Bucs developing faster than expected
A roster that included just 11 players, none of whom was a senior, would have had most teams looking at a rebuilding year.
Actually, that is what Chartiers-Houston head softball coach Tricia Alderson thought she had on her plate a year ago.
But a funny thing happened as the season wore on.
A young team came together, got better and wound up advancing to the WPIAL Class A championship game.
It will show up as just another in a line of solid seasons in Chartiers-Houston’s softball history book, but Alderson knows what her team accomplished last year was a little different.
“Last year, we knew was going to be a rebuilding year,” Alderson admitted. “We were young and pretty inexperienced. We didn’t have a big roster and we didn’t go on a spring trip, which always helps. And we played a tough out-of-conference schedule. We just weren’t ready early in the year. But as the season went on, we got better and better.”
The season ended with a pair of losses, first to section rival West Greene in the WPIAL championship game, then to Conemaugh Township in the first round of the state playoffs, but the three wins the Bucs did record in the postseason and that extra five games of experience are something Alderson hopes pays dividends this season.
“The best thing that happened was going deep in the playoffs with such a young group,” she said. “We got an extra month of practice time. That was great.”
The Bucs have proven to this point in the season that they’re a more battle-tested team. They’ve already rattled off five wins this season, scoring in double digits in their last three victories and seven runs in another outing.
To go with all that offense, Alderson has something this season she didn’t necessarily have last year: pitching options.
While two-time all-state pitcher Kaitlyn Dittrich returns for her junior season, Alderson has sophomore Jaylese Lombardi and freshman Karlyn Bayer to use.
“Obviously, (Dittrich) has pitched in a lot of big games, playoff games, championship games,” said Alderson. “But the nice thing we have is a couple of other pitchers we can work in. It’s nice that she doesn’t have to do it all. We’ve been seeing what the other pitchers can do early on.”
They’ll help bolster a lineup that returns, well, pretty much intact from a year ago.
Alderson has shifted some players around, including moving Kasey Scears from shortstop to catcher, but the roster hasn’t grown much. In fact, the Bucs have just 12 players this season.
“We have to avoid injuries,” Alderson said. “We can’t afford that.”
That’s especially true with the Bucs moving up to Class AA this season because of the PIAA’s shift to six classifications. The Bucs will begin playing Section 3-AA games next week.
“Being up in Class AA, there are a lot of really good teams,” Alderson said. “Half of the teams that were in the Class A quarterfinals (of the WPIAL playoffs) moved up. And then you add them to the good teams that already were in Double-A. It’s going to be a challenge.”