Taylor Myers is a spark plug for Chambersburg softball
When Lexi Leedy was injured by a hard tag at second base against Cedar Cliff on April 11, it took Chambersburg's leadoff hitter out of the lineup.
But although Leedy is expected back before the end of the season, it's likely she won't be back in the leadoff spot.
And that's no dissing of her -- she was batting .476 and had scored eight runs.
But Trojan coach Chris Skultety inserted freshman Taylor Myers at the top of the order and she has been a more than capable replacement.
For the season, Myers is batting .459 (17-for-37), with a .487 on-base percentage. She has nine RBIs and nine runs scored and she's shown some pop, with a triple and two doubles. And she's swiped six bases.
But what really shows up is her speed out of the left-hand batter's box. Tuesday against Mifflin County she hit a routine grounder to shortstop and beat the throw to first by two steps. Later, she dropped a bloop behind the third baseman and was already nearly to second base by the time the Huskies retrieved the ball in foul territory.
"She can fly," Skultety said, "and she's been getting on base. I think she'll be leading off for us for the next four years."
TOP-10 MISS PA: Greencastle-Antrim's Jenay Faulkner has been selected as a top-10 finalist for the 2017 Miss Pennsylvania Basketball Award.
Faulkner was named the 2016-17 P.O. Girls Basketball Player of the Year, and was named to a Pennsylvania Sports Writers All-State Girls' Basketball first team for the second straight year. In her senior season at G-A she averaged 18.9 points and 9.1 rebounds per game, and broke the school's all-time and single-game scoring records.
You can vote for Faulkner on pabball.com. Finalists will be selected on May 5, and voting ends on May 22.
UTILITY PLAYER: The James Buchanan baseball team has had a stellar start to the year, and despite a recent pair of Mid Penn Colonial Division losses, the Rockets remain a top-three team in District 3 Class 4A.
Leading the charge is JB's Jared Pine, who has played as the Rockets' ultimate utility player. Pine, a shortstop, has committed just one error, turned four double plays and has 11 assists. Pine is also batting .643 with 15 RBIs through 10 games and has not struck out so far this season. He boasts an astounding .964 slugging percentage, and has thrown a perfect nine innings for the Rockets, racking up 11 strikeouts.
IN-FORM SCORING: Brooke Emge came into her junior season at Shalom Christian as a marked forward, having put 29 goals into the back of the net last spring in Mason-Dixon Christian Conference play.
But despite being a known quantity, she hasn't slowed down in 2017.
Through seven games, Emge has already scored 18 goals, and added four assists. That includes a six-goal rampage against Carroll Christian on Monday.
STREAKING: After starting the season 2-2, the Southern Fulton baseball team has won five straight, outscoring opponents 28-13 along the way.
On Wednesday in a 6-0 win over Tussey Mountain, Mitch Potter had a career game, throwing six no-hit innings and striking out nine batters, but Potter was not allowed to re-enter the game in the seventh due to pitch count restrictions.
The team's deep pitching rotation boasts a 2.56 ERA and has 61 strikeouts on the year. At the plate, Cooper Grove is leading the team with a .489 batting average and seven stolen bases.
-- Lindsey Smith contributed to this story.