Records figured prominently in the Tyrone girls softball team 2003 season.
The Lady Eagles dodged the wet weather and muddy fields to compile an 11-7 mark. That included six straight wins and nine of 11 through the middle of the schedule after beginning the year 2-3. Included in the totals was a tough 2-0 loss to Lewistown in the first round of District VI-AA playoffs and a meaningless 10-2 loss to Mount Union that was played almost as a afterthought nearly a week after the Lewistown district game.
Sophomore third baseman Katie Whitby led the team in hitting with a .475 batting average followed by senior outfielder Loriel Herist at .410 and sophomore pitcher Hilary McNelis at .364. Katie moved into the Tyrone record books by finishing with the second highest batting average in school history. Joannie Hosband has the highest average in school history with a .537 mark. Katie also tied the school record for the most hits in a season with Joannie Hosband with 29 (1997) and Kim Kelly (1996). Loriel Herist’s .410 this year is the fourth highest average.
Senior second baseman Mindy Rudy led the team in sacrifice bunts with eight, which is a school record. The prescription for Tyrone success on offense often went something like this: Whitby would get on base, Rudy would move her up into scoring position and either first baseman Ashley Carper, a senior, or McNelis would drive Katie in. Hilary led the team in RBIs with 19.
Ashley Carper was the Lady Eagles’ leader in walks, receiving nine free passes, followed by sophomore catcher Heather Stanton with eight and Herist with seven.
Six girls had 10 or more hits, led by Whitby with 29, McNelis with 20, Herist with 16, Rudy with 13, Carper with 12 and Stanton with 10.
Defensively, Mindy Rudy led the Lady Eagles in putouts with 40 and Hilary McNelis had 35.
Sophomore shortstop/outfielder Missy Stager provided the defensive gem of the year getting the first two outs in a rarely seen triple play against Bellwood-Antis on April 25. Missy caught a soft liner from her shortstop position, for the first out, touched third base to force out the runner there and threw to second base where the third out was recorded.
Hilary McNelis led the team in innings pitched with 108, in strikeouts with 76 and bases on balls with 40. Her final record was 11-6, with an ERA of 0.65. Hilary got stronger as the season progressed and she pitched remarkably well in the wet conditions that plagued the area this spring. She was coming off a stress fracture from basketball and it took about a month into the schedule until she was back to full strength. As she got stronger, her walks per game went down and she started to really work the batters in and out.
Loriel Herist, Hilary McNelis and Katie Whitby were rewarded for their fine seasons with first team selections to the Small School Division All-Star Team of the Mountain League. Mindy Rudy was also selected to the Second Team.
“We lose a great group of seniors,” commented Tyrone softball coach Lois Loncher. “Ashley Carper, Loriel Herist, Mindy Rudy, Brittany Wilson and Sarah Wilson provided a lot of chemistry and leadership. Loriel Herist and Mindy Rudy have been accepted at Penn State Erie and plan to play softball there. But we do have a strong nucleus returning next year and we will need that as we move into the Big School Division of the new Mountain Athletic Conference (MAC). There are some promising underclassmen, who if they put the time in over the summer, could push for varsity playing time next spring.”
Mindy Rudy and Loriel Herist will be representing Tyrone in the District VI All-Star Game on Saturday June 28, at 7:30 p.m. at the Penn State Softball Field.
