When it comes time for the last home game of the regular season, Canon-McMillan’s softball team might as well make it Junior Night instead of Senior Night.
The Big Macs are one of the rare high school sports teams without a senior on their roster. But they do have two juniors, and both are worthy of a little extra recognition, even if it comes a year early.
Catcher Sydney Senay has four home runs and 16 RBIs and provides a steady presence behind the plate while serving as the team’s vocal leader. Third baseman Lindsay Schmidt is more of the quiet type, but when she steps up to the plate she makes plenty of noise with her bat. Schmidt came into the week batting .538 with seven homers and 21 RBIs, all while learning a new position on defense after shifting from the outfield to the hot corner before the season.
Not a bad job of leading by example.
“Honestly, I don’t think we need seniors,” Schmidt said. “It’s good to have that leadership, but I feel like we all come together as one team, so there’s not much work that we have to do as juniors, because everyone knows their role on the team.”
Schmidt had an immediate impact as a freshman, belting four home runs and making her way onto the WPIAL Class 6A All-Section team. Canon-McMillan coach Michele Moeller said she wasn’t surprised Schmidt was able to contribute right away.
“We knew even coming in as a freshman that she had power,” Moeller said. “Not even being fully developed, which most freshmen aren’t. We see that year after year as they mature over the years.”
Schmidt’s numbers regressed slightly last year, but she still hit three home runs and did enough to help the Big Macs reach the second round of the playoffs, where they were bounced, 3-2, by eventual WPIAL and PIAA champion Hempfield.
This year, the 5-foot-9 Schmidt has taken her game to another level, having already matched her home run total from her first two seasons combined in Canon-McMillan’s first 11 games.
“We’re real pleased,” Moeller said. “She has flashes of greatness, and then she sometimes will take a few hits, but that’s part of the learning process. We really couldn’t be more pleased with where Lindsay’s at and her confidence. We expect her to just get stronger this year and into next year.”
At 7-4 overall and 6-3 in section play, the Big Macs are in position to make it back to the playoffs despite having one of the youngest rosters in the WPIAL. Still, a three-game losing streak in early April could come back to haunt them if they can’t find a way to close out the regular season strong.
The string of defeats began with a heart-wrenching, 18-17 extra-innings loss to undefeated section rival Bethel Park, the No. 1 team in the WPIAL in Class 6A. Schmidt certainly did her part, going 4 for 6 with 2 home runs, 4 runs scored and 6 RBIs, but it wasn’t enough.
“We really thought we could go compete for the section title,” Moeller said. “That one-run loss to Bethel kind of sucked the life out of us that week going forward, because we didn’t turn it around against Baldwin and Peters.”
To her credit, Schmidt isn’t dwelling on the disappointing loss to the Black Hawks. If anything, she may have gained a greater appreciation for the sport after it was over.
“We just kept our energy up throughout all the extra innings and toward the end of the game, and we just kept coming back and fighting,” Schmidt said. “Even though we lost, we played really well. … I just feel like that’s the reason we play, for all that adrenaline and all of that.”
And if they do run into a juggernaut in the playoffs like Bethel Park, Schmidt believes the team will be ready — seniors or no seniors.
“I think all the hard work — we didn’t give up the whole game,” Schmidt said. “I think that will help us a lot in the long run.”
Steve Rotstein: srotstein@post-gazette.com and Twitter @SteveRotstein.
First Published: April 26, 2019, 10:30 a.m.
