Plum has a softball coach who hopes to bring some stability to a once-inconsistent program.

The Mustangs have made the WPIAL playoffs for the first time since winning a section championship in 2002, the only softball crown in school history.

Plum (9-9, 6-4) had an opportunity to share the Section 2-AAAA crown with Kiski Area going into the last game of the regular season, but the Mustangs came up short on Monday at the Cavaliers' home field, losing, 4-0. Kiski Area avenged a 6-5 loss at Plum April 20 to claim the 2-AAAA title by one game over the Mustangs.

The loss snapped a four-game Plum winning streak. The strong Mustangs regular-season finish is in sharp contrast to last year. The Mustangs began the 2004 campaign with a 4-0 record, but faltered by losing six of their last seven games to finish in next-to-last place in the section standings.

Under first-year coach Jay Marston, Plum began this season 1-4 overall and was soundly defeated by Gateway, 10-5, in the section opener April 6. The Mustangs recovered 24 hours later, however, by winning at McKeesport, 2-0, as senior pitcher Bethany Rupert fired a two-hitter.

The team gradually improved after the win against the Tigers.

"Winning at McKeesport helped us get some momentum going," Marston said.

Rupert (6-5 with a 2.76 ERA and 35 strikeouts in 76 innings) was also the winning pitcher when Plum clinched a playoff berth last week by edging Penn Hills, 3-2.

This capped a run of three section wins in three days, which put Plum in the playoffs. The other victories were also hard-fought: against McKeesport, 5-1, and Woodland Hills, 9-4.

"[Rupert has] done a great job down the stretch for us, going four games in a row without walking a batter," Marston said.

Marston was confident his team would turn it around after its slow start.

"It was just a matter of consistency," Marston said. "I'm the third head coach they have had in the past three years. It takes awhile to get a system in place and have the players feeling comfortable in that system. We started to mesh after we started playing together as a team."

Marston served as a Plum assistant coach in five of the previous six seasons. The only season he missed was the section-title campaign.

In addition to Rupert, Plum starts four other seniors: shortstop Erin McGrath, third baseman Alexa Yamnitzky, first baseman Ali Carr and right fielder Rachel Risbon.

Junior Jenna Zummo is the starting catcher with junior Erin Adams playing second base.

The top of the batting order features junior left fielder Kaila Burns (batting .340 with 12 stolen bases) and junior center fielder Shannon Bradburn (19 stolen bases and a team-leading 17 runs scored).

McGrath, who is batting .375 with 13 RBIs, bats third in the order with Yamnitzky in the cleanup spot. She is hitting a blistering .536 (30 hits in 56 at-bats) with three doubles and three triples. A Washington & Jefferson recruit and three-year starter, Yamnitzky leads the team with 17 RBIs.

"She always hits the ball hard," Marston said. "We've been a good hitting team all year with most of the girls near the top of our order having really good hitting seasons."

Sophomore Lauren Rupert, the younger sister of the team's top pitcher, is a natural catcher, but has served as a utility player, filling in as a starter seven times at other positions.

"We expect a lot of good things from her over the next couple of years," Marston said.

Junior Val Dern has pitched quite a bit for the Mustangs, getting the winning decision in three of the team's nine victories.

Junior Kristi Konkus has also seen meaningful playing time as an outfielder and designated player.

Marston said having a youth softball program in the summer at Plum is starting to benefit the high school team.

"When I started coaching as an assistant here in 1999, they didn't have any fast-pitch softball in the community," said Marston, who watched Plum go through a 1-15 last-place campaign six years ago when he joined the program.

"Now there are a lot of girls playing ball in the summer. Most of them start playing when they are 9 years old," Marston said.

"`Some of them are playing travel ball. Some of them are playing the sport year-round, which really helps us.

"I'd like to see our seniors win at least one playoff game to go out on a good note. Plum has never won a playoff game.

"Any success in the playoffs would be a big plus for the program and a nice reward for our seniors."