When Lisa Kaczynski was a freshman at Mount Alvernia, qualifying for the WPIAL playoffs was a reason to get excited.

Three years later, Kaczynski, a senior pitcher, and the rest of her teammates are expecting to still be playing when the regular season ends.

This year, just like the previous three seasons, the Lions have cemented their position in the playoffs with a 10-2 mark in Section 4-A, tying Leechburg and Serra Catholic for the section title. They are 11-5 overall.

"It's exciting for our school because Mount Alvernia hadn't made the playoffs in softball in a while and when I was a freshman it was something exciting," Kaczynski said.

"Now people are getting used to it. Each year we tend to get a little bit better and we are hoping this year to make a run in the playoffs."

Before Kaczynski and Amber Orseno, the two seniors on the team, arrived at the all-girls Catholic school in Millvale, it had been 14 years since the Lions had qualified for the postseason. A large part of the recent success has been because of Kaczynski's arm and bat. She has a 9-3 record this year and had 128 strikeouts through 15 games. She also led the team in hitting with a .512 batting average and 18 RBIs through 15 games.

"When I was starting as a freshman [pitcher], it was a lot of work because I was afraid to screw up for the team because there were a lot of seniors," Kaczynski said.

"Playing high school sports for the past four years, now I have become more of a leader and have just been learning different things. I try to strikeout as many batters as I can. I am not content with just throwing the ball over the plate."

Kaczynski, who was a standout on the Mount Alvernia basketball team that won the WPIAL Class A title and advanced to the PIAA championship game, is working with her third different catcher in as many years. Her older sister, Stephanie, caught for her freshman and sophomore years and last year's catcher, Tracie Ferrari, graduated.

Entering the season, Lions coach Jack Stout was uncertain about the catching situation but freshman Lauren Sauerwein stepped up and put any worries to rest. At the plate, Sauerwein has the second highest batting average on the team at .395 and she has knocked in 12 runs. Behind the plate, she has done a good job adjusting to the pitchers.

"She is just willing to accommodate her pitcher in any way no matter what," Kaczynski said. "When I'm not pitching, she is able to adjust to the other pitchers. I only got to pitch to her once before the season, but she adjusted fast."

To rest Kaczynski's arm, Stout uses a trio of other pitchers. Sophomore Ashley Crivkovich, who also plays shortstop, is 1-1 and Orseno is 1-0. Freshman Jennifer Lentz, who also plays center field, also can pitch if needed. Lentz and Crivkovich are two of the top batters on the team. Lentz is hitting .361 and Crivkovich .310. Orseno, who bats second in the order, plays first base when she is not pitching.

"[Orseno] does all the small things to help this team win," Stout said. "She moves runners up all the time and really just sacrifices herself for the team."

Sophomore Danielle Obernaver starts at third base and has one of the hottest bats on the team. She has a home run this year and has knocked in 15 runs. Junior Carlee Rotondo has stepped up defensively and covers a lot of ground in the field starting at second base.

Freshman Annie Stewart and sophomore Jamie Pleczkowski have started the last couple of games for the Lions in the outfield. Pleczkowski is batting .308. Stewart also gets into the lineup as a designated hitter. Both were teammates of Kaczynski on the Lions successful basketball squad.

Junior Kristen O'Hara starts in right field.

"The pitching has been the big thing for us," said Stout, now in his eighth season at the school. "We have been playing good defense. Our hitting is not bad either, we pretty much have it all this year as far as defense, pitching and hitting."

The three trips to the playoffs in the past three years have yielded three wins including a trip to the WPIAL semifinals in 2006.