CWNC hoping schedule pays off
Trojanettes stand tall, all thanks to difficult opponents
Tri-State Sports & News Service
Prior to taking over as softball coach at Cardinal Wuerl North Catholic, Samantha Santillo had a conversation with athletic director Mike Burrell regarding the tough slate of non-conference games that were already lined up, most of which were against schools from larger classifications. Actually, it was more of a quick chat.
“My AD said these are the teams, are you OK with that,” recalled Santillo. “I said, ‘Yes.’”
A standout player in her heyday at Ellwood City and then Robert Morris University, Santillo isn’t the type of person to shy away from a challenge. She has quickly instilled that winning attitude and no-nonsense toughness in the Trojanettes.
Through Tuesday, North Catholic was undefeated in Class 2A Section 2 with a 10-0 record. Overall, the Trojanettes are 11-4 competing against a non-conference slate with a combined 52-14 record. The gauntlet included Class 4A Knoch (16-2), 3A South Park (13-2), 1A Sewickley Academy (13-2) and 6A North Hills (10-8).
“I’ve been a part of programs all my life that have been successful,” said Santillo, a three-time Golden Glove winner for the Colonials and the first in Northeast Conference history to win the award multiple times. “I won a WPIAL championship at Ellwood City (in 2008, when she doubled home the game-winning run) and I got used to winning. Winning doesn't just happen. You have to make it happen as much as possible.”
The Trojanettes took some lumps in those nonconference matchups and lost each one, but they haven’t been beaten by anyone in their own classification.
“My pitcher was being challenged by better hitters and my hitters were being challenged by better pitchers,” said Santillo. “Any opportunity I can give my girls to see good pitching, quality pitching that’s going to keep them on their toes, I’m going to take it.”
Leading the way for the Trojanettes is two-way standout sophomore Adrienne Nardone. She is the team’s ace with 97 strikeouts and a 3.10 ERA. She also leads the team with four homers and 26 RBIs, and is batting .439.
Tayja White (.442 batting average), Erin Porter (.353), Bridget Hudson (.350) and Brooke Horton (.333) also contribute offensively.
As the regular season winds down, the Trojanettes are turning their attention to the playoffs, where more tough matchups loom. They are hoping the challenge of going up against larger schools earlier this season translates to big wins soon.
“We’re looking forward to the challenge,” said Santillo. “We always want the best test.”
Freedom
On May 8, 1984, Phil Collins’ “Against All Odds” topped the Billboard music chart. Play it again, because more than three decades later, 33 years to be exact, the odds were bucked once more.
For the first time since a 70 first-round loss to Bentworth way back in 1984, Freedom will compete in the WPIAL playoffs. The last time the Bulldogs were in the tournament, the topgrossing film of the year was Beverly Hills Cop and a gallon of gas ran about $1.13.
The Bulldogs were winless in section play from 2011-15, going 0-62 during that time. They broke through by notching a 4-8 section record last season and built on that progress with this season’s playoff appearance.
Freedom coach Bill Boggs said when he took over the program four years ago, one of his priorities was building a middle school program. That turned out to be a wise investment in the future of the program. The girls on that first middle school team are now the core group of sophomores that contributed greatly to the program’s turnaround.
“It’s quite a feeling of accomplishment to see the smiles on their faces and just knowing where we’ve come from,” Boggs said.
The Bulldogs (8-8, 3-7 Class 3A Section 2) clinched their playoff spot by crushing Beaver Falls, 17-1, on Monday. The WPIAL expanded from four to six classifications this school year and the top four teams in each section of Class 3A make the playoffs.
Class 2A Section 1
It’s safe to say the bottom half of Class 2A Section 1 didn’t have a prayer of finishing near the top. Section leaders Seton-La Salle (10-3, 9-1), Our Lady of the Sacred Heart (10-4, 7-3) and Serra Catholic (9-6, 7-3) all have one thing in common: each is a Catholic school.