by Matt Koll
No. 1 WESTMINSTER (27-11, 16-4 PAC)
The Titans come in as the best offense in the conference, plating more runs than any other team in the PAC, racking up the most hits in the PAC, all while owning the highest team batting average.
“We emphasize that everyone needs to approach every at bat with a positive attitude. That’s key,” said head coach Jan Reddinger. “We have a number of upperclassmen in the starting lineup with a lot of experience. They’ve all succeeded and failed at one time or another, so they’ve worked hard on how to put the failures behind them.”
Brooke Atkins and Mackenzie Latess and Alexis Yates rank fourth, fifth and sixth in the conference in batting average, while Latess is one off the pace for the lead in home runs (7) and is the leader in RBI’s (57). That RBI number is 16 more than any other hitter.
The Titans aren’t too shabby when it comes to pitching either, coming in second in the conference in team ERA and batting average against. Madison Brown leads the way with a sparkling 1.95 ERA with 94 strikeouts and 104 innings pitched.
Reddinger says that this team has been up and down against teams that have made it into the playoffs, sometimes even within a doubleheader, but Westminster finished the regular season strong winning five of their last six games including a doubleheader split against No. 2 Waynesburg.
Consistency will be key, but Westminster has the firepower to win it all.
No. 2 WAYNESBURG (26-8, 15-5 PAC)
The success starts with pitching for the Yellow Jackets and it’s led by two of the PAC’s best in Sydney Wilson and Autumn Stemple.
Stemple posted a 2.20 ERA (4th in PAC) over 89 innings with a whopping 105 strikeouts, good for second in the conference. Her 10 complete games also cracked the PAC Top 10. Meanwhile, Wilson has arguably been the best pitcher in the conference. Her stifling 1.24 ERA in 124 innings pitched leads the PAC, as does her .191 batting average against. Yet her most impressive stat might be the fact that only one of her 17 starts has NOT resulted in a complete game. When she takes the ball, she’s most likely keeping it for good.
The lineup has pop and production all through it, finishing in the top five of just about every major offensive category. Jasmine Demaske has certainly put together an impressive season, hitting .354 with four HR, 17 RBI and a 1.173 OPS.
“We try to be the loudest team on the field and have fun,” said head coach Brett Shimek. “We also play fast and try to use our speed to our advantage. We believe that pitching and defense wins championships and that’s been our focus the last couple of years.”
We already know they can pitch and they also finished the season with the second highest fielding percentage in the conference. They’ve followed their formula, now the question becomes whether that formula results in a championship.
#3 ALLEGHENY (24-10, 14-6 PAC)
The Gators had an interesting end to their season when they were swept in two close games against Waynesburg back on April 25. Unfortunately, they weren’t able to get the bad taste out of their mouths before the regular season ended because their doubleheader against Hilbert got canceled. They’ll face the Yellow Jackets again on Friday, this time with everything on the line.
Allegheny is dangerous offensively, finishing third in team batting average while slugging a conference-leading 17 home runs. Cameron Long hit seven of those to go along with a .333 batting average and 11 doubles. Aleya Belardinelli serves as the ace of the pitching staff, posting a 2.12 ERA (3rd in PAC) with 13 complete games and a PAC-leading 128 strikeouts in 105.2 innings pitched. She went 6 innings giving up just two earned runs with five strikeouts in her last start against Waynesburg. We can’t forget about Samantha Dzierba either, ranking eighth in the conference in ERA and pitching six innings of one run ball with five strikeouts against the Yellow Jackets in her last outing.
We’ll see a great pitching matchup when these two teams clash.
#4 GENEVA (21-15, 14-6 PAC)
This team has a doubleheader sweep of Waynesburg and a split against Westminster on their resume this season. It also has the best fielding percentage in the PAC and Sarah Johnson, who finished the regular season with a remarkable .508 batting average to lead the conference, as well as the top on-base percentage and most hits and triples. She’s a fun player to watch while Haley Smith holds it down on the mound with her 2.96 ERA (7th in PAC) in 113.2 innings pitched.
#5 GROVE CITY (21-14, 13-7 PAC)
Grove City is coming in with the advantage of just having swept Saint Vincent in a doubleheader at home in rather convincing fashion, winning 7-3 in game one and 13-1 in 5 innings in game two. Grove City hits the ball well with a .346 team batting average (2nd in PAC) and despite only hitting six home runs all year, they’ve manufactured 235 runs, good for second in the conference. Janessa Dawson (.472) and Maci Linhart (.412) are both hitting over .400 this season to lead the offense while Kaitlyn Constantino is the ace of the pitching staff posting a 3.30 ERA in 108.1 innings pitched.
#6 SAINT VINCENT (22-14, 12-8 PAC)
Alex Dillner is one of the best hitters in the conference, racking up eight home runs and 26 RBI’s with a .426 batting average (6th in PAC). The Bearcars are looking to reverse the trend of the end of their regular season in which they lost five of six games, all to PAC playoff teams.
