HS SOFTBALL: Teams return year after canceled season
Mar. 30—The date: June 14, 2019.
The place: Penn State's Nittany Lion Softball Park.
The scene: Thousands of joyous Williams Valley and Pine Grove fans packed into the bleachers and walkways encircling the sunken bowl of a diamond chanting and cheering the Vikings and Cardinals to state championships.
Nobody in the area has played a real, varsity softball game since that day.
That's nearly 21 months ago — a lifetime in a high school softball player's career.
Life has changed so much, from masks to social distancing to contact tracing. Nevertheless, the winter season made it through to championships indoors, so going outside for softball brings an optimism for better days ahead.
"We are excited to get outside and finally enjoy spring sports," Panther Valley coach Candace Olson said. "It's been long overdue!"
Yet two classes of seniors (2019, 2020) have graduated since the last real game, making 2021 the "Season of the Unknowns."
Many of the area teams are young — really young. They're also inexperienced — really inexperienced.
With that, a whole bunch of questions come to the fore:
—With no clear-cut favorite, which teams will capture Schuylkill League division titles and spots in the league playoffs?
—Whose young rosters and which players will grow up in a hurry and become major contributors?
—Will the players do what's necessary to have a full season amid the lingering coronavirus?
—Who wants success badly enough to have the mental fortitude to sacrifice and put in the work necessary to improve throughout the season?
—And who will build the camaraderie and unity necessary to play their best softball and make a deep run come playoff time?
Class changes
Williams Valley has won the last five District 11 Class A championships and has reached the PIAA Class A championship game the past four seasons.
The Vikings won't in 2021. At least not in Class A.
That's because, for the two-year cycle that began this school year, Williams Valley has moved up to Class AA. There, they rejoin rival Minersville, AA runner-up Schuylkill Haven and Mahanoy Area, along with Executive Education and Shenandoah Valley.
Class A runner-up Nativity becomes the favorite in the smallest class, with Tri-Valley and Marian looking to challenge. Lincoln Leadership, Notre Dame-East Stroudsburg and Weatherly round out the division.
Pine Grove is the defending champion in Class 3A, with AA champion Northern Lehigh moving up. North Schuylkill and Panther Valley reside here, as do Allentown Central Catholic, Catasauqua, Notre Dame-Green Pond, Palisades, Palmerton, Pen Argyl and 3A runner-up Salisbury.
Blue Mountain won the school's first Class 4A district title in 2019, beating Northwestern Lehigh 5-1. Others in this class: Bethlehem Catholic, East Stroudsburg North, Jim Thorpe, Lehighton, Saucon Valley, Tamaqua and Wilson.
Bangor beat Southern Lehigh for the Class 5A title. Pottsville, East Stroudsburg South and Pocono Mountain East round out the class.
Pitching prowess
One somewhat surprising trend emerged when compiling rosters for the area teams.
There are a lot of good pitchers returning.
Start with Williams Valley senior Emma Crisswell and Pine Grove junior Megan Wolfe.
When we saw them last, Crisswell tossed a four-hit shutout and hit a two-run double as Williams Valley defeated DuBois Central Catholic 5-0 in the Class A final. In the next game, Wolfe entered the circle in relief, pitched three shutout innings and belted an RBI triple as Pine Grove rallied past Bald Eagle Area 7-3 to complete a perfect 28-0 season.
Wolfe (pitching — 4-0, 0.97 ERA; batting — 386, 33 RBIs) won the Republican Herald Rookie of the Year award. Crisswell (pitching — 12-0, 1.78 ERA; batting — .423. 20 RBIs) made the first team.
Another returning first-team selection is Nativity senior Samantha Heenan (15-3, 3.30 ERA). A slugger in the middle of the lineup, Heenan batted .533 with five home runs and 29 RBIs.
Two seniors, Schuylkill Haven's Carissa Yeager and Blue Mountain's Bryn Russian, made the All-Area second team in 2019. Yeager (pitching — 12-9, 2.98 ERA; batting — .338, 2 HRs, 24 RBIs) and Russian (.390, 24 runs) are offensive threats, too.
Others who pitched significant innings two years ago include Pottsville junior Taylor Welsh (.404), Minersville senior Aramie Arroyo (.407), Tri-Valley junior Sydney Schley, Upper Dauphin senior Abby Koons and Hamburg senior Haley Gravish. Koons (.406, 7 HRs, 31 RBIs) and Gravish (.443, 3 HRs, 15 RBIs) made the All-Area honorable mention list.
