Gross tandem helped SV reach state final
In terms of softball talent, Seneca Valley’s Maddie Gross casts a large shadow.
It’s not likely that her younger sister, Bella, stays in it.
“She definitely sets high standards,” Bella said about Maddie. “It’s going to be hard to beat them.”
Playing on the corners, the sibling tandem also helped guide the Raiders’ order during a memorable postseason. Maddie paced all SV batters with a dozen base hits during a playoff run in which the team bagged a WPIAL Class 6A crown. Bella, a freshman, had nine, including an important home run in a semifinal win over Pennsbury.
Curiously, Bella didn’t get her chance to start until the postseason. She played sparingly with the varsity team throughout the regular season, never doing much more than pinch-hitting.
“She came up and down, and then her bat got super hot,” Raiders coach Marlesse Hames said. “I think Maddie did a great job of making her feel less nervous about coming in in the postseason to play.”
A four-year letterwinner, Maddie started as a freshman, too. Hames took the post before this campaign and was well aware of the senior first baseman’s power at the plate, having seen her go through rec leagues. Maddie tied pitcher Lexie Hames for the team lead with 14 homers.
“I knew she was going to be a key component as a leader on that team,” Hames said. “She helped our young players learn softball knowledge in what to do, where to be, and how to play the ball.
“She was like almost having another coach on that field for us.”
Hames described Maddie’s softball smarts as the best she’s seen out of any player.
“I don’t think you’re going to replace that,” Hames said. “We’re going to try to do the best we can to fill that void ... She could play first, she could play third, pitch, hit. That’s going to be a hard one to lose.”
Hames graduates one do-it-all Gross sister and returns another. Bella manned third base this year, but can play at any of the bags.
“Wherever we feel like we have to fill something, she’s that player,” Hames said of Bella. “You can put her anywhere.”
Throughout the course of the season, Maddie would offer her younger sibling tips on fielding and hitting. Bella absorbed everything, including the reminder to have a short-term memory when it came to miscues.
“I hope she’ll be able to get out of her head maybe by watching how I bounce back from mistakes,” Maddie said.
Bella rounded out the regular season with a .464 batting average and 17 RBIs.
“She hits well (and) she hits for power,” Hames said. “I think you’re going to see that increase throughout and see the same type of player as she evolves.”
If she swings the bat in any way that resembles Maddie’s, her name will be whispered just as much among opposition. During the playoff surge, teams from across the state were careful while Maddie took her cuts. The added attention meant that she had to stay a step ahead.
“It was a sign of respect,” Maddie said. “I had to change how I approached the plate just because I knew that they’d be changing how they would approach me, based on what they knew about me.”
This summer, Maddie is playing travel ball for Passion. It will be her last competitive go-round on the diamond, as she continues on to study at the University of Tennessee.
The time commitment that is expected of being a student-athlete at a larger university had a lot to do with the decision to put her bat away. Not to mention the heavy course load demands of being a computer science major.
Being that it was the first time they teamed up in a competitive setting, this spring is one that neither sister will soon forget.
Bella said she’ll remember, “The experience and being able to be confident in your field and getting to have that bonding of playing together.”
“It was great just to be able to see how she played and work with her and be able to pick her up in a way I’d never been able to do before,” Maddie said.
