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Tradition of youth
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South Range senior Laura Biroschak is the Raiders’ leadoff batter and has a .322 batting average. In her fourth varsity season, she’ll be playing in her first regional tournament game on Wednesday.
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South Range junior Madison Yanek is 11-1 when she starts on the mound and has an earned-run average of 0.758. She also plays third base when freshman Carly DeRose pitches.
South Range has one senior and four underclassmen as starters
By TOM WILLIAMS
NORTH LIMA
For the South Range High softball program, the kids are all right.
For the fourth straight season, the Raiders (28-1) have relied on youth as the program rebuilt itself into a league champion and regional contender.
Catcher Laura Biroschak, the Raiders’ lone senior, is completing her fourth varsity season with a trip to the Division III regional tournament at Massillon Community Park. Wednesday at 5 p.m., South Range will play Waterloo (23-4).
“This is awesome ... honestly, I can’t even explain it,” said Biroschak after the Raiders ousted Mooney 6-3 in the Lisbon district. “I am so happy for everyone on this team.”
In the victory over Mooney, Biroschak was the designated player and scored twice. Juniors Madison Yanek (pitcher), Emily Seman (third base), Gab Naples (first base), Julia Coburn (second base) and Tab Stanton (shortstop) filled key defensive roles.
The rest were underclassmen.
“We started three freshmen in the outfield,” said South Range coach Don Feren who is completing his first season in charge. Among his assistants is Jeff DeRose who was the head coach the past three seasons.
“The girls have been a great group as far as working together,” Feren said. “They mix well.”
The other starters are sophomore Kristin “Shorty” Robinson at catcher and freshmen outfielders Carly DeRose, Darrian “D.D.” Yanek and Morgan Renforth.
“In all honesty, I don’t even consider them to be freshmen,” Seman said. “When they [announced] Carly freshman, D.D. freshman [in the medal ceremony], I was like ‘Oh my gosh, they’re freshmen.’
“We don’t play by those rules. We play by whoever is good, they play,” Seman said.
Madison Yanek said there is no room for pulling class rank.
“They’re our babies and we protect our babies,” Yanek said. “They are getting so much better as the year goes on.”
On the mound, Yanek (11-1) and DeRose (12-0) have split most of the starts. Against Mooney, Yanek pitched five innings then gave up two hits to open the sixth inning with the Raiders leading 6-3.
Feren brought in DeRose from center field, sent Yanek to third base and moved Seman to center.
After a wild pitch that put the Cardinals baserunners in scoring position, DeRose retired the next three batters on a strikeout, flyout and ground ball.
DeRose, who has an earned-run average of 0.165, retired three of the four batters she faced in the seventh inning.
“It’s nothing bad at all,” said DeRose of sharing. “My friend Karly Pence is the pitcher for East Palestine and is on my travel team. We do the same thing, we call each other ‘Tag Team.’”
Because they have different styles, Feren called it a drastic change for batters.
“Coming off two or three at-bats with Madison [who has] a lot of movement on the ball, bringing in [DeRose’s speed] really makes a difference,” Feren said.
Robinson said having two aces means extra attention from the catchers.
“Their release is different so you have to get used to how they pitch,” said Robinson who hit a two-run homer against Mooney. “Carly’s balls level out more and Madison’s drop a little more.”
Yanek said she gets along well with her pitching partner.
“I love her so much,” said Yanek who is completing her third varsity season. “She’s like a little sister to me. It’s great having each other to back each other up.”
The Raiders’ loss came early in the season when they fell to Mathews, a Div. IV regional qualifier.
“We’ve bonded wonderfully,” Seman said. “We were expecting little prissy freshmen who would think that they’re so good. They are cocky but they work hard.”