Penn Hills softball looking to shuffle lineup into winning hand
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Sunday, April 16, 2023 | 11:01 AM
Penn Hills starting pitcher Maura Wade waits to throw against North Hills Wednesday April 12, 2023, at Linton Middle School.
Penn Hills’ Gabby Peratozzi makes a running catch.
Penn Hills’ Shania Lewis scoops up a ground ball against North Hills April 12 at Linton Middle School.
Penn Hills starting pitcher Maura Wade throws against North Hills April 12 at Linton Middle School.
Penn Hills’ London Irish completes the fielder’s choice against North Hills.
Ashley Banner would be the first to say that Penn Hills softball’s result against North Hills wasn’t what the team hoped to get out of the contest. For the second straight game, Penn Hills was on the wrong side of a lopsided loss.
What the results have highlighted for Banner is the challenge of getting all the players in the right place. Penn Hills has been shuffling players between different positions to find a fit.
“As we start to face the top teams in the section, we want to make sure we have the right players in the right position,” Banner said. “There is a lot of softball left. We just need to get back to work.”
Navigating through Section 1-5A isn’t going to be easy for any of the teams. The Indians are hoping they can get the pieces in place to close the first half of section play with a strong run. Penn Hills (4-2, 1-2) opened section play with a 16-1 destruction of Oakland Catholic before falling 17-2 to Fox Chapel and 15-0 to North Hills.
What Banner has found is that the Indians have been making adjustments to the lineups based on things they see in practice. Penn Hills has a mix of younger players along with the more experienced ones in the lineup.
Lauren Sipple, typically a catcher, has played center field, first base and shortstop at different times this season for Penn Hills. Isabella DeCarlo can pitch but also plays second base and third base. Maura Wade, also a pitcher, has seen some time in the outfield.
Gabby Pernatozzi has also played a number of different positions for the Indians.
“We evaluate everyone based on what we see in practice,” Banner said. “We try to have a good handle on everyone’s skill set.”
Penn Hills is also working on how to handle the wild swings in its games this season. Through six games, the Indians haven’t played in any game, win or loss, that was settled by less than eight runs.
Five of Penn Hills’ six games have seen one team win by 15 runs or more. The Indians opened the season by winning their first four games by a combined score of 68-8.
Banner said Penn Hills isn’t trying to read too much into the results of the games either way.
“We just want to keep their mindset on the next pitch, the next out and the next game,” Banner said. “There are going to swing both ways. We just need to keep having competitions and talk about what to expect.”
Tags: Penn Hills
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