Lady Pioneers not fazed by close games
West Greene is known as a dominant softball team and rightly so with the way it has overwhelmed its opponents in most games over these past four seasons.
But don鈥檛 let the Lady Pioneers fool you into thinking they might crack in a close battle.
That just hadn鈥檛 been the case for coach Bill Simms鈥� squad heading into its PIAA Class A semifinal game against DuBois Central Catholic at Slippery Rock University on Tuesday. If the Lady Pioneers won that game, they will be playing for the state championship for the fourth straight year today at Penn State University.
West Greene was 7-1 in the postseason since 2016 in games decided by three runs or less and 3-1 in one-run games with the only loss coming to Williams Valley, 9-8, in walk-off fashion in 2016.
The Lady Pioneers (21-4) showed their mettle again last Friday when they survived a 5-4 clash with Clarion at Slippery Rock in the quarterfinals to keep alive their hopes of winning a third straight state title to go with four consecutive WPIAL championships.
The Lady Bobcats, down 5-0, loaded the bases with no outs and eventually got the tying run on base and the winning run to the plate in the bottom of the seventh inning.
West Greene鈥檚 fielders stayed calm, thanks in part to a visit to the mound by Simms during the Clarion uprising, and took the sure outs, ignored the meaningless runs as they scampered home and secured the win on a sharp ground out back to pitcher Jade Renner.
鈥淚 went out and told them, 鈥楬ey, don鈥檛 try to make a hero play here. If there鈥檚 any doubt in anyone鈥檚 mind, we鈥檙e going to first base with it,'鈥� Simms said. 鈥�(Third baseman) Madison Lampe probably had a chance to get a girl in a rundown at home right beside her but she did the veteran thing and just threw it over to first base. We thought we could get three outs before they could get five runs.鈥�
West Greene may have found itself in another tight battle with DuBois (16-9), the District 9 champion, if history was any indication. The Lady Pioneers defeated the Cardinals 5-2 in 2016 and 9-5 in 2017, both also in the state semifinals. This year鈥檚 team was forced to forfeit nine games due to using an illegal player, which means DuBois had yet to lose a game on the field this season going into Tuesday鈥檚 clash.
鈥淲e went out and watched them at Mount Aloysius (a 6-5 quarterfinal win over Claysburg Kimmel) and they had a nice come-from-behind victory,鈥� Simms said. 鈥淭hey tied it in the bottom of the seventh and then won it in the bottom of the ninth.
鈥淭hey showed they鈥檙e battle-tested in tight games as well. They鈥檙e outfield is extremely long and athletic and the catcher has a great arm. We don鈥檛 know a full scouting report from what you would get in watching them 10 games but in the one game we saw them we know that they鈥檙e a very, very solid team, well-coached.
鈥淚t should be a great game in the state semifinal I think.鈥�
While West Greene has steamrolled its section foes for the most part since 2016, it鈥檚 putting together a competitive non-section schedule that has sharpened the Lady Pioneers in tight games, according to Simms.
鈥淲e鈥檝e spent a lot of money to go to Myrtle Beach to play in high-level games at the beginning of the season against much bigger schools and classifications, that鈥檚 why it, hopefully, pays off here at the end,鈥� Simms said.
鈥淲e need to go out and play a huge non-conference schedule and we have. That鈥檚 what鈥檚 prepared us for these playoff games like the one we got into on Friday.鈥�
While this is the final go-around for the Lady Pioneers鈥� legendary senior class, which includes senior starters Kaitlyn Rizor, Madison Lampe, McKenna Lampe, Brianna Goodwin and Mackenzie Carpenter, Simms prefers not to ponder about that just yet.
鈥淲e鈥檙e trying to kind of put that on the back burner and just 鈥榗arpe diem,鈥� live for the moment,鈥� Simms said. 鈥淲e know our days are numbered with this group but we鈥檇 just like to do what we can do to extend the season one more game.
鈥淒uBois Central is going to be a formidable opponent but I鈥檓 sure they鈥檙e going to get our best shot.鈥