Young Fox Chapel softball team works to build confidence

By: Josh Rizzo
Saturday, March 25, 2023 | 11:01 AM

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Alina Stiger may feel anxiety about other things, but the Fox Chapel senior welcomes the anxious feeling softball can provide.

The Foxes shortstop/center fielder is one of two seniors on the team this season. With a roster breakdown that features 15 freshmen and sophomores and seven upperclassmen, Fox Chapel will likely be in for some growing pains.

As the Foxes learned in their first two regular season games, those lessons — whether learned in wins or losses — will come quickly.

“It’s great. I love the anxiety of close games,” Stiger said. “It gets my mind off my day-to-day schedule. I love playing softball and want to show the desire to continue to do something I’ve loved since I was 6 years old.”

Fox Chapel opened the season by taking a 10-0 five-inning loss to Hampton on March 20. The Foxes then followed that performance up with an 8-7 win over Butler.

Fox Chapel coach Chris Olbrich knows these types of games are part of the learning experience.

“We can hit a 100 ground balls and fly balls to them in practice, but there is no substitute for game experience,” Olbrich said. “They need to think about situations and understand what is going to happen. You can’t take a pitch off. You need to be patient and not get upset.”

However, Fox Chapel’s win over Butler didn’t come easily.

The Foxes built a 6-0 lead in the first two innings before having to hold on at the end.

“We were slow and timid at first,” Stiger said. “Then we loosened up too much when we got the lead. We just need to believe in ourselves.”

Last season, a senior-laden Fox Chapel team finished 13-4 overall and lost in the first round of the WPIAL playoffs to Chartiers Valley.

The Foxes also return senior Hunter Taylor, a pitcher/infielder, from last season’s team.

Junior outfielder Caitie Troutman and junior utility player Mia Dunleavy are returning players who will be asked to fill key roles.

The Foxes are once again in Section 3 and will have to worry about competing with Franklin Regional, North Hills, Oakland Catholic and Penn Hills.

Olbrich said Fox Chapel got its wake-up call in the opener against the Talbots.

“When you get 10-runned in five innings, you could see that we didn’t know what hit us,” Olbrich said. “We want to get them the reps to succeed so they can build confidence.”

Fox Chapel will likely take several weeks to find its footing.

The Foxes will have more than a few anxious moments.

Stiger doesn’t mind trying to figure out the puzzles.

“We are all great players. We just need to click,” Stiger said. “We need to find the confidence to click with each other.”

Tags: Fox Chapel