CRANBERRY TWP — The Cranberry Township Athletic Association's 12-under fastpitch softball team will not stand alone next season.

The CTAA and Seneca Valley North organizations plan to merge this fall in efforts to streamline their youth athletic system. Youths from both associations attend school in the Seneca Valley district.

“We all just want to allow the kids to build relationships with each other at a younger age, since they will all be playing together eventually,” CTAA 12-under softball coach John Orlando said. “I believe that's the main reasoning for this move.”

Whatever the reason, CTAA's 12-under team made its final season together count in a big way.

The team — of which many girls were part of for five years or more — won the 32-team Greater Pittsburgh Girls Softball League championship this summer with a 16-1 record. Two of its four playoff wins occurred in the team's final at-bat.

CTAA defeated Avonworth 13-9 in the quarterfinals with a final-inning rally, then did the same in a 13-12 semifinal win over Brighton Heights. The title game resulted in a 16-4 triumph over Bauerstown.

CTAA's first playoff win was a 12-0 decision over Shaler.

“Our hitting was good and our pitching was better than average,” Orlando said. “But I thought our defense was outstanding. These girls turned a triple play this year. We caught a liner to third, doubled a runner off first, then threw home to catch a runner trying to score.

“You just don't see plays like that at this age.”

The 13 girls comprising the team are Audrey Wolfe, Brielle White, Erica Rebovich, Kacey Kalinoski, Kyla Witt, McKenna Trapold, Mia Thurman, Morgan Miller, Olivia Herrem, Olivia Cochran, Ryann Orlando, Sophia Malich and Taylor Chiamardas. Mark Kalinoski, LaMarcus Thurman, Angela Rebovich and Mark White joined Orlando on the coaching staff.

Kalinoski was impressed by how much the team's base running skills improved through the years. He's been coaching with Orlando for five seasons.

“I remember these girls in 8-under,” Kalinoski said. “They didn't really know how to run the bases. Seeing them this year, how aggressive they were on the bases, always putting pressure on the defense, was fun to watch.

“Seeing these girls mature through the years and improve by hard work was a neat thing to see.”

He also observed how the girls who have been on the team for a while worked with the new girls.

“The more skilled girls on the team pushed the middle-level players to get better and that filtered on down,” he said. “The end result was everybody on the team went up to the plate looking to get a hit, not hoping for a walk, which can be common for this age.

“Every player swung the bat. They learned that it was OK to strike out, just don't strike out looking.”

Orlando liked how much the girls truly enjoy playing softball. This was the first season they won the league title, doing so in their last year together.

“There was no stress on this team at all,” he said. “These girls were excited to come to practice every day and were excited to play. They helped each other, picked each other up and played together. That's how they won.”