Elizabeth Forward hoping trip pays dividends
With restrictions on travel and many schools still exercising caution amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, most WPIAL baseball and softball teams began their seasons locally rather than taking trips down south to play in any major season-opening tournaments like in years past.
Of course, Elizabeth Forward isn’t like most teams. The Warriors are coming off their first WPIAL title in 2019, are ranked No. 1 in Class 4A to start the season and are loaded with talent. With that in mind, Elizabeth Forward coach Harry Rutherford wanted to prepare his players to defend their WPIAL crown by facing the best competition possible — and the only way to do so is to travel south.
Last summer, Rutherford booked the team a trip to Orlando, Fla., for the KSA Sunsational Spring Training tournament being held in the last week of March. All along, the chances of the team actually going to Orlando seemed slim at best, but Rutherford held out hope that the school would allow it. Then, as restrictions started to loosen up in the past couple months, the team received the green light to make the trip — and Rutherford and his players couldn’t be happier.
“They were expecting all year they were all going to get closed down and not be able to go,” Rutherford said. “We were doing all kinds of research, and the school district had to approve the trip, but they also put some restrictions on us and made sure we had to follow the school’s protocols.”
The Warriors won their first two games of the tournament in dominant fashion, knocking off Montverde Academy in their first game, 3-0, before taking out John Carroll Catholic in the second half of an opening- day doubleheader, 8-0. Star senior Kailey Larcinese struck out 25 batters on the day while hurling back-to-back shutouts.
“John Carroll was a onehitter. I blew that for her,” Rutherford said. “I didn’t realize she was working on a no-hitter, and we got to the seventh inning and I wanted to work on outside pitches. And I called an outside pitch since we had the 8-0 lead, and the girl got the bat out there and hit it right down the line and it dropped in for a base hit, and I kind of realized at that point I blew her no-hitter. But she threw a onehitter against them with 13 strikeouts.”
Rutherford said John Carroll is a Class 3A-sized school based on enrollment, while Montverde would likely be a Class 4A school in Pennsylvania. After the 2-0 start, though, Elizabeth Forward faced a significant step up in competition.
The Warriors came home with a 2-2 record following razor-thin losses to Land O’ Lakes High School and Oxbridge Academy — two of the premier programs in the state. Land O’ Lakes, a Class 6A-sized school, is ranked among the top-five teams in Florida in any classification.
Larcinese went toe-totoe with Land O’ Lakes ace Emily Proctor in an epic pitchers’ duel that ended up in a 1-0 defeat, then Elizabeth Forward fell to Oxbridge in the final game of the trip, 4-3. Rutherford gave highly touted freshman Shelby Telegdy her first start of her varsity career in the Oxbridge game, and she performed admirably despite the loss.
“I was really impressed with the Land O’ Lakes team,” Rutherford said. “I don’t know whether my girls were, but I was really impressed with their squad. They were big and fast, and I was pleased that we lined them up to play, because it gave me a good perspective of what we’re able to do.”
Facing top-notch opponents like Land O’ Lakes and Oxbridge should prove invaluable for Elizabeth Forward come playoff time. Plus, a little fun in the sun could provide a big morale boost for the players after being stuck in the house for most of the past year.
“We did give them a day off, so they had some free time to go to the parks and they were in Universal, and they did a team dinner and all that stuff,” Rutherford said. “They were thrilled that they had the opportunity to get into some warm weather. … Plus they got to do a little bit of the vacation thing on top of it. They kind of enjoyed it.”
Beaver
On the short list of contenders to dethrone Elizabeth Forward in Class 4A, the Bobcats are at or near the top of the list.
No. 2 Beaver is off to a 20 start after shutout wins vs. New Castle and Shenango, and Virginia Tech recruit Payton List deserves a lion’s share of the credit. List tossed back-toback complete game shutouts to start the season, striking out 15 batters in the season opener before fanning 17 against the Wildcats.
List had to bring her Agame against Shenango, which featured flamethrowing Colgate recruit Mia Edwards. Edwards came into the game with a 5-0 record, a 0.00 ERA and 74 strikeouts in 29 ⅔ innings, but List and the Bobcats emerged victorious to remain undefeated.
Norwin
The Knights began their season by facing a few smaller schools, but don’t accuse them of filling out their non-section schedule with cupcakes and tomato cans.
Norwin started its season with a 2-1 win vs. Class 4A opponent Burrell on March 27, then knocked off Class 5A No. 2 Latrobe in extra innings, 8- 7, on March 29. The next day, the Knights picked up one of the most impressive wins by any WPIAL team this season — a 6-4 victory against Class 3A No. 1 Mount Pleasant. The Vikings already hold a win against Class 5A No. 1 Penn-Trafford and are considered the heavy favorite to win Class 3A.
Norwin (3-1) then lost its first game of the season on Monday vs. top- ranked Penn-Trafford, 10-5, but the Knights are looking like serious championship contenders in the wide-open Class 6A field.