2025 WPIAL softball championship preview

Here’s a forecast of the WPIAL softball championships, scheduled to take place Wednesday and Thursday at PennWest California University’s Lilley Field.

Class 6A

No. 1 Hempfield (20-1) vs. No. 2 Seneca Valley (16-3) — 2:15 p.m. Wednesday

Simply put, championship games don’t get much bigger than this one. A must-see rematch two years in the making between the consensus top-two teams in Class 6A, featuring two future Division I pitchers going head-to-head for the final time in one of the WPIAL’s all-time greatest rivalries.

Widely regarded as the premier two-way player in the state, Seneca Valley senior pitcher Lexie Hames is looking to put the finishing touches on her spectacular career with a third WPIAL title before heading off to Clemson. The two-time PUP Player of the Year and reigning Pennsylvania Player of the Year, Hames has 931 career strikeouts and 35 career home runs, and the feared slugger has drawn more than 100 walks in her career — most of them intentional. Hames has led the Raiders to the WPIAL title game in each of her four seasons, with her only championship defeat coming in a 2-1 extra-innings classic against Hempfield in 2023.

Taking the circle for the Spartans is Kent State recruit Riley Miller, a magnificent talent in her own right and the only WPIAL pitcher who has proven capable of beating Hames at her best. Hempfield also features one of the top all-around players in the area in junior second baseman Lauren Howard, a Virginia recruit batting .655 with 7 doubles, 5 triples, 5 home runs, 36 RBIs and 32 runs scored on the year. For the third year in a row, the teams split their two matchups during the regular season, with the Raiders taking the first matchup at home on April 28, 2-1, before Miller twirled a one-hit shutout in a 1-0 win for the Spartans in the regular-season finale on May 7.

Class 5A

No. 1 Penn-Trafford (20-2) vs. No. 2 Shaler (17-4) — 4:30 p.m. Wednesday

These two teams met way back on March 27 in a non-section clash won by Penn-Trafford in blowout fashion, 11-1, but that was before Shaler’s star pitcher Bria Bosiljevac returned from injury. Many hoped to see a rematch between the top-two seeds with Bosiljevac now back to full strength, and that is what will happen on Wednesday for all the marbles.

Despite all its success in recent years under coach Denny Little, including a PIAA Class 5A championship in 2019, the Warriors have never won a WPIAL title. All year long, this has appeared to be Penn-Trafford’s best chance yet to end that drought, with the Warriors putting together an 18-game win streak following a season-opening loss to Hempfield, the No. 1 seed in Class 6A. Senior third baseman Cam Ponko is an IUP recruit who hits for both average and power while playing gold-glove defense at the hot corner, and sophomore pitcher Allyson Paulone is coming off the best game of her life, firing a one-hit shutout in a 7-0 semifinal win against North Hills last week.

An Indiana recruit, Bosiljevac receives most of the headlines for the Titans, and rightfully so. After taking over as the team’s starting pitcher midway through her freshman season, Bosiljevac led Shaler to both the WPIAL and PIAA Class 5A finals in 2023, but the Titans settled for silver medals both times. Now, after recovering from a hand injury that derailed her sophomore season, she will try to lead Shaler to its first WPIAL title since 2014 — but she can’t do it alone. Junior shortstop Jayla Antomachi is a multi-sport standout having a monster postseason for the Titans, and junior catcher Alyssa Schaffold is as good as it gets both at the plate and behind it.

Class 4A

No. 2 Hampton (16-4) vs. No. 5 Blackhawk (14-5) — noon Wednesday

The only matchup this week not pitting a No. 1 seed against a No. 2 seed, fans can thank Blackhawk and its 3-0 upset win against defending champion Elizabeth Forward in the semifinal round for sprinkling a little bit of parity into this year’s softball championships.

The upstart Cougars notched back-to-back shutouts on their way to their first championship appearance in school history, utilizing several sensational defensive plays to take down the Warriors in shocking fashion after posting a 6-0 quarterfinal win against No. 4 West Mifflin. And although they might not have a ton of offensive firepower, Blackhawk knows how to hit the ball, too. Sophomore second baseman Eva Parris is batting .412 with 10 doubles on the season, and junior outfielder Addy Ramer is hitting .333 with 7 extra-base hits, 17 RBIs and 16 runs scored.

Like the Cougars, Hampton is also in search of its first WPIAL crown, with the Talbots making their second consecutive trip to the big game after falling to Elizabeth Forward last spring in their first WPIAL championship appearance. This time around, Hampton is the presumptive favorite going into the game, with sophomore Marissa Snyder emerging as one of the top two-way talents in Class 4A following a strong debut season. Snyder is batting .433 with 10 extra-base hits, 15 RBIs and 21 runs scored, and she also holds a 1.81 ERA with 111 strikeouts to 15 walks in 73⅓ innings pitched.

