UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Senior pitcher Mia Preuhs entered Union’s PIAA Class 1A championship clash against District 4 champion Northeast Bradford on the verge of a remarkable feat — one that no WPIAL pitcher previously had ever achieved.
Having twirled 35 consecutive scoreless innings with six shutouts in a row in the WPIAL and state playoffs, Preuhs was attempting to become the first pitcher to lead her team to WPIAL and PIAA titles without giving up a run. Instead, her incredible streak came to an end on Friday at Penn State’s Beard Field, so Preuhs had to settle for a state championship instead.
Not a bad consolation prize.
“We worked so hard for it,” said Scotties coach Doug Fisher. “Me as a coach, I’ve tried to get them there every year. But there is something special about this team. I knew in Mia’s senior year, she was going to go and she wasn’t going to stop until she got there. And she didn’t.”
Despite missing out on her seventh consecutive postseason shutout, Preuhs pitched another fantastic game for Union, allowing two runs on five hits while striking out eight in a 12-2 mercy-rule win. Also the school’s all-time leader with 30 career home runs, Preuhs went hitless out of the cleanup spot Friday, but she received plenty of run support from her teammates en route to a lopsided victory.
“I think we all have great bats all around,” Preuhs said. “Whenever we hit, we just build off of each other.”
The Scotties’ other senior, all-state outfielder Addie Nogay, finished 1 for 2 with one triple, two walks and two runs scored. Both four-year starters and longtime best friends, Nogay and Preuhs now have played instrumental roles in bringing the school its first two state titles in any sport — first in basketball in 2023 and now in softball.
Oh, and they also have three WPIAL titles to their credit in each sport, but who’s counting?
“When we came in two years ago, it was our first time, and everyone felt a little bit nervous,” Nogay said about the team’s 6-3 loss against Tri Valley in the 2023 state final. “Today, everyone was unusually relaxed, and we were ready to go.”
As for Union’s unquestioned MVP of the game, sophomore catcher Irelyn Fisher put on a show for the Scotties while reaching base safely in all four of her plate appearances. The coach’s daughter, Fisher finished 2 for 2 with a triple, a home run, a walk and a hit-by-pitch while driving in five runs in the victory.
Fisher finished the season as the team leader in home runs (14) and RBIs (46), while Union tallied a total of 49 home runs as a team.
“I was getting nervous, because there fans were getting hyped and they were getting hyped,” Irelyn Fisher said. “I just wanted to bring the hype [for us] by hitting that home run.”
The Scotties couldn’t possibly have mapped out a better start to the game, as they stormed to a six-run lead in the top of the first inning while bringing 10 batters to the plate. Fisher started things off by lining a two-run triple down the left-field line, then she came home to score on an RBI groundout by Olivia Benedict. Maggie Joseph followed with an RBI single, then an RBI double by Maddie Settle capped Union’s first-inning onslaught.
Nogay nearly hit an inside-the-park home run for the Scotties after belting a fly ball off the base of the center-field wall in the top of the second, but she got thrown out on a close play at the plate. Meanwhile, Preuhs cruised through the first two innings before finally giving up her first runs of the 2025 postseason on a two-run double by Hannah Berger in the bottom of the third.
“I wasn’t really thinking about the runs. I was just trying to deal and get them to put the ball in play,” Preuhs said. “We came here our freshman year as nervous little freshmen. We didn’t know if we were going to get playing time or what was going to happen. We just showed up for every game, we played hard every game, and I think all that work built up to this moment.
“It’s just so special to me, because it’s the last game I’ll ever play in high school.”

After Union’s six-run outburst in the first, Northeast Bradford replaced starting pitcher Kelsea Moore with Makenna Callear, and Callear did a terrific job of keeping her team in the game while pitching four consecutive scoreless innings out of the bullpen. The Scotties finally got to her in the top of the sixth, though, as Fisher blasted a three-run homer followed by a towering solo home run by Olivia Benedict.
“It feels great,” Irelyn Fisher said. “It’s bittersweet because the seniors are leaving, but it’s just an amazing feeling.”
Union then tacked on two more runs as Emily Ross smacked an RBI triple before coming home to score on a wild pitch, activating the mercy rule as the Scotties took a 12-2 lead into the bottom of the sixth.
From there, it was all over but the shouting — and there was plenty of shouting going on as Union’s players mobbed Preuhs in the infield after striking out the game’s final batter.
“I’ve had two different teams, two different pitchers, and we’ve gone as far as we could with both of them,” said Doug Fisher, who has led Union to six WPIAL championship appearances and two PIAA championship appearances in six seasons at the helm. “That first day of practice [this spring], I knew we were going [to states]. … Once you see that, that first day you step out there, you can feel it. It completes the journey.”
Steve is a sports writer at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, but he's currently on strike. Email him at srotstein@unionprogress.com.