West Greene comes out swinging, pounds GCC
West Greene team members celebrate after defeating Greensburg Central Catholic in the first round of the WPIAL playoffs Monday.
West Greene’s Madison Renner runs to home plate with a smile after hitting a home run in the first inning against Greensburg Central Catholic Monday during a WPIAL Class A playoff game. Renner hit two home runs in the game.
West Greene’s Lexie Mooney gets a base hit in the second inning Monday against Greensburg Central Catholic in the first round of the WPIAL Class A softball playoffs. Top-seeded West Greene rolled to a 15-0 victory.
CANONSBURG – After Greensburg Central Catholic went through its portion of the first inning of a WPIAL Class A softball playoff game against top-seeded West Greene by putting the ball in play four times, including a single, head coach Tom Appleby was encouraged.
“We’re going to get to her,” Appleby told his team as it came off the field. “We’re putting the ball in play. We’re going to get to her.”
The her Appleby was referring to was West Greene pitcher Madison Renner.
And Appleby couldn’t have been more wrong.
Renner and the rest of the Pioneers’ lineup made sure that even when the Centurians did eke out a hit, it went for naught and West Greene pounded out 17 hits in a 15-0, four-inning first-round playoff win Monday at Canon-McMillan’s North Strabane Intermediate School field.
The Pioneers (20-1) showed they’re the top seed for a reason.
“I don’t know that Madison had her best stuff, but we’ll take it,” said West Greene head coach Bill Simms, whose team advances to the quarterfinals to face Union, a 3-1 winner over Sewickley Academy, at a site, date and time to be determined.
“Nothing was hit hard, so we were fortunate with that. We set the tone there in the bottom of the inning.”
Did they ever.
Leadoff batter McKenna Lampe laid down a bunt that she easily beat out, and when she recognized there was nobody covering second base, the speedy lefty beat the shortstop to the bag, sending her to third when the throw skipped into left field.
Madison Lampe followed with an RBI-double and Renner laced a line drive over the fence in left field for a 3-0 lead.
Bailey Bennington and Kaitlyn Rizor followed with back-to-back doubles to score another run to make it 4-0.
The Pioneers would load the bases before McKenna Lampe flew out to center to end the inning, stranding three runners.
“That’s a good team,” said Appleby, whose team finishes 6-8. “That’s the best team I’ve seen. They’re very good. Our defense and hitting is pretty good. Our pitching is, well, she did the best she could. She threw strikes, but they hit the ball. We battled the best we could, but the better team won.”
The Pioneers continued their barrage in the second inning against GCC pitcher Felicity Orndoff as Madison Lampe led off with a single, stole second and scored on Renner’s second big hit, a double.
The Pioneers again batted around, scoring four runs for an 8-0 lead and leaving the bases loaded for the second consecutive inning.
“You always have to have something to complain about, so that’s my fodder for the bus ride home,” Simms deadpanned about the six stranded runners.
Rizor smashed a homer of her own, a two-run shot in the third, to make it 10-0 and the Pioneers finished things off in the final inning with Shelby Morris and McKenna Lampe opening with a single and a double, both scoring on a single by Madison Lampe. Renner then hit her second homer of the game, a two-run shot, and Bennington followed with a screaming double over the third-base bag.
That set the stage for pinch-hitter Sage Vilet to lace a shot into left field that allowed the finishing run to trot home.
“We hit some hard balls all over,” said Simms in perhaps the understatement of the year. “I’m happy with our performance.”
Renner had two homers and a double, driving in five runs. Bennington, a California University recruit, was 4-4 with three doubles and four runs. Rizor and both Lampe sisters had three hits each, as the top five batters in West Greene’s lineup combined to score 14 of the 15 runs.
Renner also drained the will out of the Centurians’ batters. After failing to record a strikeout in the first two innings, she ended the game by recording five of the final six outs via strikeout, finishing with a two-hitter.
It was a heck of a statement not only for the top seed in the WPIAL playoffs, but a team that was beaten by Greensburg Central Catholic, 11-7, in the opening round of the postseason a year ago.
“I guess if you’re looking for press and stuff it is, but we just wanted to come out here and play a good game,” Simms said. “We were just wanting a win. We were focusing on beating Greensburg Central Catholic. Now, we’ll be focused on beating Union.”