Apr 17, 2016 3 min read

It’s that time of the spring sports season when we start to see which teams are going to live up to expectations and others that are surprising everyone.

Depending on whom you ask, West Greene softball could fit into both categories. People around the area were predicting a big year out of the Pioneers and that’s definitely ringing true.

They are undefeated in section play at 4-0 and are 10-1 overall with an offense that is batting .391 and has scored 124 runs. Scoring runs wasn’t West Greene’s issue last year. What’s more impressive is how it is generating that offense.

Instead of relying on only power hitters, the Pioneers also have speed, stealing 22 bases so far this season. Oh, and it helps having pitching.

Sophomore Madison Renner is 8-1 with a 2.09 ERA, 53 strikeouts and six walks. Sadly, I’ve seen some box scores this season where a team or even one pitcher has more walks in five innings.

Senior Bailey Bennington, a California University recruit, has not allowed a run in 10 innings pitched while striking out 20 and walking one. That combination is going to make West Greene difficult to beat in the postseason.

One of the biggest areas the Pioneers had to improve on from last season was defense and by all accounts, they’ve looked much better in the field and it helps having such an athletic freshmen class, which is led by McKenna and Madison Lampe.

West Greene has already defeated perennial power Chartiers-Houston and should be the overwhelming favorite to take down Jefferson-Morgan once those two teams play. I’m sure people who aren’t familiar with the program are looking at the stats and record with raised eyebrows, but this fast start was somewhat expected and what’s more impressive is West Greene isn’t settling for being in first place in mid-April.

That being said, look for Chartiers-Houston to get much better as the season goes on and will be prepared for the rematch with West Greene Thursday.

Another team that was surprisingly overlooked early is Canon-McMillan, which is in first place in Section 4-AAAA and is back to scoring runs in bunches. The defense looks much improved from the past two seasons, so the biggest question down the stretch will be pitching.

I don’t see why the Big Macs (4-0, 7-1) won’t be able to continue the hot start.

These two aren’t the only teams that look bound for a playoff run. There are a few in Section 2-AA that will be teams to watch over the next month. McGuffey (3-0, 5-0) and Bentworth (5-0, 8-1) both have pitching, offense and great defense. They’ll have to unseat Carmichaels to earn the section title, but I think the Mikes’ streak will end this year because these two have what it takes to take the next step.

Another one to keep an eye on is Belle Vernon, which has sophomore pitcher Bailey Parshall, but has struggled on offense. The Leopards’ offense may not be scoring runs, but the top two hitters in their order (Megan Christner and Lexie Church) are as good as you’ll find in Class AAA.

Parshall, a Penn State recruit, is also an excellent hitter, but Belle Vernon needs more production throughout the order to be a title contender.