Trinity relishes underdog role in PIAA playoffs
Trinity’s softball team is 17-5 overall and reached the WPIAL Class AAA semifinals, but the Hillers believe they are the underdogs today when they play District 10 champion Warren (17-1) in the first round of the PIAA playoffs at Penn State-Behrend in Erie. Above, Trinity’s Paige Galentine pitches April 28 against Thomas Jefferson. At left, Pitt recruit Olivia Gray is hugged by teammate Madison Hornak after hitting a home run in late March against eventual WPIAL champion Belle Vernon.
Trinity’s Olivia Gray gets a hug from teammate Madison Hornak after hitting a home run that sent three of her teammates to homeplate in the bottom of the sixth against Belle Vernon on Monday, March 30.
Losing in the WPIAL softball semifinals can be a desolating experience. Not only is a team sent to a consolation game, it must quickly come to terms with falling short of a goal set months, even years, ago.
Trinity (17-5) is an exception. With a family-like atmosphere in the dugout led by an unique, even-tempered coaching staff, the Hillers are focused and level-headed. Eight seniors who, a year ago, saw their season end in the district quarterfinals put the situation into perspective.
That’s why it did not take much for Trinity to bounce back from a semifinal defeat to Yough with a statement-making 10-1 victory over Southmoreland in the consolation game to earn a spot in the PIAA playoffs.
“That was a tough loss and I told them afterward that it doesn’t matter how you get (to the state playoffs), all that matters is getting there,” head coach Shawn Gray said. “Getting the opportunity is all that matters and, obviously, you want to go there with the WPIAL title underneath your belt, but let those people have the limelight and let us be the dark horse in the background.”
It’s the program’s first state playoff appearance since 2009, when the Hillers lost in the WPIAL title game to Franklin Regional and bounced back to reach the PIAA semifinals, where they lost to Greencastle-Antrim.
With the state playoffs beginning today, few people are talking about Trinity, which was written off after a nine-run loss to the Cougars last week. The Hillers don’t mind.
Their résumé includes a seven-run victory over WPIAL champion Belle Vernon in section play and nine wins where they scored double-digit runs. They possess one of the top defenses in the WPIAL and a roster featuring two future Division I players – senior shortstop Olivia Gray, a Pitt recruit, and junior first baseman Delaney Elling, who is headed to Penn State.
That’s why the program adopted a simple mantra as it prepares for its matchup with Warren (17-1), the District 10 champions, in the first round of the PIAA playoffs today at Penn State-Behrend (2 p.m.). “Why not us?” has been the talk of the Hillers.
The phrase was used by many college softball programs since the NCAA Tournament began, and the Hillers picked up the trend by hashtagging the phrase on Twitter.
Trinity did not capture the program’s first WPIAL title, but it knows four wins separate it from a first state softball championship.
“We have a really big social media presence with some of the girls on our team,” Elling said. “We hashtag everything and a lot of college teams started using the why not us thing, so it really caught on. We got shirts made and that’s the way we’re approaching this.”
Warren, led by senior pitcher Meghan Loutzenhiser, is hoping to put a stop to the Hillers’ upset bid. The first-year starter in the circle holds a 15-1 record with a 1.05 ERA and a 154-19 strikeout-to-walk ratio. She is also second on the Dragons with a .475 batting average and 21 RBI. Their offense is led by junior catcher Paige Wilson, who is batting .609 with three home runs and 28 RBI. Warren has a .366 team batting average, but its weakness is in the field with 26 errors this season.
Facing a top pitcher is nothing new to Trinity. It faced Belle Vernon freshman Bailey Parshall, a Penn State recruit, twice and Yough’s Macy Mularski in the WPIAL semifinals. The Hillers were successful against Parshall in both meetings, though they stranded 14 runners in a 6-3 loss April 27, and could not make adjustments fast enough against Mularski.
With no scouting report on Loutzenhiser, Gray is preaching patience and awareness to his batters. Waiting until the third or fourth inning to make adjustments is not an option against District 10’s top pitcher. He wants each player to observer every at-bat to look for tendencies.
“(Parshall and Mularski) are probably the top pitchers in Class AAA right now,” Elling said. “They’re awesome. Being able to face them made a tremendous impression on us, and it got us ready for anything we’re going to see.”
The Hillers will travel almost 155 miles to Erie today. They are focused on avoiding a long, quiet trip back to Washington. The Hillers’ 25-member family does not want its time together end to until after June 12 – the date of the PIAA Class AAA championship game.
“This is the closest team I’ve been a part of with Trinity softball,” Elling said. “We refer to each other as sisters. Our unity helps us perform. I’ve known the senior class for years. I’ve told them I’m not ready to say goodbye to them yet.”