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Ascending teams are always dangerous when the PIAA tournament begins in June.
The Westmont Hilltop High School softball squad fits that description as the Hilltoppers bring an 11-game winning streak into Monday’s Class 3A opener against Ellwood City, a 5-1 winner over Keystone Oaks in the District 7 Class 3A consolation game.
Westmont Hilltop (19-3) won its first district title since 1996 with a 3-1 victory over Bedford Wednesday in Claysburg. Bedford beat Westmont Hilltop 6-2 and 9-0 in April. Reeling off 11 straight wins, the Hilltoppers are rolling at the most opportune time.
“The way that this group works and how hard they work, it’s still a relatively young team,” Westmont Hilltop coach Dave Lynch said. “We have two seniors, two juniors, five sophomores and six freshmen. It’s just fun to be along for the ride with these girls. It’s a pleasure. It’s just fun watching them get after it.”
Since dropping three of four games in April, Westmont Hilltop has outscored its opponents 127-40. The Hilltoppers’ mettle has been tested, going extra innings to beat Central Cambria (10-9 in 11 innings) Philipsburg-Osceola (6-5 in eight frames during a District 5-6 semifinal).
Westmont Hilltop relied on its prodigious power to down Bedford Wednesday. Sophomores Bella Kist and Sarah Gibbons blasted their 11th and sixth homers, respectively, of the season. Kist batted cleanup and Gibbons is the third hitter in the order.
The team has 33 dingers as a squad and bats .368 collectively. Senior Kelsie Muto has 12 doubles.
“One through nine, anybody can hit one (a homer) on this team,” Lynch said. “It’s really a spark for us. You never know who it’s going to be and when it’s going to come.”
“There’s no hole in our lineup whether someone has a good hitting game or a bad hitting game,” Muto said.
Most of the team is made up of players who led West Suburban Little League to back-to-back state titles at the 14-Under level in 2022 and 2023.
Kist’s blast gave the Hilltoppers a 2-0 lead in the first inning, fueling victory.
“I think it just had us start really early and start it off really well, so it really gave us a lot of confidence for the rest of the game,” said sophomore Abby Rozich, who struck out two in a complete-game victory.
“Getting an early start, just getting up right off the bat gives everyone that momentum and gives everyone that drive to just want to win,” Kist said. “We’re going into that game knowing that we’re going to win and not thinking that we’re going to lose one single bit. Getting up, that just keeps us up and keeps our momentum up and gives us confidence. I think that stays throughout the whole game, whether you strike out or make errors.”
Rozich has thrived in the circle during crunch time. She routinely missed Bedford’s barrels and induced weak contact Wednesday.
“She has just been gaining momentum the last couple of games,” Lynch said. “She’s just really been keeping team off-balanced.
“She’s pitched every inning for us in the entire district playoffs so far. She’s just really carrying us from a pitching standpoint.”
“Just staying confident and trusting my defense helped me,” Rozich said.
Westmont Hilltop became the first team to score against Bedford in the playoffs. The Bisons and right-handed pitcher Emma Byers shut out Cambria Heights (3-0) and Bald Eagle Area (10-0 in five innings) in the first two postseason contests.
The Hilltoppers are 1-6 in the PIAA tournament. Their previous state playoff game was a 6-3 loss in 2022 to Avonworth. Westmont Hilltop’s only win came in 1989, a 13-11 triumph over Curwensville.
Continuing its late-season surge has Westmont Hilltop brimming with optimism.
“Our confidence and staying in our heads and trusting each other, I think really pulls everything together because we’re an amazing team,” Kist said. “We can hit. We can play and do anything. The only people that can beat us is ourselves. I think throughout the season, we just started gradually getting more confident and starting to trust each other, building those relationships with each other. Not getting upset with at-bats or fielding errors or anything like that, just staying up throughout the whole game, having confidence.”
Short memories have aided the Hilltoppers in their quest for long-awaited district hardware.
“Everyone not getting in their heads and just staying confident through everything, even if anything went wrong,” Rozich said.
“Just think about the next pitch and the next at-bat.”
Staying positive has only brightened the team’s outlook heading into Monday’s first-round game.
“I think that we all have trust in each other and we all keep our good attitudes now,” Muto said. “In the beginning of the season, our attitudes were iffy if we’d strike out and get down on ourselves. Our team just now picks each other up and really works well together.”
Jake Oswalt is a copy editor for The Tribune-Democrat. Follow him on Twitter @TheWizOfOz11.
