The Upper Merion Softball team has been dominating PAC play (12-1) while staying at the top of the 5A playoff picture. They sit at the fourth seed in 5A, with a total of 15 wins to show for a dominant season. This impressive feat of wins is the result of a span of 15 games where the girls only lost one. I got the opportunity to ask a couple of questions to some players, as Brielle Baessler credited the girls’ “willingness to learn and not let mistakes get us down” for their improvement to success this year.
The Vikings have been led by Brielle Baessler on the mound. She has pitched in 14 games with 11 wins and a 3.93 earned run average. Piper Edge has been the Vikings’ best bat with an unreal on-base percentage of .714. Her 6 home runs led to a 1.211 slugging percent. Lily O’Donnell leads the Vikings in hits as a freshman with 23, to go along with 18 runs scored. Her 10 stolen bases also leads Upper Merion. Lina Diaconescu has provided a strong 13 runs batted in with a .462 batting average. This group is young with a lot to learn, but they definitely do not lack the energy at any point of a game. When talking about how this level of success was achieved, Edge explained, “Whenever we are not hitting, or making mistakes in the field, we are able to keep our act together, stay resilient, and keep working hard.”
Holding the second seed in the PAC playoffs is huge at this point in the year. If the playoffs started today, there would be a home game against seventh-seeded Spring Ford. As far as the District playoffs go, they are on track to face Mount Saint Joseph. With a recent clinch on the frontier side of the PAC, a guaranteed home game for the Vikings will be fun to watch.
This Vikings squad is young, but has already defied the odds set against them at the beginning of the year. With a team lacking senior presence, this team has already performed to a level they were not expected at the beginning of the year. There is nothing to lose, and only up to go from here for the Vikings. Baessler said the goal is simple, “We’re going into the playoffs with as much confidence as we can… trying to stay aggressive, and play our game.” As one of the hotter teams around, the Vikings are not a team you would want to face late in the season. Piper Edge talked about the team’s expectations for the important games to come: “We are a strong-willed team who will do as much as we can to win because if we don’t, our season ends.” This team is sneaky, talented, and can easily make a subtle push at a district run. The girls’ are as talented as any team in the PAC, with the sky being the limit with how they’re playing.
