lot of women in their mid-30s pulling for them.”

Including pitcher Nikki Gasti, centerfielder Megan Bandish, third baseman Daysha Grimes and shortstop Abby McMinn to name a few.

“I called Rob a couple times last year, picking his brain and trying to lean on someone who has been there and done that,” said Simms. “He’s from the county and some of our girls took lessons through Nikki. I guess we have a closer relationship with Carmichaels than we like to admit.”

Williams Valley lost five senior starters and, like West Greene, has a freshman pitcher but, unlike West Greene, a new head coach.

“We tried to read up where we can,” said Simms, “but we’re more focused on us than them.”

Last year, Williams Valley scored the winning run in the bottom of the seventh inning. This is a more experienced, but still young, West Greene team. The Pioneers have won six consecutive playoff games, including a 9-5 win over Dubois Central Catholic in the state semifinals, which doubles as the West Region final.

They have three shutouts from Jade Renner and have allowed a combined seven runs.

Williams Valley earned a spot in the finals with a 9-5 win of its own, over Meyersdale. Stevie Unger, a freshman, is coming off a seven-strikeout performance against Meyersdale.

Senior shortstop Caitlyn Pinchorski has a strong arm and forms a solid left side of the infield with sophomore third baseman Kenna Foren.

“We play in District 11, and it’s tough,” first-year head coach Ryan Underkoffler told the Pottsville Republican Herald after beating Meyersdale. “We always come into these games feeling like we’re the better team.

“We play in a tough league and a tough district. Now, we’ll play one more game.”

Rayann Hawk’s slicing single to right field off Madison Renner, which just eluded a lunging Mackenzie Carpenter, gave Williams Valley a two-out walk-off win.

Unger will face a West Greene lineup that has outscored opponents, 55-7, in the postseason. Dealing with the Nos. 1 and 2 hitters – McKenna Lampe and Madison Lampe – before reaching the powerful Madison Renner is the big concern for Unger.

McKenna Lampe is hitting .654 and Madison Lampe .576 and the two have combined for 15 home runs, 84 RBI and 113 of the team’s 274 runs. Madison Renner has a team-high 12 home runs, 55 RBI and a .488 average. And cleanup hitter Kaitlyn Rizor is third on the team with nine doubles and owns a .549 average.

“When McKenna gets on, it usually sparks everybody,” said Madison Lampe. “Everyone gets excited. She gets things started. My goal is to get her around the bases. When she gets on, it gives me more confidence.”

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