By:
Saturday, April 29, 2023
Leading up to the Fox Chapel softball team’s season, Hunter Taylor knew the Foxes had a young roster and would need someone to step into the circle and do a lot of pitching.
Despite primarily playing her first three seasons at shortstop, Taylor was asked to step back into the circle this season. Besides a few outings here or there during travel ball, Taylor hadn’t thrown many competitive innings.
“With this being my first season back in the circle, I had to hurry up and relearn how to pitch and not let the team down,” Taylor said. “It was a little easier because I knew I had a strong group of fielders behind me.”
While there have been some bumps in the road for the Foxes, they had survived the struggles of their young lineup to be in a tie for thad place in Section 1-5A with Plum. Fox Chapel improved to 4-4 in section and 6-7 overall after winning back-to-back games against Penn Hills and Oakland Catholic.
Taylor started dedicating herself to pitching in January. She went back to working with pitching coach Don Watson. To help get live at-bats, Taylor would have teammates hit off her to build up some repetitions.
Taylor feels most comfortable with her fastball but can also work in some off-speed pitches as well.
Fox Chapel coach Chris Olbrich said the Foxes wanted to maximize what Taylor could provide the Foxes.
“Coming into the season, we weren’t sure how much pitching she was going to do because we didn’t want to lose her glove at shortstop,” said Olbrich in early April. “We have been working out some other players at shortstop so she can pitch more.”
Fox Chapel has a young team and has had its share of difficulties. However, the Foxes will likely have a solid path to the postseason thanks to sweeping Oakland Catholic and Penn Hills.
Taylor, however, thought Fox Chapel may have benefited the most from a loss. Against section-leading Shaler, the Foxes lost 4-1 and kept the score tight late into the game. For a team searching all season for confidence, Fox Chapel has slowly built back into being a playoff contender.
Much like Taylor has worked back into being a solid pitcher.
“The Shaler game, holding them down until the sixth or seventh inning gave us a lot of confidence,” Taylor said. “That should help us for the rest of the season.”