Continue reading...
The Westmont Hilltop High School softball squad fits that description as the Hilltoppers bring an 11-game winning streak into Monday’s Class 3A opener against Ellwood City, a 5-1 winner over Keystone Oaks in the District 7 Class 3A consolation game.
Westmont Hilltop (19-3) won its first district title since 1996 with a 3-1 victory over Bedford Wednesday in Claysburg. Bedford beat Westmont Hilltop 6-2 and 9-0 in April. Reeling off 11 straight wins, the Hilltoppers are rolling at the most opportune time.
“The way that this group works and how hard they work, it’s still a relatively young team,” Westmont Hilltop coach Dave Lynch said. “We have two seniors, two juniors, five sophomores and six freshmen. It’s just fun to be along for the ride with these girls. It’s a pleasure. It’s just fun watching them get after it.”
Since dropping three of four games in April, Westmont Hilltop has outscored its opponents 127-40. The Hilltoppers’ mettle has been tested, going extra innings to beat Central Cambria (10-9 in 11 innings) Philipsburg-Osceola (6-5 in eight frames during a District 5-6 semifinal).
Westmont Hilltop relied on its prodigious power to down Bedford Wednesday. Sophomores Bella Kist and Sarah Gibbons blasted their 11th and sixth homers, respectively, of the season. Kist batted cleanup and Gibbons is the third hitter in the order.
The team has 33 dingers as a squad and bats .368 collectively. Senior Kelsie Muto has 12 doubles.
“One through nine, anybody can hit one (a homer) on this team,” Lynch said. “It’s really a spark for us. You never know who it’s going to be and when it’s going to come.”
“There’s no hole in our lineup whether someone has a good hitting game or a bad hitting game,” Muto said.
Most of the team is made up of players who led West Suburban Little League to back-to-back state titles at the 14-Under level in 2022 and 2023.
Kist’s blast gave the Hilltoppers a 2-0 lead in the first inning, fueling victory.
“I think it just had us start really early and start it off really well, so it really gave us a lot of confidence for the rest of the game,” said sophomore Abby Rozich, who struck out two in a complete-game victory.
“Getting an early start, just getting up right off the bat gives everyone that momentum and gives everyone that drive to just want to win,” Kist said. “We’re going into that game knowing that we’re going to win and not thinking that we’re going to lose one single bit. Getting up, that just keeps us up and keeps our momentum up and gives us confidence. I think that stays throughout the whole game, whether you strike out or make errors.”
Rozich has thrived in the circle during crunch time. She routinely missed Bedford’s barrels and induced weak contact Wednesday.
“She has just been gaining momentum the last couple of games,” Lynch said. “She’s just really been keeping team off-balanced.
“She’s pitched every inning for us in the entire district playoffs so far. She’s just really carrying us from a pitching standpoint.”
“Just staying confident and trusting my defense helped me,” Rozich said.
Westmont Hilltop became the first team to score against Bedford in the playoffs. The Bisons and right-handed pitcher Emma Byers shut out Cambria Heights (3-0) and Bald Eagle Area (10-0 in five innings) in the first two postseason contests.
The Hilltoppers are 1-6 in the PIAA tournament. Their previous state playoff game was a 6-3 loss in 2022 to Avonworth. Westmont Hilltop’s only win came in 1989, a 13-11 triumph over Curwensville.
Continuing its late-season surge has Westmont Hilltop brimming with optimism.
“Our confidence and staying in our heads and trusting each other, I think really pulls everything together because we’re an amazing team,” Kist said. “We can hit. We can play and do anything. The only people that can beat us is ourselves. I think throughout the season, we just started gradually getting more confident and starting to trust each other, building those relationships with each other. Not getting upset with at-bats or fielding errors or anything like that, just staying up throughout the whole game, having confidence.”
Short memories have aided the Hilltoppers in their quest for long-awaited district hardware.
“Everyone not getting in their heads and just staying confident through everything, even if anything went wrong,” Rozich said.
“Just think about the next pitch and the next at-bat.”
Staying positive has only brightened the team’s outlook heading into Monday’s first-round game.
“I think that we all have trust in each other and we all keep our good attitudes now,” Muto said. “In the beginning of the season, our attitudes were iffy if we’d strike out and get down on ourselves. Our team just now picks each other up and really works well together.”
Jake Oswalt is a copy editor for The Tribune-Democrat. Follow him on Twitter @TheWizOfOz11.
Continue reading...
