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The step was a small one, a very small one, but Barry Przybyla hopes it leads to a long journey.

Przybyla helped start a softball program at Penn State Wilkes-Barre in the spring. It was a modest beginning. The team played just two games. Two others were rained out. There were only nine players and no pitcher. Przybyla’s daughter Adrienne, who played outfield at Wyoming Area and was instrumental in recruiting PSU students to play, gave it a try in the circle.

The Mountain Lions lost both games to LCCC, 5-4 and 13-4, but the foundation was built.

“We were supposed to play four games,” Przybyla said. “I tried to get other schools, but they were already committed to playing other schools. You can only play so many games the way schedules are.”

The original idea was to make the team a club sport. But shortly after the team was formed, Przybyla received word from PSU Wilkes-Barre athletic director Scott Miner that the team was approved by the main campus to play at a varsity level.

So 2017 will bring a 10-game schedule against other Penn State branch campuses in the eastern half of the state. The branch campuses in the west will do the same thing. The top four teams will advance to a playoff in State College.

Of course, before all that Przybyla needs more players. Ideally, he would like to have about 13-14 whether they will be at PSU Wilkes-Barre for four years or move to the main campus after two years.

“(Adrienne) is at Penn State main,” Przybyla said. “And I lost about three other girls who went to Penn State main. You can only play nine at a time and with the extra hitter 10. I’d like to have 13 or 14 girls. But if more come out, that’s super. It would get the program pointed in the right direction.”

The team will play its home games at Lake-Lehman High School, just a short distance from the PSU Wilkes-Barre campus. Przybyla, who was an assistant softball coach at Wyoming Area for three years and head coach for one, would like to see a field built on the university’s campus and the schedule expand in coming years.

And even though his daughter is no longer on the team, he plans to stay around long enough to see that happen.

“We’re excited about moving forward and getting the program going,” Przybyla said.

Coach Barry Przybyla and the Penn State Wilkes-Barre softball team hope to continue to build the program after playing two games in their inaugural season in 2016.
https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/web1_IMG956160.jpg.optimal.jpgCoach Barry Przybyla and the Penn State Wilkes-Barre softball team hope to continue to build the program after playing two games in their inaugural season in 2016. Submitted photo

By John Erzar

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Reach John Erzar at 570-991-6394 or on Twitter @TLJohnErzar