State champion West Suburban softball team recognized
Oct. 21—Three months have passed since the West Suburban Little League 14-under team earned a state title and came within two victories of advancing to the Junior League Softball World Series.
The squad was recognized on Thursday by state Rep. Frank Burns, D-East Taylor Township, and Johnstown City Councilman Ricky Britt for their achievements in July.
"I think it was really cool we got to make it (to the East Region tournament)," team member Kelsie Muto said of the memorable summer. "I was surprised and had a good experience."
The Red Rage became the first West Suburban team, baseball or softball, to win a state championship.
"It's a really special team," manager Dave Lynch said. "These girls have been playing together for a long time. It's just really neat to see them kind of get past that barrier to be Pennsylvania state champs. That's certainly a highlight for me in watching these girls be able to get over that hump and to move on to the next level of the tournament."
West Suburban, the District 11 champions, defeated Marion Center twice to earn the Section 4 title. The Red Rage then went 4-0 and outscored their opponents 48-10 to win the state title.
"We have great support up here with the softball program and how the league is run," Lynch said. "That's really a cool thing that Rep. Burns came up here in the midst of a race and Johnstown recognizing these girls.
"These girls are a representative of Johnstown as a whole. They represent several school districts in the area.
"We're talking about Westmont (Hilltop), (Greater) Johnstown, Central Cambria, Conemaugh Valley, (Bishop) McCort (Catholic) and Richland. It's really neat to see these girls from different schools just come together."
Other members of the team include Taylor Hess, Sienna Kubic, Alea Ladika, Sophie Lamia, Katie Ledwich, Zoey Lynch, Katie Scott, LaMya Stephens, Kristin Stiles and Lizzy Veranese. Assistant coaches Don Hess, Chris Lamia and Marc Muto helped Dave Lynch on the staff.
At the East Region tournament in Orange, Connecticut, West Suburban went 4-0 in pool play. The Red Rage defeated state champions from Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey and New York.
In bracket play, West Suburban topped New York and Delaware in the quarterfinals and semifinals, respectively, to advance to the championship series, in which Milford, Connecticut, won 9-8 and 8-6 decisions to sweep the best-of-3 series and advance to the Junior League Softball World Series in Kirkland, Washington.
Thursday's event allowed the team to reconnect with one another and relive moments they will never forget from July.
"It was fun going back to the hotel after the tournament to hang out in everyone's rooms," Kelsie Muto said. "I think that we're all close friends. It was really easy to work together."
Getting a taste of top competition has helped West Suburban become hungry for the 2023 season.
"Definitely work harder and bond more as a team," Kelsie Muto said.
After the COVID-19 pandemic ended the team's chances of competing for state and regional titles in 2020, the Red Rage were motivated heading into 2022.
"Just the way they persevered and they have come together over the years," Dave Lynch said. "The unfortunate part is two years ago when COVID hit, they weren't allowed to be in the tournaments. That's when I really thought this team was going to make it. That's the 12-U tournament.
"That's the Little League and the boys you see on TV. It's the most popular of the divisions. For them to miss out on that, that was a big-time bummer. To see them come back two years later and to break through, that was probably the highlight for me."
Jake Oswalt is a copy editor for The Tribune-Democrat. Follow him on Twitter @TheWizOfOz11.
