Saint Joe’s Softball Team Makes History

By Kenny Varner Jr.
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Updated: April 23, 2021

Courtesy of Saint Joseph’s Academy Athletics

The Saint Joseph’s Catholic Academy Wolfpack picked up their first win in the school softball program’s history, defeating Sugar Valley Rural Charter School 12-10 on a cold, windy day in Loganton.

Having fallen short in their first four games, Saint Joe’s was determined to achieve this milestone. Coach Bill Myers said, “With all of the firsts we’ve experienced this season the first win was the one that we wanted the most. We tried to keep the focus on the process and not the results, but we needed this.”

So how did the WolfPack achieve their victory?

Saint Joe’s broke open the scoring early, as they took a 1-0 lead in the first on a Jordyn Rose two-bagger that plated Lizzie Weller for the first run. Sugar Valley answered in the bottom of the first with two runs, and again with 3 runs in the second to take a 5-1 lead after two full innings.

The WolfPack played small ball in the third and fourth innings to notch five runs to regain the lead 6-5. Lizzie Weller struck out the side in the third inning, as well as recording a scoreless fourth frame to hold onto the lead into the fifth.

Sugar Valley’s offense responded in the bottom of the fifth, as the Lady Phoenix put a crooked number on the board, plating 5 runs to take a commanding 10-6 lead.

Saint Joe’s clawed back in the 6th as the Rose sisters, Grace and Jordan, each scored a run to narrow the deficit, 10-8. Lizzie stymied the Sugar Valley bats once again, to set the table for one last chance in the 7th inning.

All was on the line as the WolfPack came up to their last at-bat, but the scrappy Saint Joe’s team would not be denied. Katie Pasegot the ball rolling with a solid single into right to lead off the 7th inning. Kelsey Prospero hit a shot to short, bringing home Pase, followed by an RBI single by Morgan Wolf to score Prospero to tie the game. Weller’s 2 RBI single to left brought in Wolf and Grace Rose to take the lead 12-10 heading into the bottom of the seventh.

Three outs remained to victory. As the crowd hung on every pitch, the WolfPack’s Weller struck out the first two Phoenix batters she faced. On an 0-2 pitch, a hot line drive back up the middle was snagged by Weller to secure the victory. As the snowflakes fell, the entire team celebrated the first victory in Saint Joseph’s softball history.

Reflecting on his first win as the head coach for Saint Joe’s, Coach Myers said, “By getting our first win in our first season is a testament to the tremendous commitment by the school administration at Saint Joseph’s toward the softball program. It’s also a tribute to the hard work put into what we are trying to build here by the players and my assistant coaches. I am so happy for the players and really proud in the way they accomplished it. They never stopped fighting.”

The fight to win a softball game is something very new to a number of girls on this young WolfPack team. Several of the players have never played softball in their lives and in fact, some never played sports up until this year. Freshman Emma Nichols is a prime example. ““I never played sports growing up because I could never understand why people enjoyed it…but winning Saint Joe’s first ever game in softball history and experiencing that indescribable feeling of excitement and pride finally made me understand why people love it so much.”

SJCA Record 1-4.

Next game (home) vs. Mt. Union, April 23rd