For Alizabeth Schuler and her South Williamsport High School softball teammates, it was like Ground Hog Day all over again. As the state championship game ended, the Mounties fell to state powerhouse Neshannock for the second year in a row. Emotions overflowed, both from the players on the field and the legion of blue-clad fans cheering from the stands.
“As soon as the game was over, I was really sad at first because we had lost the state championship game,” Schuler recalled. “Then, when I thought more about it, I was so proud of myself and our players because we made it to the state championship two years in a row. We gave it everything we could, and having it end there on that Penn State field made it feel a lot better.”
Despite the bitter finale for her and her six decorated senior teammates, this is a team the school and community will long remember, and Schuler’s eye-popping statistics fill the South record book.
Schuler’s interest in pitching began at a young age, as she watched her older sister, Lexi, learn the skills of the position.
“I was about three when Lexi started pitching. When I was little, I just thought it was fun. When I got older, I knew that it was my place on the field, and I took it more seriously. I knew that I had to be good for the teammates playing behind me.”
Schuler’s skill in the circle was the driving force behind the Lady Mounties’ success, but her style differed from the hard-throwing pitchers that dominate games. Her pitching repertoire featured five pitches: fastball, change-up, curve, rise ball, and her favorite, the drop ball. The effectiveness of her arsenal, with 71% of her pitches thrown for strikes, produced 208 groundball outs, compared to her 118 strikeouts, a rarity in the fast pitch game.
“She was a model of consistency,” described South Williamsport coach Tom O’Malley. “She gave us a chance to win every game as a pitcher, and her bat spoke for itself. The best way to describe her is she is a winner.
“She works as hard as any player I’ve coached. She always strives to get better, and her work ethic is off the charts. She is never satisfied, never complains, never any compliancy, and continues working to get better. She was the team leader, and her drive rubbed off on our players just by her work ethic.
As good as she was on the pitching rubber, stepping into the batter’s box gave her even greater joy.
“I like to hit more. Hitting is less stressful. I knew that if I didn’t get a hit, my teammates could pick me up. But if I threw one bad pitch, it is going over the fence.”
Those same fences were a target Schuler’s bat many times cleared. During her varsity career, she walloped a school-record 40 home runs among her 154 hits, drove in 134 runs, scored 113 runs, and compiled a .490 batting average. She improved every year at the plate, hitting .381, .495, .505, and .556 as a senior.
Many of those hits produced memory-making moments. As a junior, her 100th career base hit was a home run in a District IV quarter-final victory. As a senior, she celebrated her 18th birthday by hitting two home runs while pitching a 10-0 shutout against Holy Redeemer in the opening round of the state playoffs.
South assistant coach Cory Goodman has witnessed Schuler’s skill set from the Little League Softball World Series through her final pitch as a senior.
“She was obviously our leader. She is not an outgoing verbal leader, but performance-wise, the other girls rally around her. She is one of the hardest-working kids I’ve ever been around. From nine years old through her senior year, she was constantly working in the circle, in the field, and in the batter’s box.
“In our area, she’s overall the best offense player. What she has been able to accomplish speaks for itself, and I don’t think there is anyone above her.”
With her high school softball career concluded, Schuler participated in another ‘competition’ this past weekend, representing her school at Wellsboro’s Laurel Festival.
She was also active in a variety of high school activities, including volleyball, basketball, MINI-THON, several fund-raising projects, and a member of Students Against Destructive Decisions, the National Honor Society, and NHS Blood Drives. She will be attending Bloomsburg University in the fall to study nursing and play softball.
“I’ve had a lot of wonderful memories playing at South,” she added. “Going to Myrtle Beach to play softball my freshman year with a new head coach and new teammates and playing in two state championship games were very special experiences.”
“I am partial. I think she is the best player in the area,” O’Malley concluded. She battles the pitcher every at-bat. As a coach, I had a ton of confidence in her at the plate, and she came through in so many big spots for us. Considering the schedule we played, the pitchers, and the competition we faced, she put together good at-bats, and as the numbers showed, she was very productive. I was just glad she was on our team.
So is every South Williamsport Mountaineer softball fan!
