Pine-Richland softball hoping potent offense leads to playoff berth

By: Jerin Steele
Saturday, April 27, 2024 | 11:01 AM

With a couple of weeks left in the regular season, the Pine-Richland softball team finds itself in a similar situation to last year.

The Rams are in the middle of the pack in the lone WPIAL Class 6A section and fighting to get into the postseason.

They were in fifth place at 5-5 through April 24 and plan to rely on their experience and a potent offense to earn their way in. The top six teams make the playoffs.

“We’ve been in this position before,” Rams coach Sam Hartzberg said. “It’s all about staying confident, continuing to push forward and sticking together, which I know this team will do.”

For the second consecutive year, the Rams have been led by their offense. They had 90 runs through their first 10 section games, which was 21 more than anyone else.

They’ve scored more than 10 runs six times and are 5-1 in those games. That includes a wild 31-12 win over Mt. Lebanon on April 10 where the two teams combined to hit 13 home runs.

Abbey Laurent hit three homers for the Rams in the win over the Blue Devils and Calle Henne, Iliana Aggelou, Marissa DeLuca and Mackenzie Gillis had one apiece.

It’s a lineup that has proven to be dangerous one through nine.

“We have a great leadoff hitter in Serafino Julio, who has done a great job this year,” Hartzberg said. “She’s improved so much over last year and is only a sophomore. Then there’s Calle Henne, Mackenzie Gillis and Izzy Sulesky, who are power hitters, and Jocelyn Langer, who can do just about anything. If you look at our lineup, we have a really good hitting team from top to bottom.”

On the flip side, there have been times where miscues in the field have hurt the Rams, but it’s an area they feel they can rectify. Errors were an issue last year as well, but down the stretch they cut down on them.

With the offensive production they’ve had, when the Rams limit mistakes in the field and suppress runs, they’ve been tough to beat.

The Rams have held opponents to four or fewer runs in five of their six wins.

They are 5-1 in games where they’ve given up four runs or less.

“We’ve been struggling on the defensive side and giving up too many unearned runs,” Hartzberg said. “That’s really hurt us this year and it did last year. We’ve been concentrating on cleaning that up, because if we play clean or relatively clean, we’re winning games.”

The Rams have four seniors in Gillis, Langer, Sulesky and Marissa DeLuca that have been part of the most successful run for the program in a quarter century.

They were a part of the first Rams softball team to win a playoff game in 25 years in 2021.

The Rams have gone to the semifinals in each of the last three seasons before falling to Bethel Park in ‘21, North Allegheny in ‘22 and Seneca Valley last year.

Now they’re looking to make sure they get another opportunity to make another run.

“For us right now, it’s about getting in and after that anything can happen,” Hartzberg said. “That’s where we are right now. We’re working towards that and then we’ll go from there.”

Jerin Steele is a freelance writer

Tags: Pine-Richland