Lady Steel making name for themselves

All-star softball squad taking Coatesville name nationwide

COATESVILLE » Five years ago, a confluence of circumstances led Norm Lonas to start a 14-and-under girls’ fast pitch travel softball program. Today, Coatesville Lady Steel has become one of the most respected squads not only in the state but the nation.

A year ago, Lady Steel captured the United States Specialty Sports Association (USSSA) Eastern Pennsylvania championship and went on to a runner-up finish at the East Zone Pony Nationals in Sterling, Va.

And this season, despite elevating to the 16-and-under classification, Lady Steel repeated as eastern state champs and is back down to Virginia for another shot at a national crown.

“I tell our players all the time that they will never meet my expectations. But if they keep trying, I’m happy with that,” said Lonas, a resident of Sadsbury.

“Hey, there are times we all shed tears, but at end of the day I realize how much they are giving me, and they understand the commitment it takes.”

A 1990 Octorara graduate, Lonas ran the Fallowfield Fillies recreational softball league for 17 years before deciding to take a break in 2013. Within a year, Fillies’ alum Payton Landis – now a varsity star at Coatesville High School – urged Lonas to start a travel team. Soon thereafter, his mother Gerry Lonas of Parkesburg, weighed in.

“It was ironic,” Lonas recalled. “A couple weeks before she passed away expectantly, she said to me: ‘you are the right person for it.’

“That’s when I thought to myself: ‘It’s time.’

“I don’t have a daughter involved, so number one, I do it for the kids. But I also do it in memory of my mom.”

The current roster is limited to 11, and the vast majority of the players are holdovers from 2017. Seven of the 11 attend five different Chester County schools, and two others hail from Gap and played rec ball in Caln for many years.

The locals include Megan Kleckner, who is a rising sophomore at Coatesville High. Her father, Jonathan said: “It’s kind of an emotional thing for Norm.”

The first season was respectable as Coatesville Lady Steel went .500. A year later, the record surged to 46-5-1. And it all appeared to culminate last summer when the squad placed second out of 132 teams in Virginia.

But for 2018, Lonas decided to up and ante in an effort to better challenge his team. Although all of his players just finished their sophomore and freshman years in high school and most are either 14 or 15 years of age, he moved up into the 16U category, and also began to enter his team into several 18U tournaments this summer.

“All my girls are younger, but it’s just how you train them and if they buy into the system,” said Lonas, who is 94-39-2 overall since starting the program.

“I definitely wanted a challenge. You have to play better competition to get better. I want the kids to learn the game correctly and how to be aggressive. Kids nowadays shouldn’t be babied too much. You have to push them, and they love it. They’ve responded very well.”

The team’s overall record is 38-15-2 so far, and a noteworthy 11-6 against 18U teams that have been together for three or four years.

“We are very aggressive and play with a lot of swag,” Lonas explained. “We are fast on the bases, but you also have to play with great confidence. It puts more pressure on your opponent.

“People think, oh you’re from Coatesville, and it always seems to have a negative connotation. But I always say to my girls: ‘The only disability in life is a bad attitude.’”

That confidence was severely tested, however, during the USSSA Eastern Pa. ‘B’ Tournament earlier this month in Quakertown. In the quarterfinals on July 8th, the team was down 7-2 in the bottom of the final inning against Southampton Rock Gold before staging a remarkable comeback.

Lady Steel eventually cut the deficit to 7-6, with a runner Emily Ammon on second base, when Coatesville’s Hannah Timperio came to the plate.

“I called timeout,” Lonas recalled. “I said to Hannah: ‘kid, if you get a single, Emily scores to tie it up. You hit one out, and the game is over.’ She then hit a walk-off home run.

“It was a great confidence boost for the girls.”

While there is a lot of talent on the squad, Lonas looks for girls that will fit into his style of play, and meld with teammates. A prime example is Octorara’s Alivia Ellingsworth. Lonas scouted her playing rec softball and recognized her potential.

“I will take a girl that has the heart and determination because those are things you can’t teach,” he said.

“I’ll be honest: a lot of these travel organizations want established superstars. Last year I took a bunch of rec ball players – only three had played travel ball before – and we trained all winter long, they bought in and we won a state title and placed second nationally.”

Lonas credits his assistant coaches Tommy Timperio (Hannah’s dad) and John Clemons for this year’s success, and also lauded the contribution of hitting instructor Vince Belnome – a former Coatesville and Major League player – and strength and conditioning coach Tracy Clark of West Chester.

“Sometimes you have to play five games on a Sunday,” Lonas said. “One team that is not going to get tired is my team because of what Vinny and Tracy do with these girls at least twice a week.”

Four of his current players are already referenced in national scouting reports – sisters Olivia and Emily Ammon from Gap, Sarah Moore (from Pequea Valley High School) and Kleckner. Rising junior Phoebe Clemens from Coatesville is an excellent athlete and team leader. The other members of the squad include Hannah Aker (Oxford), Jordyn Melnick (West Chester Henderson), Emily Osborn (Bishop Shahanan) and Mia Grinestaff (Solanco).

Coatesville Lady Steel opened pool play in Virginia Thursday morning. By the weekend, they will be seeded and begin double elimination action that will result in a champion on Sunday.

“The players don’t like when I say that I always consider second place as the first loser,” Lonas said. “But I expect to win.

“This is one of the hardest working groups I’ve had. I would put them up against anybody, and they know that.”

PHOTO PROVIDED Coatesville Lady Steel players celebrate a win earlier this season.