Relentless West Suburban team puts opponents away
· Yahoo Sports
Through its first 12 games, the West Suburban 14-Under softball squad has outscored its opponents by a 180-7 mark.
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“Relentless” is a word to describe the team’s offense, which can erupt at any time with potent hitters up and down the order.
West Suburban is 12-0, having only played one seven-inning game. The other 11 contests have ended early due to the 10- or 15-run rule. West Suburban tallied five or more runs in one frame on 16 occasions, which includes a high of 14 runs in the second inning July 8 against Mifflin County. The Pennsylvania and East Region champions also supplied 13 runs in one inning June 29 during its first game as an all-star team, then watched 10 runners cross home plate July 23 in one frame to break away and create separation.
Reese Pinizzotto
West Suburban 14-Under player Reese Pinizzotto gathers in a grounder during a practice session Wednesday, July 29, 2026, in Windber, Pa.
“We just keep going and going and going until we have to stop basically,” Bryn Roberts said.
“We keep running up the score, but we keep it classy. We’re not crazy about it.”
West Suburban plays Canada at 4 p.m. Sunday to begin the Junior League Softball World Series in Kirkland, Washington. The local squad will play four Pool B games, with the top four from each bracket advancing to the quarterfinals Thursday.
Capable and dynamic hitters prolong the lineup of 12.
“I feel like everyone top to bottom, you can switch the lineup and we’d be good,” Adalyn Hines. “It doesn’t matter. Everyone can hit the ball.”
The local squad made up of Cambria and northern Somerset County athletes is never content or satisfied, no matter who it is playing.
“We’re going to be facing some harder competition this time,” Kylie Sweeney said.
“It’s definitely going to be harder, but we can easily put teams away as we’ve been.”
West Suburban especially thrives in extended at-bats. Members of the team routinely foul off borderline pitches to escalate the opposing pitcher’s total number of offerings. When the pitch count keeps climbing, mistakes are usually made in the center of the plate, which West Suburban hitters can feast on.
“Coach Rick (Roberts) always says, ‘Chop down the tree,’ ” Reagan Bills said.
“The pitcher is the tree, so the more pitches that you get in an at-bat, it just wears her down and gives your teammates an opportunity to see that perfect pitch.”
“We have a pretty good batting order all the way down,” Jerzy Bopp said. “We have three-four hitters all the way down the lineup. We just set it up differently.”
It is each hitter’s job to do her best to keep the inning alive by passing the bat to the next batter with a strong scoring opportunity still intact.
“If you mess up, you know that somebody behind you can pick you up because they’re just as good or better,” Camdyn Westover said. “It helps us be really successful.”
Having protection behind you helps alleviate any pressure on a certain player.
“I’ve seen everyone kind of get rid of their nerves,” Hines said. “They’re not as nervous as they were in the beginning. No one is really nervous because they know that everyone is going to pick each other up.”
‘Meshed extremely quickly’
Pitching depth and versatility are hallmarks of the team as well. West Suburban feels confident in sending any of its six pitchers to the circle with a strong defense behind them to support.
Combining all facets has elevated the team into an extra gear not many others can match in its age bracket.
“I think we just need to keep doing what we’ve been doing,” Sweeney said. “We’ve been racking up scores.
“Our pitchers have been doing amazing. Our hitters have been doing amazing. Everything’s just coming together for us and it’s working so well.”
Throughout the summer, the all-star team has grown closer to each other.
“We definitely meshed extremely quickly,” Irelyn Scott said. “We’re all best friends. It took literally a day.
“The first practice, we were already cheering each other on and picking each other up when someone made a mistake. We just love each other very, very much.”
“We’re all really close, which helps us play better and have closer bonds,” Olivia O’Roark said.
“We got a lot closer and we play more together as a team than we did before.”
Keeping the vibes in the dugout upbeat is paramount.
“Bryn always keeps everybody up,” Cameron Mash said.
“We’re never down. Everybody picks each other up whenever somebody makes a mistake. On the field, we’re all talking to each other. We know how to talk to each other and make each other feel like family. It’s nice to have that.”
“We got along so well together that we just have so much communication on the field,” Bopp said.
“We all work together and we pump each other up before we go to bat. We cheer each other on. It’s definitely a teamwork kind of place to be at. It’s definitely good coaching ability, too.”
‘Same passion’
Playing for each other has made a difference on the selfless team, which is made up of driven, goal-oriented and passionate players.
“I think a big thing is we don’t care about just ourself,” Kylie Ferguson said. “It’s the whole team. It’s one big effort as a team. There’s no I.
“It’s always we or us. We’re all very hard-working, and we put in the work outside of practice.
“Everyone just has the same passion. You can just really tell that everybody wants to do big things.”
Everyone on the team picked up intensity as the summer wore on, sensing there were bigger goals ahead.
“I think we kind of realized how big of an opportunity it really was because at first, you’re doing it for fun in rec league,” Ferguson said.
“Then it’s, ‘Oh my gosh, we’re actually going to the World Series.’ This is such a big opportunity. I think we really stepped up our game in practices and games just to really show everybody how good we can do and prove to the coaches how far we can could go.”
Manager Rick Roberts complimented his team’s collective toughness.
“I think these girls are just as tough as the boys,” he said.