Pleasant Valley knows from experience that any time you play against an opponent from the Mountain Valley Conference, a win is crucial in many ways. Against East Stroudsburg South, the will to win was apparent in the offensive efforts of the Lady Bears, as four home runs and a strong pitching performance by Kiersten Griesback led PV to a 15-0 shutout win, in four and a half innings.

Entering the game, the Bears stood at 2-1, with two straight ten-run rule wins over Southern Lehigh and East Stroudsburg North, yet remained focused on the task at hand and took care of the game with a business-like approach.The huge offensive output came in the third frame, where three homers turned a 4-0 advantage to a 13-0 lead at the end of three. Jordan Meckes, Chelsea Morales and Kiersten Griesback all had round-trippers to bring in a combined seven runs.Meckes commented on the importance of collecting a win against league opponents, saying, "We definitely need as many wins as we can get towards our seeding for the MVC (playoffs), in the future, if we get there. So, we knew we had to take this game seriously, just in case we needed it in the future."The senior shortstop had plenty of put-outs in the contest at short, and backed up starting pitcher Kiersten Griesback, who picked up the win on the mound in this, her first year of pitching varsity softball. Pleasant Valley head coach Steve Caffrey has plenty of faith in Griesback, and she has been stepping up for the Bears thus far."When you're doing well offensively, and getting hits, it brings a lot of positive energy to the mound and my approach to pitching," Griesback mentioned. The winning pitcher also contributed three RBIs to aid in her effort, as she excelled on both sides of the ball. "I was nervous on the mound in my first game, and it still is pressure out there on the circle, but it's getting better with each game that passes."Griesback, who only yielded two hits for the win and fanned batters in practically every frame, also commented on the importance of the win today, admitting, "If we have beaten all these teams, and then we end up facing them later in the playoffs, we know that we can definitely beat them and that will help us with our confidence down the stretch."Brittany Bonser finished the day with two hits at the plate for Pleasant Valley. who improved to 3-1 overall and remain perfect at 2-0 in the league."We have to win the games that we're supposed to," coach Caffrey admitted afterwards. "This was a game that we should have won and we did. Also, if we can come out aggressively against an opponent like we did today, hopefully we can come out the same way against the remaining teams in our league and possibly carry that over to our non-league opponents, as well."ES South 000 00 - 0 2 3Pleasant Vy. 319 2x - 15 9 1Cloke, Olsommer (3) and Asher; Griesback and Caffrey. WP - Griesback, LP - Cloke. HR: PV - Bonser (1st, none on), Meckes (3rd, two on), Griesback (3rd, two on), Morales (3rd, none on).