West Greene Rolls Past Char-Houston for First Ever WPIAL Softball Title

By: HSSN Staff
Friday, June 3, 2016 | 2:42 PM

West Greene’s Freshman centerfielder, McKenna Lampe, was confident at the beginning of the season that the young Pioneers could claim WPIAL softball gold for the first time ever. On Friday morning at California University’s Lilley Field, dreams became a reality for West Greene (23-1) as they ran away with the WPIAL Class A Championship with a 12-3 win over Chartiers-Houston (14-8).

The coin flip was the only thing that went wrong for the Pioneers on this day, as they were forced to bat first following the toss.

But West Greene did not let that effect the way they played, as they started early. Madison Lampe singled with one out in the first and later scored virtue of a Bailey Benninger double to right center to start the scoring.

Chartiers-Houston answered back, despite not collecting a hit. The Lady Bucs took advantage of West Greene errors, as Macy Kesneck scored to tie the game at 1-1 after an inning.

Mackenzie Carpenter singled with one out to get the offense started in the second for the Pioneers. A sacrifice advanced Carpenter to second to set the table for McKenna Lampe, who crushed a two run home run to left center, giving West Greene a 3-1 lead.

In the top half of the third, West Greene pitcher Madison Renner helped her own cause as she hit a solo home run to give the Pioneers a three run lead.

A few batters later, another runner scored as Lexie Mooney attempted to take second after being walked. Chartiers-Houston pitcher Kaitlin Dittrich threw on to second while Lauren Lober applied the tag. However, during the play, Jessica Orndoff advanced home during the conglomeration at second, making the score 5-1.

Chartiers-Houston answered back by taking advantage of another defensive mishap by West Greene, as Brittany Blumen represented that run after a leadoff single.

After a quiet fourth inning, the fifth inning came quickly and it resulted in another insurance run for the Pioneers. Madison Lampe led off with the first half of two consecutive doubles and an intentional walk. Lindzee Stover walked which brought in the sixth run of the game for West Greene.

The Lady Bucs negated the damage in the bottom of the inning, as Lober picked up an RBI on a groundout to cut the lead in half.

But that was all for the Bucs, as the Pioneers took over at that point. Savannah Pettit scored after an RBI double, which was followed by more runs brought in by Lexie Mooney’s bases clearing double, giving the Pioneers a 10-3 lead.

The final inning came when McKenna Lampe hit her second two-run homerun of the game to deep center, ending the scoring and giving West Greene the title in convincing fashion.

Renner went the distance for the Pioneers, striking out five and allowing three runs although only one was earned. On the other side, Kaitlin Dittrich had three strikeouts in the loss.

Lilley Field was packed with gold, this result ended with all of them cheering for a 23rd time in 24 games.

Both squads advance to the PIAA Class A Playoffs which will start on Monday.

Box Score:
West Greene Pioneers : 1 – 2 – 2 – 0 – 1 – 4 – 2 = 12
Chartiers-Houston Buccaneers : 1 – 0 – 1 – 0 – 1 – 0 – 0 = 3

Tags: Chartiers-Houston, West Greene