Canon-McMillan has big shoes to fill
Editor’s note: This is the second in a series of stories profiling the area’s high school baseball and softball teams.
For most teams, replacing a pair of athletes who were named Observer-Reporter Player of the Year in softball in back-to-back seasons would be a daunting task.
That’s what Canon-McMillan head coach Michele Moeller faces this season, which begins Friday, with the graduations of catcher Gia Zeremenko, the 2013 player of the year, and third baseman Olivia Lorusso, who won the award in 2014.
The powerful duo took their talents to Pitt and Robert Morris – where both have seen plenty of action as freshmen – and left a huge void in the middle of the Big Macs’ lineup.
“We recognize that you don’t just replace players like that, especially the talent we’ve had,” said Moeller, who also must replace second baseman Ally Bellaire. “But you just have to keep moving and tailor your style to your talent. Are we going to miss having those two big bats in the lineup? Sure. But we feel like we still have a strong team.”
Don’t feel too badly for Moeller. Led by junior shortstop Linda Rush and senior Abby McCartney, the cupboard is hardly bare at Canon-McMillan, which ended 18-5 after losing to Shaler in last year’s WPIAL Class AAAA championship then to DuBois in the first round of the PIAA playoffs.
Rush, who hit the game-winning home run in the PIAA championship game two years ago as a freshman, has continued to build on her early career success and is one of the best all-round players in the area.
Last season, she hit nine home runs, scored 40 runs and drove in another 38.
McCartney, who will join Lorusso at Robert Morris next year, led the Big Macs with a .575 batting average while hitting 12 homers, driving in 45 runs and scoring 36. She struck out twice in 84 plate appearances.
McCartney, who earned all-state honors as an outfielder, is one of several candidates Moeller is looking at to replace Zeremenko behind the plate.
“I’m leaning toward her catching,” said Moeller. “She’s taking reps catching and in the outfield. But we’ve got some younger girls there as well. We’ll do what’s best for the team.”
At pitcher, Tara Fowler returns, and Moeller feels the senior is prepared to be even better than she was last season.
“She now has a full year under her belt,” said Moeller. “Hopefully, that translates into more confidence for her. Our defense hurt us at times last season.”
The Big Macs again figure to be in the mix as one of the best teams in rugged Section 4-AAAA, which has arguably been the toughest in the WPIAL over the past few years.
“I know it’s probably going to be like it has been, with us, Peters Township, Baldwin and Bethel Park battling for those playoffs spots,” said Moeller. “That’s not to dismiss any of the other teams. They are all tough. But I definitely know what’s coming back from those three teams and they’ll be tough.”
Peters Township
The Indians missed the playoffs last season for the first time since 2006, going 9-8 overall. But all three non-section losses came in a spring trip to Tennessee to out-of-state competition and the Indians return second-team all-district pitcher Kellyn Perich.
Perich, a senior, helped the Indians to a 9-5 record in Section 4-AAAA, one game shy of a playoff spot, striking out 64 batters in 47 innings.
She also batted .419 and scored 17 runs.
The Indians lost just three seniors to graduation and return a number of key contributors, including Carly Konopka, Emily Corrado and Kyle Hartbauer.