This season, Saucon Valley softball has been a force to reckon with, currently holding a 9-10 record and qualifying for district playoffs for the first time since 2012. The team, led by captains Senior Eliza Sullivan, Junior Matty Seyfried and Junior Ryan Gall, has caused quite a few upsets such as a 6-5 win over the Palmerton Bombers, which had a conference record of 14-2 last season, and other wins against Bangor and Lehighton – teams the Panthers haven’t beaten in a decade. Bangor lost 10-8 and Lehighton was mercy-ruled, 15-0.

Saucon Valley, coached by Terry Csrenko, has had a phenomenal underdog comeback recently. The team hasn’t qualified for District XI playoffs for 12 years and went 3-7 last year. Players faced great adversity this year in the Colonial League, a young team with six of 15 players being freshmen.

“One good thing about this season is that we had five starting freshmen in the lineup, and from November, they were in the weight room working,” Csrenko said. “We got off to a slow start with some teams we have not previously beaten, but eventually won seven out of our last 10 games.

“Without all 15 of us competing, that wasn’t possible, including the girls on the bench. They contributed at times keeping up the energy. Our record right now is 9 and 10, which doubles the number of wins we had last year, and it’s more than the last two years combined. For the first time in three years, we did not lose more than four games in a row even going on a five game win streak.”

Junior pitcher Matty Seyfried has been a vital weapon in the past three years at Saucon. Seyfried was Max Preps Player of the Year in 2023 and Morning Call Player of the Week in 2024. She dominated with 267 strikeouts in 200 innings while also having the team’s current highest batting average.

“This team is amazing,” Seyfried said. “The bond we’ve created In the last few months has been great. Even off the field, we still treat each other with respect. Being a part of a team that truly is changing the culture at Saucon Valley is something that I will never forget”

Some other stand-out performers this season have been freshmen Savannah Schlegel, Morgan Seyfried and Rylan Best, who were pulled up to play for the varsity team. Senior catcher Eliza Sullivan is committed to play at Penn College of Technology following her high school career.

“We truly came a long way this season,” she said. “I couldn’t be more proud of all the girls, but mostly to our five starting freshmen who had to come up and go against girls way older than them.”

Junior outfielder Ryan Gall has also been performing well this season at the plate currently leading the team in hits, triples and runs. Asked about her thoughts on this season, Gall said, “I love this team so much. We have worked our butts off all season for this opportunity to play in postseason, and I am so proud of all of them.

There is so much potential we have for this team and I can’t wait to see what the future holds. We couldn’t have done this without our teamwork and sisterhood bond that we have. I wouldn’t trade this team for any other one. We’re coming out ready to play and compete. Go Panthers!!”

This season has really been a huge turnaround for the underdog team, changing the culture for Saucon Valley and setting a strong pace for the future.