BUTLER TWP — The elevation of a player among national leaders in batting average in 2022 to the top spot of the order could also lead the Butler County Community College softball team to the program’s seventh conference championship and fifth since 2016.

Shortstop and outfielder Amanda Dailey batted mostly fifth for the Pioneers last year. Her .519 average ranked No. 19 among players on 63 National Junior College Athletic Association Division III programs.

The Moniteaugraduate’s 18 runs scored, 17 runs batted in, 10 stolen bases and .565 on-base percentage helped to lead BC3 to a 10-6 record, and Western Pennsylvania Collegiate Conference and NJCAA Division III Region 20 crowns.

Dailey “has that softball IQ,” BC3 softball coach Dan Beebe said. “Speed. Intelligence. I trust her as far as setting the table, getting on base, stealing a base when needed and scoring that first run of the game for us.”

Her move to the top of the batting order, Dailey said, is “super-exciting. I feel like I have the opportunity to get things started, hype everyone up and make everyone ready to go.”

Dailey did so in 2022, teammate Kristen Woolstrum said.

“Amanda really sparked a lot of our innings,” said Woolstrum, a graduate of Cochranton High. “She was able to get on base. And that’s what I think a real leader is when it comes to stepping up to the plate.”

Dailey and Woolstrum are among four Pioneers to return from a 2022 squad that posted the program’s fifth winning record in as many seasons played.

Woolstrum as a pitcher struck out 23, walked five and finished 4-3.

Pitcher Bailey Rickenbrode was 4-2 with a strikeouts-per-game average of 11.36 that ranked third in Division III. Taylor Schultz’s on-base percentage of .600 ranked No. 12.

Schultz is a second baseman and outfielder and Moniteau graduate; Rickenbrode also plays third base and is a Knoch graduate.

“We have four key returning players,” Beebe said. “And that’s a good start. We’re going to expect a lot out of them as sophomores.”

BC3 won eight consecutive games in 2022 by a combined score of 90-11 after a 2-4 start.

Monroe College-Bronx then defeated the Pioneers in the NJCAA Division III Northeast District championship tournament and earned a berth to the national championship tournament in Syracuse, N.Y.

Monroe College-Bronx finished seventh in the national championship tournament.

Among eight freshman on BC3’s squad are sisters Marra Patton, a pitcher, and Sarah Patton, a catcher, and each Karns City graduates.

“Pitching right now will be our strength,” Beebe said. “If we can limit the other team from hitting the ball, they don’t score. We can’t lose if they don’t score. That’s the kind of strength we have with Kristen and Marra.”

Said Dailey: “This team could be amazing. Our team last year was great, but this team has so much potential.”

The Pioneers won WPCC titles in 1989, 1990, 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2022 and its first of two Region 20 titles in 2017.

BC3 did not play in 2020 and 2021 as a result of an NJCAA decision to postpone athletics with regard to COVID-19. The program has won 74 percent of its games in finishing the 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019 and 2022 seasons with winning records.

Joining Marra and Sarah Patton as freshmen on BC3’s squad are Madison Hanan, an outfielder and graduate of Leechburg; Shay Tresselt, first base-third base, LBJ, Johnson City, Texas; Bailey Ignosh, outfielder, Mars; Ashley Brenneman, first base-catcher, Karns City; Meiah Croyle, pitcher and utility player, Butler; and Kinzie Miller, infielder-outfielder, Slippery Rock.

Bill Foley is coordinator of news and media content for Butler County Community College