The Elderton Lady Bobcats find themselves in a new section this season and many new faces on its roster. Leechburg and St. Joseph are the only two familiar teams in Section 4-A play and, with the loss of five starters, there are a host of holes to fill on the field. And making matters worse, head coach Becki Lesher has only been able to get her team outside once to see where players make their best fit. “It is a new team and a new section,” Lesher said. “I am playing with a team I don't know and teams I don't know. But I think once we get outside and start working on fundamentals, we have a decent team. I really think we will do well once we get outside.” Lesher is calling this season “another rebuilding year” with all the young faces — just two seniors and one junior. The remaining 14 girls are freshmen and sophomores. One familiar face on the Lady Bobcats this season will be sophomore pitcher Shauna Walker. “Her pitching seems stronger and her batting seems stronger,” Lesher said. “She is going to have a lot of pressure on her shoulders but she is strong.” Walker was the top pitcher for Elderton last season and took her lumps as the Bobcats went 6-8. With pitching at a premium in high school softball, the year of experience as a freshman can only make her a better pitcher and the Lady Bobcats a better team this season. “Our strongest assets will be Shauna Walker,” Lesher said. The battery for Elderton will be completed by either senior Angie Kepple or Mychael Ihnat returning behind the plate. When not calling balls and strikes, Kepple will play in the infield. Kimmy Minto is the remaining senior on the team and she will chase fly balls in center field and playing shortstop will be Landis Holt. The younger players on the team did play Little League, but Lesher calls the jump from Little League to the high school level like “playing arena and playing pro.” Lesher added some experience to the roster with a new assistant coach in Stephanie Watkins, who played softball at Blairsville, in an effort make a return trip to the WPIAL Class A playoffs for the first time since 2002.

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