The Lady Trojans are making softball look very easy this season. After a 17-0 drubbing of Central Catholic on Monday, Parkland is now 15-1 overall and 12-0 in the EPC. They've now outscored their opponents 170-13 this season, with their pitchers throwing eight shutouts and not allowing more than three runs in any one game.

Meanwhile, their offense has scored double-digit runs in eight games and have been held under five runs just twice.

Parkland has already clinched the Skyline Division title and a trip to the District 11 Tournament.

Pitcher Aubree Fritzinger, who earlier this season threw a no-hitter against Whitehall, was the latest recipient of help from her offense when her team jumped out to a quick 7-0 lead against the Vikettes. Emma Varrato provided much of the offense, with three hits, including a double and a triple. She also scored three runs. Chelsea Morgan had two hits and crossed the plate twice in the win.

Fritzinger believes that the key is not trying to do too much when she's on the mound. Instead, she's content to rely on the strong defense that's behind her and the powerful offense that so often stakes Parkland pitchers to big leads.

"I need my defense behind me to make plays for me and that's how I succeed," she said. "I love having the group of girls behind me. They make all the plays and our offense makes it easier by getting us big leads. It's really great to play with these girls."

Ironically, coach Barry Search had some big questions about his pitching staff coming into the season and wasn't sure what to expect.

After all, the team has had to find a way of replacing Morgan Rentzheimer, who graduated after last season and is now pitching well at the University of Scranton.

Search credits his pitching coach, Brittany Frederick with helping his staff of young pitchers to succeed this season.

"They're young," said Frederick. "It's a little different than last year, when we had two seniors. The young girls coming in worked really hard and I didn't take it easy on them, being young kids. I made them run and lift a lot to make them get strong, because we're going to rely on them. They're not big kids, like Morgan Rentzheimer, who was a big girl. They also don't take anything personal. They're actually very laid back for young kids, so that helps a lot."

With his offense, defense and pitching all clicking, Search hasn't had a lot to worry about this season. The bad weather that delayed the start of the season and has played havoc with the schedule has given Search his only concern, but it's not anything that's happening on the field and he's happy with how his girls are handling the issue.

"I worry more about the school work, trying to get all the school work done," said Search. "We've played late games, which didn't help because the kids didn't get to work on it after school, but the kids work hard at it, which is great to see."