Gardner opts to play on
JEFFERSON TWP — Ultimately, Madison Gardner wanted the guarantee.
So Knoch’s senior third baseman decided to extend her academic and softball career to Pitt-Greensburg rather than try walking on at Slippery Rock University or Indiana (Pa.).
“The coach at Pitt-Greensburg (Chuck Myers) made an offer to me last summer during travel ball,” Gardner said. “My original plan was to go to Slippery Rock and try to walk on, but that didn’t look like it was going to work out.
“I wanted to make sure I was playing somewhere next year. I would miss playing way too much.”
Gardner hit .340 as the Knights’ leadoff hitter last season. She collected three home runs and six doubles. As a third baseman, she committed only four errors on 98 fielding chances last season.
“We tried pitching hitters inside because we wanted batters to hit the ball to her,” first-year Knoch head coach Chris Gardner, Madison’s father, said.
Chris Gardner served as an assistant coach under Gary Coe with Knoch for the past three years. When Coe stepped down after last season, he was elevated to head coach. He’s also been an assistant coach on some of his daughter’s travel teams.
“Madison has softball smarts,” Coach Gardner said. “She’s been playing for a long time. She has eight seasons of travel ball under her belt.”
Gardner did some catching for the Pittsburgh Passion last summer. She’s played with the Passion for three seasons and was a member of the River City Venom fior a few years before that.
Pitt-Greensburg is off to a 3-7 start this season and was 6-26 in 2022. The team has not had a winning season since 2017, when it finished 19-17.
Seneca Valley graduate Paige Wertheimer is a sophomore outfielder-second baseman for the Panthers while Freeport graduate Autumn Powell is a freshman pitcher-first baseman with the team.
A former River City Venom teammate, Karns City senior Jessica Dunn, will be joining Gardner at Pitt Greensburg.
“That’s a big plus right there,” Gardner said. “Jessica and I haven’t been teammates for a while, but we’ve remained good friends. We’re confident we can get on the field right away and help out. It will be nice starting out there with a good friend.
“I’ve primarily played third base at Knoch, but I’ve done some catching, played middle infield ... I can play pretty much anywhere. I consider myself a utility player and I’ll play any position they want me to play if it gets me on the field. I definitely want to play right away.”
Gardner has no qualms about being “the coach’s kid,” though her father said that “will probably be harder on her than it will be on me.”
Gardner is accustomed to being coached by her father.
“I can recall some arguments between us on the ride home from games,” she said. “He’s probably been coaching me in some respect since T-Ball. I’ve loved being coached by my dad. He’s taught me so much about the game. I’m the player I am now and am going on to play softball in college because of him.
“I’ll always be grateful for that.”
