CURWENSVILLE — First-year Curwensville head softball coach Jason Wos probably couldn’t be in a much better situation as he takes over the program from Allen Leigey, who stepped down after last season as the all-time leader in wins (305) for the Lady Tide, who he led to PIAA titles in 2007 and 2009.
Wos, who is no stranger to the girls on the team after coaching the junior high for the past two seasons as well as at the Little League level in Curwensville, welcomes back the entire starting squad from 2024, which put together a 16-6 record while placing second in District 9 and qualifying for the state playoffs.
“It’s a great group,” Wos said. “There’s a real solid foundation there. And I was fortunate enough to coach a lot of these girls up through Little League. It’s a great situation. A lot of them I started coaching when they were 7-, 8-years-old. It’s surreal to see them all grown up now and having the opportunity to put the icing on the cake with them.”
Seniors Addison Butler, Ava Olosky and Natalie Wischuck, juniors Ava Hainsey, Sydney Simcox, Addison Siple and Addison Warren and sophomores Briah Peoples and Sylvia Witherite were the starters around the diamond in the District 9 Class 2A Championship last year and all return. Also back from last year’s squad are juniors Caitlynn Irwin and Gianna Lezzer and sophomore Lilianna Vasbinder.
Rounding out the roster are sophomore Brooklynne Brown, who transferred from Clearfield, and freshmen Addyson Neiswender and Kylah Wos, who is Jason’s daughter.
“I started coaching Little League softball at Curwensville while Kylah was playing,” coach Wos said. “And then I started coaching a travel ball team she was on. That’s what really got me into the softball coaching thing … running all over the place, playing real high levels of travel softball.”
Wos also has experience coaching at the high school baseball varsity level as he was on the staff at Punxsutawney when the Chucks went on their state-title run in 2007 behind former Cincinnati Reds catcher Devin Mesoraco, who was the No. 1 pick of the Reds out of high school.
His extensive experience coaching across several levels and various sports has given Wos a distinctive coaching philosophy that he has brought to the Lady Tide.
“I focus a lot on preparation, hard work and execution,” he said. “We don’t try to have an over-fixation on the outcomes. I think if we come in and work on daily improvement and development, the wins and everything else will take care of themselves.
“We worked a lot on mechanics over the offseason. We just worked on a lot that will make the girls better.”
The Lady Tide will be led by their trio of seniors, who have all been on varsity since they were freshmen. Two of those seniors – Butler and Wischuck, were named to both the Inter-County Conference and Moshannon Valley League All-Stars last season.
“Natalie is very vocal. She’s our team leader,” Wos said. “She gets the girls stretched out, warmed up and ready to go. She’s the voice on the team. Addison (Butler) does a great job. She’s played with AK (Siple) a lot during the summer in travel ball. She’s very solid behind the plate, and she’s a great leadoff hitter with excellent speed. Ava (Olosky) is very good in centerfield. Her speed has increased. She’s long and lanky and can get to the balls in the gap. And her bat is coming around. She worked really hard in the winter. I expect some big things out of all our seniors. They are going to be a big part of our season.”
Also a big key to the Lady Tide’s success will be the pitching staff, led by all-state selection Siple, who struck out 226 batters in her 118 innings of work, averaging 1.915 Ks per inning. She fanned nine or more in 13 of her 22 starts. Also an Inter County Conference and Moshannon Valley League first teamer, Siple recorded a pair of mercy-rule shortened no hitters and added two 1-hitters, including a 16 strikeout win over Redbank Valley late in the season. She fired 18 complete games with seven shutouts and a 2.13 ERA.
But Siple will not have to go it alone in the circle as both Irwin and Wos are capable of taking some of the workload if needed.
“Obviously Addison Siple is a great pitcher,” coach Wos said. “I consider her to be one of the best pitchers in Pennsylvania. We are very fortunate to have her. But we also have Kylah, who is very good and we have Caitlyn Irwin. So Addison has a couple girls behind her that have her back.
“Caitlyn has some (varsity) experience and Kylah was very good in junior high and she’s a very good pitcher at the travel ball level. I think working all of them together will take some of the load off Addison and help us get a little further. I have all the confidence in the world that all of our pitchers can get the job done.”
Siple will also be one of the key cogs in the offense after hitting .485 with six doubles, two triples and five home runs last season, while recording 36 RBIs to go with 28 runs scored. Siple had a 0.831 slugging percentage and 0.577 on base average.
Her battery mate Butler, also an all-state selection, will be the table-setter for the offense. She scored 34 runs last season and had 32 hits and a .427 batting average. Butler had a slugging percentage of .527 and an on base average of .488 as well as 19 stolen bases.
Other big offensive contributors to last year’s team were Wischuck and Warren. Wishuck hit .318 and slugged .548 while belting seven doubles. Warren, an ICC first teamer, hit .356 for the season with eight doubles, 32 runs scored and 20 RBIs to go with nine stolen bases. And she put that season together while playing in the outfield, at second base and even a little behind the plate.
“Addison Warren is one of the most versatile girls I’ve ever coached,” Wos said. “She can catch, she can play shortstop, third, second. She can be anywhere. She’s the kind of player that if anyone is struggling we can plug her in and she’ll do a great job.”
While Warren spent some time moving around the field last season, there may be a couple more Lady Tide players that see new positions in 2025 as Wos says he will put the girls in where they best help the team.
“We’re going to move some people around,” coach Wos said. “It’s pretty much the same group as last year, but we are going to move girls around to where they best fit our style of play. But the girls all had to go out there and compete. There wasn’t a position that was given to anyone. I went into the season with an open mind and each girl had to earn her spot. Where they played last year didn’t mean they were going to play there this year. The girls all worked hard over the winter and the ones that are producing now will be playing. But every girl is part of the team whether they are in the starting lineup or not. They all have a role. And they will all be ready to go in at any time.”
As for team goals, Wos says it’s all about daily preparation and improvement.
“A lot of coaches go in and make goals to win a district championship or get to the state playoffs, but our main goal is the preparation, hard work and execution,” he said. “If we focus on those things daily, that will put us in the position to win games and get to where we want to be. We take one day at a time and execute on a daily basis.”
Wos will be assisted this season by Jason Butler and Shannon Siple, who were both on the varsity staff last season, and Brian Warren.
Curwensville begins the season Tuesday, March 18 at Brockway.
