West Greene awakens to give Simms his 200th victory
ROGERSVILLE – How fitting it was to have former West Greene High School softball standout Madison Renner in attendance.
For Pioneers coach Bill Simms, it was the type of game in which he would’ve loved to still have her in the Pioneers’ lineup and was curious how they would respond without her.
The response was everything Simms could have expected and more as the monster that is West Greene awoke in the bottom of the third inning.
Hitting home runs that outfielders could only turn and watch, West Greene turned the scorebook into a coloring book with a six-run third inning and survived a late rally to win a back-and-forth, non-section game against Chartiers-Houston, 11-9, in a matchup of some of the WPIAL’s best small-school teams.
“That, right there, is why we play them,” Simms said. “Everybody shies away from the games that you might lose or could affect your seeding. I’ve always considered (Chartiers-Houston) the standard for Washington and Greene counties. They’ve been there and done it 100 times over. They’ve been No. 1 in the state. They’ve been in our section. Outside of what we may have accomplished, they are the standard.”
With West Greene trailing 4-1 in the third, Madison Lampe launched a two-run homer to straightaway center field. Jade Renner tied the score at 4-4 with a run-scoring double. Jersey Wise then gave the Pioneers the lead for good with another two-run shot that Chartiers-Houston center fielder Jaylese Lombardi could only turn and watch sail over the fence, similar to those who parked beyond the outfield fence did while hoping it wouldn’t land on their car.
After striking out in her first plate appearance, Wise went 3-for-4 with three RBI. Jade Renner, Madison’s little sister, led the Pioneers with a four-hit afternoon.
“It’s tough going against some pitchers and then seeing a good one today,” Wise said. “Yesterday we faced a slower pitcher. We just had to adjust. We had to keep the momentum and tempo up, that’s just how good (Chartiers-Houston) is.”
Despite new faces in some places, the two-time defending state champion Pioneers (9-3) didn’t skip a beat. Seven different players finished with a multi-hit game and scored at least one run to earn Simms his 200th career victory.
“When you lose Madison Renner, Linzee Stover and Lexie Mooney, this was the first test on a big stage, locally,” Simms said. “It’s more than what this game actually meant. It was the first time we’ve gotten into a slugfest without someone like Madison. Our lower half of the order was just as strong as the top of the lineup. The girls are ready for the big dance.”
The penultimate non-section game for both teams didn’t come without a late push from Chartiers-Houston (10-3).
Finding gaps, the Bucs strung together seven hits in the fifth inning, including a RBI double by Kasey Scears, a bloop single from Nicolette Kloes that scored a run and Ella Brookman squeezing a hard ground ball through the infield to drive in a pair of runs, cutting the Bucs’ deficit to 10-9.
“We knew we were going to have to put up runs,” Chartiers-Houston coach Tricia Alderson said. “It was a good battle and good atmosphere. The comeback was great. We were down six runs and just kept battling. We were being aggressive. We just came up a little bit short. I’m sure both of our teams will build on this going forward.”
The one run would be the closest the Bucs would come since having the early lead. In the bottom of the fifth, Jade Renner’s grounder took a bad hop and hit off Brookman, the first baseman, allowing Madison Lampe to score.
Brookman led Chartiers-Houston with three hits. Kaci Alderson, Lauren Lober and Karlyn Bayer each had two hits, but Pioneers’ pitcher Jade Renner retired the Bucs in order in the sixth and seventh innings for the complete-game victory.
“I’m not trying to pump (Chartiers-Houston) up bigger than my team but they’ve been the standard,” Simms said. “As long as (C-H athletic director Kurt Kesneck) and Tricia want to get together to play, then we will definitely play.”