All year long, fans have clamored for one last showdown between Hempfield and Seneca Valley and their ace pitchers — Riley Miller for the Spartans and Lexie Hames for the Raiders.
Two future Division I players who have spent the past four years going head-to-head in one of the WPIAL’s all-time greatest softball rivalries, Miller and Hames saved what may have been their best duel ever for last. The star seniors had won three matchups apiece against each other over the past three years, with eternal bragging rights on the line going into their final meeting in Thursday’s WPIAL Class 6A championship game.
In the end, it was Miller and Hempfield who had the last laugh, with the Spartans (21-1) claiming a 1-0 victory to capture their second WPIAL title in three years and the ninth overall in their storied history. Miller struck out five while stranding 12 runners on base in another vintage playoff performance for the Kent State recruit.
“It’s amazing to be right next to [Hames]. She’s a great pitcher,” Miller said. “Obviously, my defense behind me, you’ve got to give it to them. … They made every play that was hit to them. Just amazing. I know they had my back.”
It wasn’t quite the same atmosphere as their previous WPIAL finals matchup in 2023 — won by Hempfield in extra innings, 2-1 — with Wednesday’s rainouts causing the long-awaited, highly anticipated Class 6A title game to be contested at Norwin High School on Thursday morning. Still, the clash lived up to the hype and then some, with Miller and Hames treating the fans in attendance to another memorable battle that came down to the final pitch — a picture-perfect strike painted on the outside corner by Miller for a championship-clinching punchout.
“It’s almost a flip of a coin who wins this game,” Spartans coach Tina Madison said. “If we play 10 times, I bet we each win five. … I don’t know if I’m more excited that [Hames] is graduating or more sad that Riley is graduating.
“[Miller] pitched great, but I didn’t think one [run] would be enough. … The defense just kept coming through for both sides, so one was enough.”
A Clemson recruit, two-time PUP Player of the Year and the reigning Pennsylvania Player of the Year, Hames is one of the most intimidating sluggers and most overpowering pitchers the WPIAL has ever seen. She entered the game with 931 career strikeouts and 35 career home runs, and Madison refused to let her swing the bat on Thursday, walking Hames intentionally in each of her four trips to the plate.
Seneca Valley had several chances to get on the board, putting at least one runner on base in all seven innings. But the Raiders (16-4) couldn’t come up with the big hit they needed when it mattered most, settling for silver medals in a season-ending defeat that marks the end of Hames’ one-of-a-kind high school career. The flame-throwing phenom allowed one run on six hits and one walk while striking out nine, ending her career with 940 punchouts.
“I never imagined she would go to a Power Four school when we started this journey,” Seneca Valley coach Marlesse Hames said about coaching her daughter. “I’m just going to remember being able to coach her and being able to celebrate all of her accomplishments.”
After the Raiders loaded the bases with one out in the top of the first inning, Miller induced back-to-back groundouts to escape the jam unscathed. Junior outfielder Claire Mitchell then led off the bottom of the first with a single off Hames, giving Hempfield a much-needed offensive spark. After a pair of stolen bases by Mitchell, Ohio recruit Allie Cervola delivered an RBI single two batters later to bring home the game’s first and only run.
“It feels great,” Cervola said. “Last year, we didn’t get the chance to do it, and I feel like this year was our redemption year. I’m super pumped and proud of the team.”
Seneca Valley put two more runners on base in the second and third innings, but both times Miller kept her composure and worked her way out of trouble without surrendering a run. The rest of the game was played out in similar fashion, with the Raiders threatening to score on a handful of occasions before Miller shut the door.
She might not have had her best stuff on Thursday, but Miller turned up the heat when it mattered most, registering back-to-back strikeouts to end the game in fittingly poetic fashion.
“We’re such a close team and we’re all best friends,” Miller said. “I still think about the [2023 championship game] to this day. It’s just amazing to do it again.”
Steve is a sports writer at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, but he's currently on strike. Email him at srotstein@unionprogress.com.