Class 3A

No. 1 South Park (20-0) vs. No. 2 Mohawk (15-5) — noon Thursday

Sometimes history repeats itself, and that’s exactly what reigning WPIAL champion Mohawk is hoping for on Thursday afternoon. As for South Park, the unbeaten Eagles will be looking to avenge a 9-2 defeat against the Warriors in last year’s WPIAL title game — along with all the painful memories attached to it.

South Park has faced little adversity all season long in its quest to return to the championship game, outscoring its opponents by a combined score of 200-19 with junior pitcher Sydney Sekely putting together another remarkable campaign. Holding a record of 18-0 with an 0.73 ERA and 0.52 WHIP, Sekely has racked up 180 strikeouts with only eight walks in 95⅔ innings of work, and she also ranks second on the team with a .547 batting average. Senior outfielder Kylie Mettrick is tops at .574, and she also has 4 doubles, 2 triples, 2 home runs, 18 RBIs and 33 runs scored.

Although it is a new year, Mohawk brought the majority of its key players back from last year’s title-winning team, and the Warriors still lay claim to one of the deepest and most balanced lineups in the WPIAL. Addy Moskal leads the team with a .517 batting average along with 10 doubles, 4 triples and 4 home runs, while Lydia Cole is hitting .415 with 9 doubles, 6 homers and 22 RBIs, and Liv Hare is batting .433 with 5 doubles, 2 triples, 2 home runs and 24 runs scored. If any team out there has Sekely’s number, it might just be Mohawk — and the Warriors will get another chance to prove it on Thursday.

Class 2A

No. 1 Neshannock (21-0) vs. No. 2 Chartiers-Houston (20-1) — 2:15 p.m. Thursday

The historical significance of this game simply cannot be understated, as Neshannock has a chance to secure its fourth consecutive title while also tying its own WPIAL-record 48-game win streak. In the other corner, Chartiers-Houston is a defending WPIAL champion bumping up from Class 1A to Class 2A, and a victory for the Buccaneers would would give them 10 WPIAL titles, tying them with Baldwin and Sto-Rox for the most in WPIAL history.

Chartiers-Houston has only lost one game all season — a narrow 4-3 defeat against unbeaten South Park, the No. 1 seed in Class 3A — and the Buccaneers have a trio of all-state selections in senior pitcher Meadow Ferri, senior catcher Ella Richey and junior shortstop Lauren Rush. Their coach, Tricia Alderson, has eight WPIAL championships on her resume — two as a star pitcher in the 1980s and six more as head coach at her alma mater. But make no mistake about it, Chartiers-Houston is still a massive underdog that will have its hands full against one of the greatest dynasties the WPIAL has ever seen.

With a pristine record of 95-1 over the past four seasons and a plethora of signature wins against championship-caliber foes from higher classifications, the Lancers are already the only team to finish as undefeated WPIAL and PIAA champions multiple times, doing so in 2022 and 2024 while finishing 22-1 overall in 2023. Led by the “Fantastic Four” of senior outfielder Miley Anderson, senior pitcher Addy Frye, senior catcher Gabby Quinn and junior outfielder Jaidon Nogay, Neshannock is only five wins away from completing another perfect season — but the Buccaneers might just present their biggest challenge yet.

Class 1A

No. 1 Union (18-2) vs. No. 2 Carmichaels (16-0) — 4:30 p.m. Thursday

Like the Class 6A championship game, the Class 1A final is a rematch of an epic WPIAL title game two years in the making — but unlike the pitchers’ duel between Hempfield and Seneca Valley, Union defeated Carmichaels in a back-and-forth 10-8 slugfest to capture its second consecutive WPIAL title in 2023.

After falling just short in their attempted three-peat bid against Chartiers-Houston in last year’s title game, the top-seeded Scotties are back in the WPIAL finals for the sixth year in a row. Standout seniors Mia Preuhs and Addie Nogay have started for Union since their freshman year, and both also played key roles on the Scotties’ basketball team that just won its third consecutive WPIAL title. On top of her role as the team’s ace pitcher, Preuhs is also Union’s all-time home run leader with 29 for her career, and she just blasted a pair of homers in a 15-0 mercy-rule win against Jefferson-Morgan in the semifinal round.

Despite going undefeated during the regular season while coming off a trip to the PIAA championship game last spring, the Mighty Mikes received the No. 2 seed for the WPIAL tournament — and you can bet they will be using that perceived slight as added motivation going into Thursday’s showdown. Together, all-state juniors Carys McConnell and Bailey Barnyak team up to form one of the WPIAL’s top tandems, with McConnell batting .565 with five home runs and 29 RBIs and Barnyak batting .442 to go with an 0.53 ERA and 193 strikeouts.