Column by Cody W. Pattison: Shenango's historic season ends like an Irish lullaby

Nov 10, 2023

Sports reporter

Three P.M.,

Friday,

Saint Patrick's Day.

I woke up and immediately looked at my left wrist, the four-leaf clover tattoo on it, took a photo of it on my cellular device and sent it to my sister, Shelby, with a simple caption that read, "Always Lucky."

She responded with a photo of her right wrist, a four-leaf clover tattoo on it and a caption that simply said, "Always Lucky."

For the Shenango High girls basketball team, its day was far from lucky.

I’m not someone who has biased opinions on reporting about athletic teams.

I’m unbiased. That's how true journalism, reporting, coverage, etc. should be. I’m not some cat out there hugging coaches, shaking babies and kissing hands.

But, when I started here at the New Castle News, the one team and community that treated me like a person and not some odds and ends character was the first ever WPIAL Class 2A champions from Shenango (and the community backing them of course).

For that, I am grateful.

My late father, Robert Scott Pattison, the reason why my sister and I have matching tattoos on our wrists, always told me to believe in the underdogs. "There's nothing better than an underdog story. I’m one, you’re one and we should root for them," is what I remember him saying once to me out near the garage while we talked about politics, family, ourselves, our journeys, our memories and all the time we were sipping Rolling Rock out of green cans and bottles.

The Lady ‘Cats were the underdog I put all my chips on the table for this season with that silent echo of my late father's voice whispering at me to root for something I believed in. For the Lady ‘Cats, they were unlucky on a lucky day.

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Luck is for losers. Lucky doesn't define someone (unless you get on a roll at the blackjack or roulette table).

Two of Shenango's players battled in the quarterfinals with one having a torn ACL while the other player was competing on a cracked foot. That isn't luck, that's determination.

There's no such thing as luck for the 2022-23 Lady ‘Cats. They strived and prepared for what they wanted.

Like Shenango coach Ricci LaRocco told me, "Would it have been nice to maybe play and go onto Hershey? Yeah it would be. But, if somebody would’ve told me at the beginning of the year that this is how it was going to end with a WPIAL title and records broken galore, I probably would’ve taken it."

Records galore, for sure.

Kylee Rubin made and kept the record for the most single-season blocks and rebounds. As LaRocco says, "A double-double machine," but that's not all, folks. Emilee Fedrizzi captured the most points secured in a single game for the program and not to mention the most assists in the record book. Janie Natale is the all-time leading 3-point shooter for Shenango's record books.

The 2022-23 Shenango girls basketball team set a standard for that program. That isn't luck. That's work.

When LaRocco took his senior starters out one by one, I even felt like I needed to take some heartache medication. It doesn't matter how biased you can be when reporting...tears create tears.

When I left Fox Chapel High School and hit the main drag in Pittsburgh, a song came on my Chevy Silverado's stereo...a perfectly-fitting song for a St. Patrick's Day loss.

It was The Band and Van Morrison singing "Tura Lura Lural (That's an Irish Lullaby)," from The Band's last concert. That last concert and album was fittingly called, "The Last Waltz."

To the first ever WPIAL champions for the girls program in Shenango, to the standard setters, to the community, to the great coaches, to the ones who didn't make me feel like a stranger, I sing, "Too-ra-loo-ra-loo-ral. Too-ra-loo-ra-li."

Sports reporter

Cody W. Pattison is a sports writer at the New Castle News. Email him at [email protected].

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