Nice mix has Yough shaping into contender
Dutch Harvey’s real first name is Art, and the Yough softball coach knows a thing or two about the art of winning championships.
With a record of 116-37 in nine years as coach of the Cougars, including a PIAA championship in 2016, four consecutive section titles from 2015-18 and a pair of WPIAL championship appearances, few coaches have accomplished more over the past decade than Harvey. Still, it has been a few years since Yough has made it deep into the postseason — the Cougars last reached the WPIAL semifinals in 2018 and last made the state playoffs in 2017 — and despite having some great teams, Harvey has yet to win a WPIAL title.
There’s still a lot that would have to go Yough’s way for that to happen, but right now, the Cougars appear to be rounding into form at just the right time.
“We’re hoping to go far. That’s just the mentality these girls want to have,” Harvey said. “We won states in 2016 and got to the final four in 2017, and 2018, I thought, was the most talented team we ever had. … We’ve had some really talented teams here.”
On Monday night, Class 4A No. 3 Yough (12-2, 10-2) picked up its ninth consecutive victory with a 4-2 comeback win at Belle Vernon before having its streak snapped in a 5-0 loss at Class 4A No. 2 Elizabeth Forward on Tuesday. The Warriors have been a thorn in the Cougars’ side while snatching away the section title each of the last three seasons, but Harvey believes the rugged nature of Class 4A Section 2 will pay off for his team come playoff time.
“It was a nice comeback win. The kids never gave up,” Harvey said about the Belle Vernon win. “It’s a big rivalry. It’s always a big game for us. I told that to [Belle Vernon coach] Tom [Rodriguez] before the game, it’s always a barnburner.”
Although Yough lost three valuable seniors form last year’s team that finished 11-6 — and took a 3-0 lead vs. eventual WPIAL and PIAA champion Beaver in the WPIAL quarterfinals before losing, 73 — Harvey said he knew this year’s group had the potential to do something special. After all, you’re only as good as your best pitcher, and the Cougars have a good one in senior Emma Augustine.
As of Monday night, Augustine had a 12-1 record with 126 strikeouts and only 15 walks in 85 innings pitched. She holds a 1.89 ERA to go with a WHIP of 0.84 and a .174 batting average against.
“She saved her best for her last year,” Harvey said. “I can’t say enough about Emma. Just been the team leader and everything. Every facet of the game, she’s trying to get these young kids going.”
Augustine is also batting .333 and leads the team with five home runs and 19 RBIs, and her .762 slugging percentage is second on the team to Adoria Waldier, who is slugging .800. Waldier is the younger sister of former Yough football standouts Tristan and C.J. Waldier.
A freshman shortstop batting cleanup, Waldier is hitting .422 with 4 homers, 19 RBIs and a team-high 5 doubles. Her 1.280 OPS is also tops on the team.
“We’ve got to make up for three seniors who all hit close to .400 or .500,” Harvey said. “We told our freshmen coming in, we need them to hit close to .300, and they’ve been doing that.”
Another standout for the Cougars is junior center fielder McKenzie Pritts, who leads the team with a .500 batting average, 25 runs scored and 6 stolen bases. Pritts also has a pair of home runs and is slugging .727 to go with a 1.259 OPS.
Of course, in order to add a second WPIAL or state title to Yough’s collection, the Cougars will most likely have to de throne defending champion Beaver at some point in the playoffs. Doing so will be an extremely tall task, but if anyone can do it, it’s starting to look like Yough might have the best shot.
For now, though, Harvey is making sure both he and his players remain focused on the task at hand.
“I told the girls we have to go one at a time,” Harvey said. “That’s the approach we took when we won states. Just go one at a time, never look ahead.”
Kiski Area
With such a loaded crop of contenders in Class 5A, the Cavaliers were hardly considered much of a threat to do anything in the playoffs back near the season’s midway point.
What a difference a few weeks can make.
After sitting at 4-5 overall and 4-3 in section play after an 8-0 loss vs. Armstrong on April 25, there hasn’t been a hotter team in the WPIAL than Kiski Area (12-5, 9-3). In a span of 15 days, the Cavs have won eight games in a row by a combined score of 61-7 — none more eye-opening than a 5-3 win at then-No. 5 Franklin Regional on May 5. Kiski then defeated Connellsville, 3-2, in walk-off fashion on Tuesday.
The way first-year coach John Kinnamon sees it, the Cavs have already secured their first goal of making the playoffs, so why not see how long they can keep the hot streak rolling?
“It was our goal from day one to make the playoffs,” Kinnamon said. “But yeah, we got to a point where we started talking about, ‘How high can we finish?’”
Junior pitcher Hannah Simpson has been at the forefront of Kiski’s resurgence, entering the week with an 8-5 record with a 2.22 ERA to go with a 1.08 WHIP. Simpson has 90 strikeouts to 15 walks in 79 innings pitched.
“She has neutralized some pretty good hitters this year,” Kinnamon said. “And we went right at them. We didn’t pitch around anybody.”
At the plate, Simpson is batting .302 with a team-leading two home runs and 15 RBIs. Senior second baseman Ashlee Bair leads the team with a .395 average, .521 onbase percentage, .632 slugging percentage and 1.152 OPS. Bair has four doubles with a triple, a home run, 15 RBIs and 18 runs scored.
Junior shortstop Mackenzie Favero is another player having a big year for the Cavaliers, batting .378 with a home run, seven RBIs and 18 runs scored. Kinnamon said the team has been winning games with its defense, and the double-play tandem of Favero and Bair is a big reason why.
“They have just been rocksolid,” Kinnamon said. “To be honest, we’re winning games on defense, especially early in the year. Until tonight, we didn’t have an infielder who had more than one error.”
Whether Kiski can carry this momentum into the postseason is anybody’s guess, especially in Class 5A where no team is safe, even in the opening round. But if the Cavaliers can keep games close and keep getting lights-out pitching from Simpson, they’re going to be a tough out for anybody in the playoff field.
“Since we’re already here, let’s see if we can win one,” Kinnamon said.