Parshall tops Dirty Dozen softballers

We’re proud to announce the 2017 Dirty Dozen softball all-star team.

By far, the most difficult of all teams to select, the Dirty Dozen from top to bottom is loaded with softball talent. It shows how softball has gained in popularity exponentially over the past decade.

This year’s Dirty Dozen could have featured two “first teams” but unfortunately that’s not the way these things work.

We’ll also be handing out some hardware. As with the Dirty Dozen baseball team, we have a player, coach, breakout and pitcher of the year.

Softball is a little different than baseball in the pitching category. We didn’t name honorable mention pitchers due to the lack of them. Baseball teams have a number of pitchers, but most softball teams in the Mid-Mon Valley have one who gets the bulk of the work.

In this inaugural season of the Dirty Dozen, something occurred that may not happen again. Unless it’s next season.

Belle Vernon Area’s Bailey Parshall swept two of the major awards, winning Pitcher of the Year as well as the Player of the Year.

“Undoubtedly, Bailey works really hard all year long to be able to perform the way she does,” BVA coach Tom Rodriguez said. “She not only does it on the mound, but she’s our leading hitter.

“Both awards are well deserved. She really stepped up for us this year.”

Parshall tossed every one of the Leopards’ games this year, leading them to a 20-2 record and the WPIAL Quad-A championship.

Opponents hit .121 against Parshall this season, and sh led the WPIAL with a whopping 246 strikeouts while walking only 20, a 12:1 strikeout to walk ratio. She surrendered an average of three hits per game and allowed only 11 earned runs to give her an ERA of 0.51.

She threw three no-hitters this season, two against Carrick and one against Greens-burg Salem.

She pitched well, but also delivered at the plate for BVA.

“I don’t think people realize that we don’t throw many fastballs. If we throw 10 fastballs per game, I’d be shocked,” Rodriguez said. “She throws five or six pitches and she can hit all the spots. Her curveball, the movement she gets on it is unreal. You can never sit there and think you have a fastball coming because chances are you’re never going to see it. She throws all her pitches well.” Parshall may have been as dominant at the plate this season as she was on the mound.

She hit .551, with 43 hits in 78 at bats, and finished with 12 doubles, a triple and 25 RBIs.

“She sees the ball really well,” Rodriguez said. “She’s so focused. Hitting with two strikes doesn’t bother her. She had a big double against Yough in the championship game with two strikes. And another against Mt. Pleasant in the game before that.”

Rodriguez said he’s gotten the chance to watch a few of the games that were taped, and he’s surprised the opposing coaches pitched to Par-shall.

“The Mt. Pleasant game and the Yough championship, I couldn’t believe they pitched to her the way she was hitting the ball,” he said. “Like I said, she just sees the ball so well out of the pitcher’s hand. You know, some hitters you can see them swinging and they’re not even looking at the ball. Not Bailey. She sees it the whole way.”

Parshall, who committed to Penn State before she everthrew a varsity pitch, will be back for the Leopards next season as a senior.

The Breakout Player of the Year is Frazier freshman Logan Hartman, who used a strong supporting cast and pitched the Commodores to their first WPIAL championship in Class AA. She also batted leadoff for the team.

The Commodores — and the Hartmans — made it a clean sweep as Don Hartman was voted the Dirty Dozen Coach of the Year. The relationship between father, daughter and team blossomed into a championship season for Frazier.

“Looking at it from the outside, even as a father, I never want to give Logan that much credit,” Hartman said. “Just because I don’t want to be the ‘Daddy-ball coach.’ But seeing what she’s done and how hard she’s worked, I have to give the credit because I know how hard she works when no one else is watching.”

The Commodores’ first-year coach said his daughter is in the garage in the batting cage all the time and has attended pitching lessons once a week all year round.

“You can’t force the work ethic into kids,” he added. “She has her own goals and dreams and she’s out to reach them. I’m along for her ride in this.”

Hartman said it’s been amazing as a coach, and father, to watch Logan battle back from an injury to reach the heights she has.

“She suffered a broken hand at the end of January,” he said. “We weren’t even sure she’d be able to play this season.

“But she worked really hard in rehabbing the hand and was able to get the hand back.” Hartman won WPIAL baseball championships at California, but wasn’t expecting success quite so fast with the Commodores. “I hoped it would come,” Hartman said. “I knew I was blessed with a lot of good players that I’ve known and coached from the time they were seven years old. But it was a learning process all in the same.”

Hartman said he did a lot of work studying softball and watching the game.

“Baseball over to softball, even though they parallel each other, they’re very different sports,” he said. “I have to give all the credit, though, to my team. They really accepted me as their coach. They accepted what we do and what I demand. I couldn’t have done it without them.”

For Hartman, it goes beyond just the players on the team.

“The commitment the parents have made in our area to make their daughters better players individually,” Hartman said from a hotel room in New Jersey. “We’re out here for a travel-ball tournament, seven hours from home, and about 90 percent of the Dirty Dozen names are out here as well. It ultimately enhances their high school programs as well.”

Hartman acknowledged the growth and love of the sport overall, but especially in the Mon Valley.

“Again, I give my players a lot of credit for this,” he said. “The whole Mon Valley, though, the coaches in our area, the players, the parents ... there’s a success in our area that I’m really grateful for as a whole.”

The first team of the Dirty Dozen features three players each from Frazier, Yough and Monessen.

Joining Parshall and Logan Hartman on the first team is Greyhounds pitcher Dana Vatakis, who finished second in the WPIAL behind Parshall in strikeouts.

The first-team catcher is Elizabeth Forward’s Jessica Cartia, a Clarion commit.

Around the infield are Monessen’s Destiny Habeck at first base, Yough’s Aubrie Mance at second, Frazier shortstop Kayla Matway and Mance’s teammate Alona Sleith at third base.

First-team outfielders are Yough’s heavy-hitting Olivia Miller, Monessen’s Mattie Telegraphis and BVA’s Lexie Church. The first-team designated player is Frazier’s Emi Curcio. While they didn’t have a first-team awardee, the Ringgold Rams placed four players on the Dirty Dozen second-team, with Frazier having three players on the list.

Yough’s Kierra Waywood, Elizabeth Forward’s Lauren Mathews and Ringgold’s Jillian Scherer were selected as second-team pitchers.

Frazier first baseman Kara Mastowski is joined on the right side of the infield by BVA’s Megan Christner. Hannah Bach from Yough is the shortstop with Frazier’s Kathryn Barch at third.

Ringgold’s Johnna Mocniak leads the outfield selections along with BVA’s Mekenzie Sokol and Frazier’s Megan Celaschi.

The second-team DP is Ringgold’s Taylor Mendicino.

Honorable mention awardees are Yough catcher Hailey Warrick and Cougars’ first baseman Kayley Westerman.

Also on the infield are Frazier second baseman Lauren Mastowski, Monessen shortstop Maddie Guzzie and Elizabeth Forward third baseman Taylor Ludwick.

California’s Karen Watkins, Charleroi’s Adrianna Gottheld and EF’s Jordan Pinneri are the outfielders, with BVA’s Kourtney Gavatorta as the DP.

Along with the Dirty Dozen baseball all-stars, Dirty Dozen softball first- and second-team awardees will receive commemorative T-shirts compliments of MVI partner BeeGraphix. Players, pitchers, breakout players and coaches of the year award winners will receive plaques. All players named to the Dirty Dozen teams will receive certificates of achievement.