For as well as Mt. Lebanon pitched and played defense last year, its lack of offensive firepower cost the Blue Devils.

Nine times they were limited to two runs or less during the season while pitcher Geena Badolato was keeping her team in games with an ERA of 0.80.

This year, a crop of freshmen have joined the program and brought an offense that had sorely been missed and Badolato has actually improved her ERA bringing it down to 0.50.

"Last year I thought .8 was high for me and I set a goal to get it to .5 and so far I have reached my goal this year," Badolato said.

"Last year I just felt like I had to get the job done all by myself and it was on me. This year I trust my team a lot more and I know it's OK if I give up a hit. I have become more mentally tough since last year and I am still working on that."

The Blue Devils (14-3, 9-3) shared the Section 4-AAAA title with Trinity after closing the regular season Tuesday with a 4-2 victory against Upper St. Clair. Mt. Lebanon will advance to the playoffs for the first time since 2004 when they went 23-2 and won the WPIAL championship. Since then, the team has struggled posting records of 4-15, 3-16 and 7-9 last season.

"Pitching is huge this year and Geena has done a great job on the mound," Blue Devils coach Nicole Fajtak said.

"I have seen her change a lot from last year as far as maturity on the mound. She used to let things get to her; now she just shakes things off.

"She keeps us in every game and the difference from years past has been the hitting. It has come through for us. I had seen the freshmen play before and I don't know if I was expecting them to hit like this, but I was hoping for it."

The two biggest freshman contributors have been middle of the infield in shortstop Tess Apke and second basemen Jennifer Bahm. Apke is batting .430 with four home runs and Bahm, the leadoff hitter, leads the team with a .480 batting average and she also has a home run.

Kathleen Mathison is another freshman who has stepped up and earned a job in the outfield. Julz Tindall, a sophomore has moved to catcher from third base where she played last year. Behind the plate she has had success throwing out runners on the base paths.

"I had a lot of questions before the season," said Fajtak.

"My biggest question was how the young kids were going to respond to stepping onto a varsity field. This group of freshmen has been playing together for a while. They were better prepared to step into the program."

At Mt. Lebanon the seventh and eighth graders participate in offseason conditioning with the varsity to help get them accustomed to the team. Starting freshmen is not new to Fajtak. She had a large group of freshmen start for her last year as well, including Bre Tongel, now a sophomore starting at first base.

Senior Sarah Mervosh and Erin Polena are the lone seniors on the team. Mervosh plays in either right or left field and Polena sees time at third base. Another outfielder, Emily Freisleben, is the only junior on the young team and is a returning starter batting out of the four spot.

Ashley Darabant, another freshman, plays third base, replacing Tindall. Sophomore Alexa Hagenbrock is another returning starter batting near .350 and she plays in either right or left field.

Another area in which Mt. Lebanon has improved this year is its depth. With a solid bench of players able to contribute, Fajtak is able to shuffle players around and go with the players who have hottest bats at the time.

"We make changes every game and it's always based on hitting," Fajtak said. "To win in the playoffs we are going to have to be consistent. The games that we lost this year we have for some reason become inconsistent."