They walk out to the circle with the type of swagger you would expect from more experienced athletes. Standing tall, they load their weapons and stare at targets set up on the corners of the plate. With the intent to destroy, they rock and fire, shooting ball after ball past the missing swings of opposing hitters.

Northwestern's Emily Akelaitis, the Palmerton duo of Lexi Merkel and Paige Shupp, Tamaqua's Jada Schellhammer, and Marian's Lyndsey Reinoehl are the young guns of the Times News area softball teams.All of them are either freshmen or sophomores, and none of them entered this season with anything more than a minimal amount of varsity pitching experience.But that lack of experience hasn't prevented them from leading their respective teams to outstanding seasons.Although their youth would suggest their coaches need to have patience with these pitchers, the fact is that they all have honed their craft playing travel softball.It's a pretty good bet that each of these underclassmen will be helping their teams travel deep into the playoffs the next few seasons.Emily the TigerFor coach Josh Zimmerman's Northwestern Tigers, Akelaitis has recorded seven of her team's first nine victories."Emily is our quarterback who throws with both speed and accuracy," said Zimmerman about his sophomore hurler. "She's most impressive working up and down and left and right of the plate. She's definitely been hitting her spots."In limited action last year as a freshman, Akelaitis compiled a 3-2 record. She was taken under the wing of now-graduated Lydia Danner, who helped her understudy to prepare for what could be three successful seasons pitching for Northwestern."Emily has great composure," said Zimmerman. "The other great thing about Emily is she has amnesia. Make a bad pitch. Give up a run, no matter. She moves onto the next out she has to get."Zimmerman added that Akelaitis has such self confidence that she's "borderline arrogant" as she strives to become a dominant pitcher.Although Zimmerman emphasized that his team plays for the "now," and the next game, the next pitch, he rosters only three seniors. Northwestern softball should remain strong for seasons to come, especially because he will be handing the ball to Akelaitis nearly every time they take the field.A pair of Bomber acesPalmerton coach Robert Hock has the luxury of choosing between two young pitchers that have led his Blue Bombers to an 11-5 record thus far this season. Merkel (6-2), a freshman, and Shupp (5-2), a sophomore, have both been huge reasons for Palmerton's winning record."Neither pitcher had varsity pitching experience coming into this season," said Hock. "We graduated 10 seniors, so we have to play young, and we're very happy with the results."The best scenario for Palmerton is when Merkel pitches and Shupp, who Hock calls "a very good athlete," plays outfield and bats cleanup."Lexi has become a leader, especially with our young defense, which is playing well behind her," said Hock. "She has good command of her secondary pitches, hits her spots and averages less than two walks a game. She has no rattle. Although she's young, she's pitched in big travel team tournament games, so she has a solid background."Evidence of Merkel's poise occurred in a recent game against Northern Lehigh when she tossed six shutout innings while keeping her team in a scoreless tie."You wouldn't know if she wins or loses," said Hock. "Lexi gives 100 percent and takes everything in stride."When called to the mound, Shupp throws hard, locates well and has a good variety of pitches in her arsenal. As a starter, she walks fewer than two batters a game."We are a better team when Paige plays the outfield," said Hock, "but It's nice to have her as a spot starter or someone we can bring into the game in relief to give the hitters a different look."Exceeding expectationsTalk about the unexpected. Last season, Tamaqua's Schellhammer's pitching record as a freshman was 1-2. This season, the sophomore phenom is 12-2 for the Blue Raiders."Last year, our starting pitcher was Bailey Pedersen, who was very good," said Tamaqua coach Jillian Barron, whose starting lineup this year sports only one senior. "I knew Jada would make an impact this year, but to lose only (twice) so far has just been incredible."Schellhammer is a hard thrower who has averaged six strikeouts a game and has walked just three hitters while hurling 13 complete games."She's a tough kid with a great demeanor," said Barron. "She's very poised, and for being so young, she holds her own in the circle."Earlier this season, Schellhammer did more than hold her own when she pitched a perfect game against Mahanoy Area. She faced 12 hitters, striking out all but one. Her season total of strikeouts is rapidly approaching the century mark.Perhaps even more impressive, Schellhammer bats fifth in the Raider lineup and was hitting .483 with 14 RBIs through 15 games."Jada is very intense and a great teammate on the bench," added Barron. "She's a complete player."Fueling a turnaroundMarian's Reinoehl, a freshman, has been a major factor in the Fillies turnaround from last year's six-win season.She has earned all of her team's 10 wins, and coach Joe DeAngelo has applauded her development, especially after getting roughed up recently by three strong opponents, including defending state champion Williams Valley."Lyndsey is learning the difference between being a thrower and a pitcher," he said. "You can't consistently get good hitters out by throwing fastballs. Her changeup is a nice secondary pitch, and she is working on a third."Following three difficult outings, Reinoehl threw two shutouts to raise her total to seven for the season. She's averaging nearly a strikeout an inning, and less than one walk per game.DeAngelo praised his senior catcher, Mackenzie Joy, for her handling of Reinoehl. "It's great to have a senior and a leader behind the plate. Mackenzie is very settling. There's nothing that she hasn't experienced before, so she's a great mentor for Lyndsey."When she's not hurling her pitches toward home plate, Reinoehl has done a nice job spraying the ball all over the field. She's batting .389 and leads the Fillies with 21 RBIs.*******TASTE OF THE BIG LEAGUES ... For high school athletes, there are certain games that they'll get to look back upon and remember fondly. Northwestern and Palmerton players had one of those games on Monday when they played at PNC Field in Moosic.The field is the home park for players at the top level of the New York Yankees minor league system."We couldn't get into the IronPigs stadium," said Northwestern coach Bob Fatzinger. "But we wanted to do something for the team, so we checked in with Lackawanna and they were willing to do it. Then, we hooked up with Palmerton and they agreed."Fatzinger and Palmerton coach Mike Svetik said their kids had been looking forward to the opportunity ever since they first gave them the news.*******CENTURY MARK... The Marian softball team gave head coach Joe DeAngelo his 100th career victory on Friday when it shutout Nativity 10-0. Reinoehl had two hits and four RBIs while also striking out six for the Fillies.*******CLINCHED... Several Times News area baseball and softball teams have secured spots in the District 11 playoffs over the last week. In Class 3A, Northern Lehigh (14-2), Palmerton (12-5) and Marian (11-5) have all punched their ticket to the district playoffs. Tamaqua (14-2) has qualified in the Class 4A softball tournament. The Tamaqua (11-4) baseball team has clinched its spot in the Class 3A tournament.*******ON A ROLL... Since a 12-1 loss to Northwestern on April 18, the Northern Lehigh softball team has been on fire. The Bulldogs have gone 6-0 (through Sunday) since their loss to the Tigers, outscoring opponents 56-1.*******CHAMPIONSHIP DAY... The Marian boys' track and field team has an opportunity to win the Schuylkill League Division 2 title Wednesday at Mahanoy Area. The Colts are 5-0 and atop the Division 2 standings, while the Bears sit second at 4-0.*******MILESTONE... Northwestern Lehigh Baseball's Tyler Schreiner got his 100th career hit Monday against Palmerton at PNC Field. Tyler is only the second player in Northwestern Lehigh history to reach the milestone. The other is current Northwestern assistant coach Josh Perich, who was drafted by the New York Mets.