Strong seasons from freshmen Makenzie Lang, Hunter Taylor help UPG softball make big improvement

Even before they put on Pitt-Greensburg softball uniforms, Makenzie Lang and Hunter Taylor were well acquainted. Lang, a Plum grad, and Taylor, a Fox Chapel alum, often played against each other in high school.

One particular sequence of events from their confrontations stood out:

Plum and Fox Chapel played against each other in a scrimmage during both their sophomore seasons. In her first at-bat, Lang homered off Foxes ace Mackenzie Borkovich, who just wrapped up her sophomore season at Slippery Rock with a 1.79 ERA in 22 appearances.

The ball landed in center field of the Fox Chapel baseball facility.

Fast forward to the end of the season, and the Mustangs and Foxes met in the playoffs. Lang was walked intentionally three times.

Taylor laughed and repeated, “yep,” throughout Lang’s recounting of the story then acknowledged she knew Lang would be mad.

No longer at odds, the two worked together this season to help UPG exceed the expectations of almost everyone. Despite a roster that included 10 freshmen and two sophomores — and only three seniors — the Bobcats finished 9-9 in the Allegheny Mountain Athletic Conference (16-21 overall) and qualified for the conference tournament. UPG won its opener against Penn State Altoona before dropping the next two games.

It was a vast improvement over the previous season, when the Bobcats went 5-9 in the conference and 9-27 overall.

“I think they far exceeded my expectations,” eighth-year coach Chuck Myers said, “but I didn’t think they couldn’t achieve it. I think they showed a good maturity level. … They had some big shoes to fill in the respect of graduating six seniors (from the season before).”

First baseman Lang finished fourth on the team with a .277 batting average, had a team-leading two homers and 11 RBIs, which ranked third on the team. That despite being pitched around often.

“It’s mentally frustrating sometimes,” admitted Lang, whose 34 games played were tops on the team. “It was frustrating in high school, too, but it’s a sign of respect. You get used to it after awhile. I’ll take the free base, and, guess what, I’m going to be a baserunner for my team and they’re going to hit me around and I’m going to score for my team because of it.”

Taylor, a shortstop, appeared in 23 games (starting 22) and hit .338 with seven RBIs.

“I’m not stats-driven, but I do look at them to make sure I’m where I want to be,” Taylor said. “That was one of my worries was that pitching was going to be a lot different at this level. But I have a good amount of doubles (a team-leading nine), and that’s what I like to do.

“I’ve never been a home run hitter. I just kind of hit to get on base, and that’s what I think I’ve been doing this season.”

To be sure, the juniors and seniors were important to UPG’s improvement. Senior Madison Stonbraker led the team with a .396 average and 20 RBIs. Fellow senior Kacey Weller hit .274 with 11 RBIs.

Junior Melanie Mienke, also a Plum grad, went 9-10 with a 2.77 ERA in the circle.

But, in addition to Taylor and Lang, plenty of other freshmen had their fingerprints all over Pitt-Greensburg’s better-than-expected season. Jessica Dunn (.312) and Jadyn Davis (.283) ranked third and fourth, respectively on the team in hitting. Pitcher Julia Jastrzebski made 11 appearances and finished with a 4.20 ERA.

Yet another freshman, Knoch product Madison Gardner, was hitting .400 (12 for 30) through 10 games — all starts — until suffering a season-ending injury.

With respect to Lang and Taylor, Myers is confident he has found long-term answers at shortstop and first base.

“Shortstop was a hard position to fill for me the last couple of years,” Myers said. “My expectation level after watching (Taylor) play during the summertime was that I got a really good shortstop that’s going to play four years at that position.

“And I also know Hunter is very happy to have Makenzie at first base.”

Said Taylor: “She can pick everything that I kind of throw down by her ankles. That’s something I have known she has been able to do from playing against her. I knew there was going to be a first baseman who could get anything I would throw at her.”

Lang was equally impressed with Taylor’s fielding prowess.

“Her range is outrageous,” Lang said. “I see a ball hit to that side of the field, and I’m like, ‘Hunter has got this. No doubt.’ ”

Having Taylor throw to her at first base is a lot more enjoyable than having Taylor pitch around her. Oh, yes. Taylor, who also pitched for the Foxes, admitted to working around Lang in high school. One ball into the Fox Chapel baseball field was enough.

But for the next three years, they will work in tandem to keep UPG on an upward trajectory. Myers said he has 10 more freshmen coming in for next season, and he expects that group will have a number of contributors just like this one.

That has him and his players excited for what the near future holds.

“We’re like a roller coaster that just can’t get up over the top of the hill,” Myers said. “We get there, and then we slide back a little bit. But I think we’re headed for the top of the hill, and once we start downhill, we’re going to be pretty tough to stop in the next couple of years.”

Taylor echoed Myers’ sentiment, noting that having so many young players growing together will add to the group’s cohesiveness.

“I think we’ll work together really well and be able to know exactly where we’re going with each play and each at-bat,” she said. “I think we’ll be able to start racking up hits together.”