Others to watch
North Schuylkill returns a pair of All-Area second-teamers in senior first baseman Joslin Stitzer (.404, 4 HR, 26 RBIs) and senior center fielder Violet Ryan (.470, 25 runs).
Joining Heenan in the heart of Nativity's lineup are a pair of juniors, All-Area first-teamer Mikaya Beadle (.532, 6 HR, 40 RBIs) and second-teamer Helena Polinsky (batting — .451, 3 HR, 28 RBIs; pitching — 3-0, 0.43 ERA).
Senior shortstop Allison Huhn (.455, 25 SB), an All-Area second teamer, and junior catcher Lexi Snyder (.383) lead Tri-Valley.
Senior catcher/third baseman Alex Bogle (.397, 30 runs, 24 RBIs) and senior infielder Tori Rabuck (.387, 4 HR, 28 RBIs) made the All-Area second team for Williams Valley in 2019. Also keep an eye on senior pitcher Lainie Shoop for the Vikings.
Williams Valley will have a delayed start to its season due to COVID-19 as the Vikings are quarantined through April 6. Their first game will be April 10.
"We are all anxious to get back on the field after having last season canceled," Williams Valley coach Ryan Underkoffler said. "We have high expectations. Our goals aren't going to change because of losses to graduation and having new faces on the team.
"We return a nice core of three starters and six letter winners from the 2019 state championship team, including three quality pitchers," he added. "I feel we will field a solid starting lineup. If we can stay healthy and everything falls into place as we'd like, this team is capable of being division, league and district contenders and making a deep run in states."
Marian seniors Athena Matenkoski (.431) and Mia Nemeth (.393) lead the Fillies' offense.
Teams to watch
—Blue Mountain — The Eagles broke through with their first district title team in 2019. Now the task is to have a district-contending program. Russian is the ace of the staff, and Blue Mountain has six pitchers listed on its roster. If a few of them contribute, the Eagles could contend in the postseason.
—Minersville — The Miners return three outfielders, including senior MaKaila Frie-Karkanica (.379), among five returning starters. Arroyo takes over as the No. 1 pitcher after splitting time in 2019. The key is how many from a large and talented freshman class win jobs and produce right away.
"We have high expectations for senior pitcher Aramie Arroyo, but a division that includes Nativity, Schuylkill Haven, Tri-Valley and Williams Valley won't make things easy," Minersville coach Jamie Kuehn said. "As always, every game should be a battle, and it's likely somebody from the division will end up playing until mid-June."
—Pine Grove — The Cardinals return Wolfe, but most everybody from the state title team has graduated. Pine Grove has just two seniors on its roster, so it will either be a rebuilding year or a reloading year.
"We are looking for this team to find their own identity," Pine Grove coach Ryan Leffler said. "Not looking to fill shoes but looking to fill their own. The kids are excited to get back onto the field. ... I believe our strengths will be the kids want to get better each day and knowing they know what it takes to win. They believe in each other to get it done."
—Pottsville — The Crimson Tide return Welsh in the circle, junior Mia Bowers behind the plate and junior Victoria Fuss (.316) at shortstop. That's a good place to start. They'll need others to step up to return Pottsville to its winning ways.
—Tri-Valley — The Dawgs started five freshmen in 2019 and have six starters back from that club. Included are No. 1 pitcher Schley, catcher Snyder and shortstop Huhn. That's strength up the middle.
Minersville, Pottsville and Tri-Valley had losing seasons in 2019. That's unlikely to happen this year.
"Our goals are to compete for the division title in the always-tough Division II," Tri-Valley coach Marty Shade said. "Also compete for the district title. Most of all, I'm glad the girls are playing softball again. They certainly deserve it."
New coaches
Two programs — Lourdes and Marian — have new head coaches this season.
Amanda Adams will lead the Red Raiders, while Joe DeAngelo will return to the Marian dugout.
This is Adams' first varsity head coaching job, but she was Lourdes' junior high coach for two seasons. Adams also has 11 years of coaching in the Kulpmont area and on the travel circuit. A former high school player, Adams graduated from Shamokin Area in 2005.
DeAngelo had a successful eight-year run with the Fillies that ended in 2017. During that last season, Marian went 14-8 and won the Division III championship.
Contact the writer: blipsky@republicanherald.com; 570-628-6012: @boblipskyRH on Twitter
