West Greene tops Monessen, advances to 3rd straight title game
McMURRAY – The reason power softball pitchers such as Monessen’s Dana Vatakis are so successful is because they take the game into their own hands.
Most coaches preach “pitch to contact,” but those are the coaches who don’t have Vatakis, who has more than 800 strikeouts in her career.
To beat the Robert Morris commit, West Greene head coach Bill Simms said his hitters must put the ball in play. With West Greene facing the fireballing righty for the fourth time this season – this time in the PIAA Class A semifinal Tuesday – the Pioneers were able to take the game out of Vatakis’ hands and make the defense make plays.
The Pioneers struck out only three times and were aided by four Monessen errors to win 7-4 and advance to their third straight state title game.

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West Greene celebrates its win over Monessen in the PIAA Class A semifinals at Peterswood Park.
“Against Vatakis, our philosophy is to get the ball in play,” Simms said. “We think we win if we don’t strike out looking against her. … I think we had one today, so it’s huge when we minimize our strikeouts looking.”
West Greene (22-4) will play Williams Valley Thursday at Penn State in a rematch of the last two state championship games. First pitch for the game at Penn State is 11 a.m. The previous two games were one-run contests, with Williams Valley winning 3-2 in 2016 and West Greene prevailing 9-8 last season.
There was no greater point during this game when Vatakis, who allowed seven runs -four earned – needed a punchout than during a fifth inning that saw West Greene score four runs and take a 6-3 lead.
“I think (Vatakis) is an advantage we would’ve had over any team other than West Greene,” said Monessen head coach Bo Teets. “The first time we play a team, I think we have a major advantage. But playing them for the fourth time this year, they obviously know what we like to throw in what situations.”
The bottom half of West Greene’s order put the pressure on Monessen’s defense, which made two errors in the fifth inning, and extended the inning to allow three unearned runs. The last two runs came across the plate because of an unlikely source in No. 9 hitter Jersey Wise, who hit her first career home run.

Holly Tonini/Observer-Reporter
West Greene’s Jersey Wise is mobbed as she returns to the dugout after hitting a home run against Monessen.
“As soon as I felt it on the barrel, I just hoped that it would go over (the fence),” Wise said.
“She was a courtesy runner to start the year,” Simms said. “But she didn’t bag it in and was a team player. … She got her opportunities and maxed out on them. That’s the epitome of what we try to breed within our program.”
The West Greene lineup has improved at making contact against Vatakis as the season has progressed. The Pioneers struck out 11, eight and six times, respectively, in their first three games against Vatakis.
“We’ve gotten used to her speed,” West Greene second baseman Kaitlyn Rizor said. “We figured out her strategy today. She was working inside a lot, and we weren’t trying to pull the outside pitch.”
While Monessen had the lead for almost the entire game during the WPIAL championship, which West Greene won 5-4 by scoring three runs in the seventh, the Pioneers jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first inning Tuesday at Peterswood Park.
McKenna Lampe singled on a bunt to lead off the inning then stole second and third base. Madison Lampe singled her home, and pitcher Jade Renner, who allowed four runs – one earned – in her complete game win, smacked an RBI single.
Cara Wheeler gave Monessen the lead with a three-run home run in the fourth. Wheeler hit a two-run home run off Jade Renner in April to lead the Greyhounds (17-5) to their first victory over West Greene since 2014 and give Monessen a share the Section 2-A title.

Holly Tonini/Observer-Reporter
Monessen’s Cara Wheeler is greeted by her team at home plate after hitting a home run against West Greene Tuesday during a PIAA Class A semifinal game.
West Greene’s four-run fifth inning was initiated by Rizor, who hit a one-out double and advanced to third on an outfield error. Linzee Stover bunted, and when Vatakis threw to first to retire Stover, Rizor took off for home. She contorted her body around the catcher to barely clip the back tip of home plate with her left hand.
“Once I saw she wasn’t going to pump fake and she released the ball, I was gone,” Rizor said. “I saw the throw coming from first, so I knew I needed to get behind the catcher.”
The game was tied, 3-3, and the inning could’ve been over after Mackenzie Carpenter hit a groundball. But an infield error allowed another run to score and brought Wise up to the plate to smack the home run to dead center field.
“They’re a state champion team for a reason,” Teets said. “You’re going to have to play a near perfect game (to beat them). I think we played well, but…we didn’t capitalize where we needed to on offense and made a couple defensive mishaps that they turned into runs.”
Madison Lampe scored on a wild pitch for insurance in the sixth. Despite two West Greene errors and two Monessen hits in the seventh, the Greyhounds couldn’t sustain the comeback, scoring only one run.