Frazier looking like contender
Coming off its first state championship in school history in 2019, Frazier softball coach Don Hartman had plenty of reason to believe his team was a front-runner to defend its title in 2020.
The COVID-19 pandemic had other plans, though, wiping away the entire 2020 season and ending the high school careers of nearly every member of that 2019 team. With only two starters returning with varsity experience entering the 2021 season, nobody knew what to expect from the Commodores — not even Hartman.
Expectations may have been lowered, but you wouldn’t know it based on their performance. After an 0-2 start — against quality opponents in Yough and South Allegheny — Class 2A No. 5 Frazier has since won 10 of its past 11 games, including six in a row entering the week.
“I didn’t know what many of them were bringing to the table, but my young players and a couple freshmen have really contributed and have us back on our feet again,” Hartman said.
Hartman’s daughter, ace pitcher Logan Hartman, has since graduated and moved on to play at Seton Hill after leading the team to the 2019 state title. In her place, a pair of new faces have stepped into the starting rotation and are pitching like savvy veterans.
Freshman Nicole Palmer’s varsity career couldn’t have gotten off to a much better start, as she has compiled an 8-0 record with an 0.91 ERA and 66 strikeouts while emerging as the No. 1 starter. Sophomore Madison Bednar might as well be a freshman after missing all of last year, but she isn’t pitching like one. Bednar tossed a four-inning no- hitter against Beth-Center on April 16 and has been a reliable No. 2 starter all season long.
“It starts in the circle,” Hartman said. “Nicole Palmer has been a nice surprise. She’s thrown some great games and shown she can handle some adversity in the circle. And Madison Bednar, she’s doing great as well. I have a couple girls who can keep us in games.”
While the Commodores are relying on mostly underclassmen throughout their 12-player lineup, there are two players who started on that 2019 team making a big impact — senior first baseman Rylee Evans and junior shortstop Tori Washinski. Evans is batting .429 with a team-leading 16 RBIs and Washinski is playing lightsout defense up the middle, while both provide steady leadership for a mostly unproven group.
“I think those two have been superb leaders for us this year,” Hartman said. “They know what it takes. They know what it feels like. Although there’s not 10 of them, there’s a few. So I’m counting on those few to lead and maybe have a big game in those situations where the younger ones are going to feel some nerves.”
Another young player making a splash in her varsity debut is sophomore Jensyn Hartman, the next in line from the Hartman family tree. Hartman, who leads the team with a .442 batting average, never became a pitcher like her older sister. Instead, she prefers to call games from behind the plate as a catcher — just like her old man.
“She likes to hit and likes to catch, and she’s a pure leader behind the plate,” Hartman said. “I was a catcher, so I think she has some of that DNA in her.”
Above all else, Hartman is simply happy to be out on the field coaching the game he loves again, even though the season has been more hectic than any he can remember in 31 years of coaching high school sports. Time will tell if Frazier has what it takes to make it back to the WPIAL and PIAA championships, but one thing is for sure — the Commodores are here to stay.
“If we’re going to be a program, we don’t want to be a one- and- done,” Hartman said. “We want to be a program that’s here for a while. Tradition doesn’t graduate. These young girls have come in and said, ‘Hey, we’re here. We want to win some things, too, and keep Frazier on the map.’”
Laurel
With a loaded field in Class 2A this year, Hartman believes eight or nine teams are capable of winning a WPIAL title. When all is said and done, though, don’t be surprised if it comes down to Laurel-Frazier Round III. The top-ranked Spartans have defeated the Commodores in each of the past two WPIAL title games and are playing like a championship front-runner once again despite graduating a ton of talent from 2019.
After a 4-0 loss to Shenango in its second game of the season, Class 2A No. 1 Laurel (10-1, 8-1) has rattled off nine wins in a row by a combined score of 102-7.
After a string of blowouts, the Spartans picked up their biggest win of the season on May 1 — a 3-1 victory in a rematch against Shenango and star pitcher Mia Edwards. This time, Autumn Boyd got the better of Edwards, taking a no-hitter into the seventh inning and striking out 13 in a completegame win.
Beaver
The Class 4A No. 1 Bobcats are one of just two undefeated teams left in the WPIAL entering the week, along with Class 6A No. 1 Bethel Park. And while the Black Hawks have been outstanding in their own right, Beaver is playing at a historic level — at least when it comes to pitching and defense.
With star senior Payton List leading the way with both her arm and her bat, the Bobcats (10-0, 8-0) have allowed only four runs all season long — and all four came in the same game, an 8-4 win vs. Montour on April 15. List, a Virginia Tech recruit, has pitched nine shutouts in Beaver’s 10 wins, including five in a row.
Most recently, List completely shut down the Spartans in a rematch on May 1, striking out 10 and allowing only four hits in a 9-0 road win to snap Montour’s fivegame winning streak.