West Greene rides late surge to win
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — McKenna Lampe’s tworun triple in the sixth inning did more than complete the cycle for the junior center fielder.
It gave West Greene a little breathing room in its eventual 11-7 win against Williams Valley in the PIAA Class 1A championship Thursday at Nittany Lion Softball Park. The Vikings had scored four times in the top of the sixth, narrowing the Pioneers’ lead to 8-7.
“[McKenna] sets the table for us,” West Greene coach Bill Simms said of the leadoff hitter. “When she gets on, we’re a different team, but everybody’s leadoff hitter pretty much [is like that]. I think it’s really amped in our favor when [she gets on] because it’s a momentum thing. The team’s up, the crowd’s into it, so she’s definitely a tone-setter for us at that leadoff spot.”
Third baseman Madison Lampe, who went 4 for 5, added an RBI single, and the Pioneers held on to repeat as PIAA champions.
“It’s unbelievable,” McKenna Lampe said. “I’m speechless. It’s a great feeling.”
The Pioneers fell behind, 1-0, in the top of the first inning after an RBI double by Williams Valley starting pitcher Stevie Unger. In the bottom of the first, though, West Greene sophomore pitcher Jade Renner responded with an RBI single to shallow left field, and the Pioneers never trailed again.
McKenna Lampe hit a two-run home run for a 3-1 lead in bottom of the second, but an RBI single by Destiny Dubois and a West Greene throwing error allowed Williams Valley to tie it, 3-3, in the fourth.
“They come back and score a run and you’re thinking, ‘Oh, I don’t know about this.’ But we just matched them run for run when we had to in the bottom of the inning,” Simms said.
In the fourth, freshman designated player Jersey Wise led off with a single and McKenna Lampe doubled, moving Wise to third. A single by Madison Lampe scored Wise and moved McKenna Lampe to third, and Madison Renner’s sacrifice fly scored McKenna Lampe.
An RBI double by junior second baseman Kaitlyn Rizor scored Madison Lampe and gave the Pioneers a 6-3 lead. West Greene added two more runs in the fifth before Williams Valley’s four-run rally.
“Our team doesn’t panic,” McKenna Lampe said. “We’re just like, we’ve got to settle down and take a deep breath and get right back in it.”
In seven innings, Renner gave up seven runs, two earned, on 10 hits, striking out six.
West Greene amassed 18 hits but also made three errors total against its familiar foe.
Last year, the Pioneers defeated Williams Valley, 9-8 in the PIAA title game. The year before, Williams Valley beat West Greene, 3-2.
“They made miscues, we made miscues. I think it evened out in the end, but today they had more hits than us and they came through at the right time,” Williams Valley coach Ryan Underkoffler said.
“We knew what we were facing. We knew they were a great hitting team. We knew that we were going to have to keep up with their bats and we didn’t get the timely hit.”
Scheduling tough regularseason opponents paid off for the Pioneers, Simms said. West Greene lost to Belle Vernon, the WPIAL Class 4A champion, 2-1, in the regular season, and played four out-of-state teams in a tournament in Myrtle Beach, S.C., in March.
“They’re a very settled group, and we’ve played in big games before,” Simms said. “Our schedule, hopefully, is a testament to what we do… We want to play those games to be prepared for these ones.”