May 17, 2018 3 min read

Name: Kaci Alderson

School: Chartiers-Houston

Class: Sophomore

Sport: Softball

Alderson’s week: Alderson had the only hit for Chartiers-Houston against Monessen last Monday but it was huge. She sent a Dana Vatakis pitch over the fence for the only run of the game inn a 1-0 non-section victory.

This came one day before Alderson drove in four runs in a 14-1 rout of Freedom in a five-inning game.

“I knew it was out when I hit it,” said Alderson of her first-inning plate appearance against Vatakis, a Robert Morris commit and one of the top pitchers in the WPIAL any classification.

“I have a lot of respect for her as a pitcher and she is going to a very good school. I put a really good swing on it.”

Alderson has developed into one of the better power hitters, leading the Bucs with 8 home runs heading into yesterday’s WPIAL Class AA first-round playoff game against Northgate.

Other teams are recognizing this as Alderson has walked 14 times, several intentional.

“That’s been an adjustment,” said Tricia Alderson, Chartiers-Houston’s head coach and Kaci’s mother. “We sort of expected that after the year she had last year. I told her, ‘You’re going to have to be patient. If you get walked, you get walked. It’s part of the game. A walk is a base runner and gives us a chance to score and a chance to win games. That’s the ultimate goal.”

Kaci Alderson is hitting .600, has 8 doubles, 8 home runs and 31 RBI for the 14-2 Bucs.

“I feel like I’ve improved in all aspects of my game,” Kaci Alderson said. “Last year, I didn’t know what to expect. This year, I came in more confident and knew people were going to pitch me a little different.”

Kaci Alderson’s strong season is just one feel-good story on a team that has only one senior on the roster. The Bucs knocked off defending PIAA Class A champion West Greene, 13-11, in a non-section game and won the last five games of the season to shore up second place in Section 3-AA.

”Hey, aren’t you …”: If Kaci Alderson has a passion equal to softball, it might be politics. Colleges are already showing interest and she is strongly considering a political science major.

Last year, the family took a trip to Washington D.C. and toured many of the places that played a key part in this nation’s history.

The family toured the Senate building and while there, Kaci Alderson spotted a familiar face.

“He was walking out of the Capital building,” Kaci Alderson said. “It was Bernie Sanders. We caught him before everyone else so we were able to get a picture with him. I like Bernie, It was crazy because we saw him and my mom said, ‘Is that really Bernie Sanders?’ He got closer and we realized it was him.

“It was an awesome experience.”