Deer Lakes softball team leans on experience from last season’s playoff run, healthy Guthrie

By: Josh Rizzo
Sunday, March 13, 2022 | 6:36 PM

There are many ways to play softball, but playing with a cast on her wrist isn’t the type of adversity Deer Lakes senior outfielder Lydia Guthrie wanted to deal with again.

Guthrie’s 2021 season was abbreviated because of a gym class injury. She didn’t get fully healthy until the Lancers’ 6-5 loss to Ellwood City in the first round of the WPIAL Class 3A playoffs.

“It was really hard,” she said. “I worked really hard coming up to that season. Losing games for the second year in a row (stunk). I had to be there for my team. I helped the coaches during practice and wanted to do everything with them. I was able to come back for the last section game.”

Deer Lakes is hoping its collective experience will lead to a successful 2022. The Lancers, who finished a game behind North Catholic in Section 1 last season, were 11-4 overall and 8-2 in section.

Deer Lakes has four seniors — Jenna Bisegna, Keeghan Cook, Guthrie and Reese Hasily — who will be key contributors. Coach Rick Cerra believes last year’s experience will have a large impact on this group.

“I think the fact we went to the playoffs last year and didn’t do as well as expected or hoped to will give the girls a little bit of fire to do better this year,” Cerra said. “Being the first time in the playoffs for all of them … they needed to see it and feel it to know what to expect.”

Junior Shayne Cerra also will be a contributor.

Bisegna will handle most of the pitching, and junior Maddie Kee will provide depth. Cerra wants his defense to cut down on its errors to help alleviate pressure on the pitchers.

“I think our girls are going to be more aware of not making errors,” Cerra said. “We want to make the correct plays when they need to make them and be there for our pitching staff so we can support our pitch count. We had a few errors throughout the season that extended our pitch count. Our pitching staff was a little tired.

“We can save our pitchers arms by not making mistakes. We just have to pick each other up. We want to make sure not to make compound errors.”

Deer Lakes also have a well-rounded lineup. A few players can hit for power, but the focus is getting more runners on base. The players have worked a lot with hitting coach Katie (Saluga) Hedderman, who played collegiately at Slippery Rock.

“We have power on the team, but we are a contact team,” Cerra said. “We can lay down a bunt and have a couple slappers on the team. Power hitting isn’t important to me. I’m big on on-base percentage.”

Guthrie has avoided gym class mishaps this spring and is excited to get a full season in. She wants to help Deer Lakes pursue a section crown.

“We have to be calm,” she said. “A big thing for us is keeping our heads. Whenever something bad happens, we have to keep our heads mentally.”

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