Young Fox Chapel softball team finding stride ahead of WPIAL playoffs

By: Michael Love
Saturday, April 27, 2024 | 11:01 AM

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The Fox Chapel softball team came as close as a team could to clinching a playoff spot from Section 1-5A when it dispatched Oakland Catholic, 20-5, last week to improve to 4-4 and remain one game behind third-place Plum in the section standings.

Coach Chris Olbrich said his team, with its two senior leaders, three freshmen starters, and additional talent in between, has made strides over the past couple of weeks as it eyes the postseason, set to begin Monday (May 6).

“From the beginning of the season, when we preached trusting each other, we wanted them to make the plays and pass that down the line,” said Olbrich after an 11-0 victory over Penn Hills on April 22 which saw the Foxes collect 11 hits from seven players while committing just one error defensively behind a one-hit effort from freshman pitcher Jillian Haigh.

“It’s been about teamwork and being a good teammate,” Olbrich said.

Fox Chapel, which was slated to visit North Hills on Friday and host Plum in the section finale Monday, is to find out its WPIAL playoff fate next week when the WPIAL releases its playoff brackets in the six classifications.

“We knew at the start of the season that we would be a pretty young team, especially with the freshmen starting for us,” said senior Mia Dunleavy, the Foxes third baseman and classmate of senior second baseman Caitie Troutman.

“We’ve committed to working well together and doing the things we need to do to win games and get to the playoffs.”

Dunleavy and Troutman were celebrated before the Penn Hills win.

“It was great to get the win on senior day, and to do it with the run rule was even better,” said Dunleavy who went 1 for 3 with a run scored.

“This game was probably the best we’ve done at putting hits together to help us score runs.”

Olbrich said he saw a lot of good signs of what the team was becoming back in a 2-1 heartbreaker against Plum on April 15. The Foxes grabbed the lead in the second inning on an RBI from freshman first baseman Taylor Stocker before Plum took the lead for good with a pair of runs in the bottom of the third.

“That game was a tough one to lose, but it showed the girls just how competitive they could be against some really good teams in our section and beyond,” Olbrich said.

“If an error or something adverse happens, they don’t get down on themselves. They work on making the next play and pick each other up with their words and actions.”

Haigh went the distance against the Mustangs and gave up just three hits and a walk while striking out four. Both Plum runs were unearned.

At the start of the season and through game play to the present, she emerged from the search to find a starting pitcher, and Olbrich has seen her build and learn from each time in the circle.

“I was a little nervous at the start of the season, but I have gotten used to pitching at the high school level,” Haigh said.

“It was tough to not get the win against Plum because we scored first and were playing with confidence. It was nice, though, that we were close the whole game and had a fighting chance to win it against a good team.”

Haigh also has secured the No. 3 spot in the batting order behind fellow freshman and cleanup hitter Ella Eisner. Stocker hits seventh.

“For the freshman, it took a little time to get used to the speed of the game, the pitching, and all the things that they weren’t used to in middle school or even travel ball,” Olbrich said.

“They are 14 or 15 and facing pitchers who are 17 or 18 who have been pitching at this level for a couple of years. They had to get used to that and not hang their heads in the face of some failure that they weren’t used to.”

Olbrich said his players also gained a measure of momentum in a 5-1 loss April 19 to Shaler. The Titans, 10-2 overall after a win over Oakland Catholic last Thursday, had not been scored upon in eight games coming into the matchup with the Foxes.

“Yes, it was a loss, but you could see the girls figure it out,” Olbrich said.

“It was a big confidence boost for the girls, and it carried over to (the April 22) game (against Penn Hills). Being the first team this season to score on Shaler, they rode that a little bit. We didn’t talk about that in the dugout, but they knew because they watch the scoreboard, and they saw what Shaler had done.”

Michael Love is a TribLive reporter covering sports in the Alle-Kiski Valley and the eastern suburbs of Pittsburgh. A Clearfield native and a graduate of Westminster (Pa.), he joined the Trib in 2002 after spending five years at the Clearfield Progress. He can be reached at mlove@triblive.com.

Tags: Fox Chapel