Though the fall season has ended, the Slow-Pitch Softball Team is full of confidence.  This year, the team welcomed two new coaches, Dave Metzger, and Ryanne Tyler, who served as Co-Head Coaches. The previous head coach, Ralph Pagone, retired at the end of the 2017 season, after filling that role for approximately 10 years. This gave North Allegheny the chance to introduce two very qualified new coaches and bring new energy and determination to its already strong core of players.

Ms. Tyler is an alumna of North Allegheny and played on the team when she was in high school. The NA squad won a WPISL championship during her high school career. She was previously employed with North Allegheny as the junior high softball coach.

“The biggest goals are to help the girls improve and overall we do want to bring the championship,” Tyler said. “We want to bring the trophy back to NA.”

Mr. Metzger is to high school coaching but has plenty of experience coaching slow-pitch softball. He has been a coach for the Ingomar/Franklin Park Athletic Association for almost 20 years. He has had numerous successful teams, including his 2016 Ingomar team, which won the league championship.

“I want the team to play well, to get better every single game,” Metzger said. “Everything else from there takes care of itself. I want them to practice hard. I want the girls to play smart, all the things we keep telling them during practice. Alright, think, know their plays, communicate, talk to each other, those are the things that make the girls better as a team, and that’s what its all about for me”

Both of these coaches brough a great deal of knowledge and enthusiasm to the team this past season, and it showed the team’s performance. They dominated their first two games against Hempfield with the Tigers winning the first game 23-1, which ended in five innings (Mercy rule invoked). The second game ended in an 11-1 score.  The girls went on to make the playoffs but lost in the first round,

For Coach Metzger’s daughter Melissa, a senior who pitched for the team, the season was a resounding success, and the future holds great promise.

“The environment is really supportive.  The coaches are really good, and the juniors who are going to be the seniors next year are super nice,” she said.