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New division raises new hopes for Orange
(by Tony Lange - March 28, 2012)
New division raises new hopes for Orange
By TONY LANGE
Unlike baseball, where arms are more susceptible to wear and tear from overhand pitching, high school softball coaches are able to ride an ace pitcher, if they have one, every game of the season.
Having more than one starting pitcher, however, is still a good problem to have and a problem that the Orange softball team had to do without in past seasons, head coach Ernie Ley said.
"I have a good problem this year where I have three bona-fide pitchers. I actually can have a pitching rotation," he said. "There's a lot of teams that maybe have one and then a couple others that can pitch, but I have three girls that I would feel comfortable at any time throwing out there as starters. I have the fortune of that."
In that rotation will be junior Ari Moss, who earned second-team All-Chagrin Valley Conference last year as an infielder.
That honor came in the Chagrin Division of the CVC, and Orange softball has made the switch to the Metro Division this season where the Lady Lions will match up against teams like Independence, Richmond Heights, Hawken, Cuyahoga Heights, Wickliffe and Beachwood.
"We got our first CVC victory last year against Chagrin probably in the last 10 years," Ley said. "So it's been a program that's really struggled against some bigger schools. Now against schools more our size, I think this team is looking to have more offensive power and presence for this year, and we've done a lot of work around that."
Leading the Lady Lions in almost every offensive category last year, Moss had a .460 batting average.
"She is probably going to be the anchor of our program. She's probably one of the best I've seen come through the program," said Ley, who has coached at Orange for seven years. "She can play any position that I need her to. She is a very coachable young lady who works hard in the off-season. She can catch, she can pitch, she can play infield. She's just an all-around good player."
Also in the pitching rotation with Moss will be sophomores Leslie Sensibello and Alyssa Wisnieski, he said.
"Those are two girls in that core group who do things to better themselves in the off-season," Ley said. "They were probably two and three when it comes to offensive categories on the other side and can do multiple things as well as pitch. They can play any infield and any outfield position, so they're all-around players."
Sensibello plays third base when she's not pitching, and Wisnieski and Moss are interchangeable at shortstop, leaving the left side of the infield and the pitching mound covered at all times, he said.
Playing at first base will be Leila Abraksia, a junior who received CVC honorable mention last year, Ley said. She batted .258, had four stolen bases and scored six runs.
At second base, senior Joy Cooley or junior Avalon Regalbuto will likely fulfill that role, Ley said.
Behind the plate, senior Melisa Perez will catch.
"Melisa is probably the main senior voice this season," Ley said. "In my opinion, the catcher is kind of the field general, and she does a pretty good job at that."
Senior Jenna Weingold will start somewhere in the outfield for the Lady Lions, who have a shortage of outfielders this season after their All-CVC outfielder from last season switched to playing lacrosse this season, Ley said.
The real focus in the preseason has been on offense, he said.
"We've had some girls work on learning how to slap and some of the small-ball parts of softball that we haven't had the luxury of doing in the past, because we didn't have the player personnel who knew or were interested in learning how to do those types of things," he said. "I think we already have a solid defense and a good solid pitching core of girls. So we're really looking to step it up on offense and do some things strategically."
Orange opens its season at 4:30 p.m. April 2 at Wickliffe.
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