It may seem crazy now, but as Perry Hall softball coach Brian Radcliffe looked ahead to the season in early March, he anticipated his team going through some early growing pains.
Yet that hasn’t been the case whatsoever.
After dropping their season opener, 5-2 to Loch Raven, the Gators have won five games in a row, outscoring their opponents by a combined 69-13 in that span.
Perry finished last season 13-6 and reached the Class 4A North semifinals.
“We’re very young,” said Radcliffe, now in his 16th year as Perry Hall’s head coach. “But I think our defense will be a strength for us. If we can keep scores down, I think we’ll be OK.”
Even if they can’t, it doesn’t appear the Gators’ offense will have much trouble picking up the slack.
Despite replacing leading hitter Allison Bittner (.478 batting average), who now plays at UNC Wilmington, as well as first baseman Jennifer Biemer and third baseman Rachel Burley, Perry Hall has scored at least 11 runs in four of its past five games and hasn’t been held to less than seven since its season opener.
To help offset the loss of Bittner, Biemer and Burley, Radcliffe has depended largely on offensive production from, among others, catcher Brittany Kinnear, second baseman Rachel Marciniak and center fielder Cassandra Salvo, a three-year varsity player.
Kinnear tallied a team-best 17 RBI last year while Marciniak batted .444, second behind only Bittner, while also posting a 6-2 record as a pitcher along with a 1.50 ERA.
Radcliffe will also rely on junior pitcher Emily Briedenbaugh to be his number one option on the mound. Briedenbaugh was 6-4 last season with a 2.70 ERA.
“I think Franklin will probably be the class of the league,” Radcliffe said. “But I think there will be a group of teams playing for the number two spot and I think we will be certainly be one of those.”
