North Allegheny slow-pitch softball working for postseason success

By: Bill Hartlep
Saturday, September 14, 2024 | 11:01 AM

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Members of North Allegheny’s slow-pitch softball team remember how they felt after the 2023 season ended — on the losing end of a 3-1 decision to Plum in the WPISL quarterfinals.

After a 12-2 performance in the regular season that gave them the top seed for the playoffs, it was a disappointing finish for the Tigers, who fell well short of their 16.9 runs per game average.

With that memory still fresh, they have set out to reach the top of the league this fall.

“Our goal is always to win the league championship. That’s the goal for all the NA teams: to win whatever league they are in,” coach Dave Metzger said. “If you are setting an expectation to be average, you are going to be average or less. If you set the expectation to be the best, then you will excel.

“You may not always win, but you’ll be in the mix. That’s why you play games. You want to win. You want to be in those scenarios where you play for a championship or are in a playoff game where the defenses shine on both sides.”

North Allegheny started this season 1-3 with a split against Bethel Park and a pair of one-run losses to West Allegheny. While it wasn’t the ideal start, the coaches and players are optimistic they will rebound and make another run to the postseason.

“I think we’re definitely working together really well,” senior outfielder Madelyn Daugherty said. “Hopefully, we’ll bring in some more wins.”

The 12-player varsity roster is a balance of seniors and underclassmen, with another 12 younger players suiting up for the junior varsity.

“We’ve got a good group of kids,” Metzger said. “We lost four really good seniors, but we’ve got younger players who have stepped up and are filling those holes. That’s something we strive for every year to make sure we have good kids playing on the JV teams learning the same things the varsity players are doing.”

In the opening series, senior Emily Marangoni was 4 for 6 with a double, and sophomore Lily Daugherty was 4 for 7.

Against West Allegheny, Lily Daugherty, junior Anna Kovacic, senior Emily Sobehart and Madelyn Daugherty all had four hits; junior Claudia Kushon had two triples; and sophomore Amara Daugherty and senior Hannah Anderson had three hits, including RBI doubles. Junior Asha Vaders, senior Ella Mitchell and junior Emily Clark each had three hits.

“We’ve got strong, fast outfielders. We’ve got strong infielders as well,” Metzger said. “This team doesn’t have the superstar that will hit a home run, but we are consistent and that’s something I strive for as well. We want them to be consistent all the time.”

Sobehart and Marangoni have handled the pitching duties, which require quite a bit of strategy in the slow-pitch game, ranging from height of the ball to where it lands in the zone.

“There’s a lot of strategy on both ends,” Marangoni said. “As a hitter, you have more time to figure out where you want to hit it to (compared to fast-pitch softball). As a pitcher you are able to make the pitch go higher and harder to hit or lower and shorter or deeper. There’s more strategy depending on what batter is at the plate and whether you have one strike or two strikes.”

North Allegheny will be back in action at Shaler on Sept. 22 before a home doubleheader Sept. 29 at Marshall Middle School, starting at 2 p.m. They will then wrap up with doubleheaders at Hempfield and against Montour before the postseason tournament in late October.

“We definitely (want) some more wins,” Mitchell said of the team’s goals. “Work better as a team, and definitely get in the playoffs.”

Bill Hartlep is the TribLive sports editor. A Pittsburgh native and Point Park graduate, he joined the Trib in 2004, covering high school sports. He held various editing roles before assuming his current position in 2019. He can be reached at bhartlep@triblive.com.

Tags: North Allegheny