Some high school softball teams use a dominant pitcher to rack up victories while others rely on a potent offensive attack.

The Mars Planets employ both - and their opponents are finding that out the hard way.

Mars (7-1, 4-0) is all alone atop the Section 5-AAA standings after defeating Valley 2-0 on Wednesday.

The team's lone defeat was a 4-3 setback in a non-section game with Pine-Richland.

Sophomore pitcher Monica Glomb is frustrating opponents to the tune of a 0.66 earned run average. Opposing hitters are batting just .162 against her (34-for-210).

"She is so motivated and so focused," Mars coach Michele Goodworth said of Glomb. "The other girls have the utmost confidence in her to get the job done."

Glomb proved to be a rising star last year as a freshman, but she has become even better after perfecting several pitches in her arsenal, which includes a fastball, curveball, drop curve and screwball.

"The fact that I can be effective with a couple more pitches, it's really made a difference," said Glomb. "But it's all about playing hard and having fun."

Glomb is also doing her part on offense, hitting in the clean-up spot and currently batting .360.

"I think she was a bit surprised when I told her before the season that she was going to be batting fourth," said Goodworth. "But we knew she was good at making contact and figured, more times than not, she would get on."

Healthy averages dot the Planets' lineup, beginning with leadoff hitter Amanda Charles, who is batting .360 and leads the team with nine runs scored and 11 stolen bases in 12 attempts.

Hannah Taggart (.385), Kristin Scheller (.333) and Zara Zollner (.300) have also started the season well at the plate, helping Mars to a current team batting average of .308.

But the biggest offensive star to this point has been junior catcher Brie Berkopec, who played third base for the Planets in 2004 and moved behind the plate after Kara Stroup graduated last June.

Stroup, who is now playing softball at St. Francis (Pa.), was a star herself.

"Kara left some big shoes to fill," said Berkopec. "I didn't set goals as far as batting average goes. I just focus on making contact and I was confident I could do well this year."

To say Berkopec is "doing well" is an understatement, considering her .458 batting average and .708 slugging percentage.

"She is probably the most talented player to come through Mars High School," Goodworth said of Berkopec. "She has definitely filled the void left by Kara."

The offensive success has not come as a surprise.

"As a coach, I wanted to put more emphasis on our offense this season," Goodworth said. "We wanted to make sure the girls could hit to all fields.

"And it's paid off because it seems like it's a different girl every game who's contributing. It's not like we have just one or two girls getting the big hits all the time."

Goodworth is banking on the improved offense making up for the team's one weakness: fielding.

Through eight games, Mars has committed 22 errors. Eleven of the 16 runs Glomb has surrendered have been unearned.

"We are concerned about (the errors)," said Goodworth. "But unlike in years past, our offense is able to make up for them."

Mars moved up to Class AAA this season, along with many other schools that played in Class AA last year.

The Planets found themselves in a section with unfamiliar opponents.

Aside from Knoch, the teams in Mars' section this season (Valley, Highlands, Kittanning, Indiana) were not section foes of the Planets in 2004.

"My assistant coach (Mike Del Duca) and I tried to find out as much as we could about the other teams on the internet," said Goodworth. "But other than that, we didn't know much about them."

That hasn't hampered the Planets in their fast start, defeating Highlands (7-4), Kittanning (4-0) and Indiana (2-0), along with Valley.

Knoch is the only section team Mars has yet to play and the two squads will square off Monday.

The Planets are determined to make it past the first round of the playoffs, a stumbling block to teams in the program's recent past.

"We've talked about the postseason," Goodworth said. "But we also know there's a long way to go.

"This team has great chemistry and the girls know what they're capable of."