Lexie Hames dominates as Seneca Valley beats Hempfield for section title, top seed

By: Jerin Steele
Thursday, May 11, 2023 | 9:30 PM

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Seneca Valley softball coach Marleese Hames said she sometimes has to remind herself that her daughter, standout pitcher Lexie Hames, is only a sophomore.

That’s understandable because the younger Hames showed poise well beyond her age Thursday afternoon.

With the Section 1-6A title and top seed in the WPIAL playoffs on the line, Hames pitched an 18-strikeout one-hitter and smacked a game-deciding three-run homer to lead the Raiders past Hempfield, 3-0.

“She’s prepared for it,” Coach Hames said. “She played in (Premier Girls Fastpitch) nationals in California, which is the highest level you can really play. She pitched in the championship game there last year, and I think it helps with those kind of big-game nerves. I think she came in with something to prove after the last game against Hempfield. She had a little chip on her shoulder.”

Hempfield took the first meeting 3-2 on April 12 but finished with a 13-3 section record. Seneca Valley finished 15-1 in section play. Had Hempfield won, there would’ve been a tie atop the standings, and the Spartans owned the tiebreaker.

Hames’ homer came with one out in the sixth inning. Rylee Kratochvil singled, Kara Pasquale beat out a sacrifice bunt attempt and Anna Kalkowski reached on a fielder’s choice to load the bases for Hames with no one out, but Hempfield catcher Elle Berkebile made an outstanding snap throw to pick off Kratochvil at third base.

That gave Hempfield an opportunity to walk Hames and load the bases, but the Spartans pitched to her. Hames wasn’t expecting to get a chance to hit but was glad she did and belted a ball over the right-center field fence.

“I was a little surprised, but you just have to attack that plate every at-bat,” Lexie Hames said. “You have to go into every at-bat with that mindset because you’re not going to get walked every time. Just being aggressive at the plate really helped.”

Hempfield had walked Hames twice, once intentionally with a runner on, but after a discussion, decided to roll the dice and pitch to her.

“We consulted as an entire coaching staff and decided to pitch to her, the reason being that the girl following her (Bella Gross) was 5 for 6 against (Hempfield pitcher) Riley (Miller) the last two games,” Hempfield coach Tina Madison said. “We pitched to her, and she hit a home run. That’s how it goes. The next girl (Gross) ended up lining a hit to center, so they would’ve got two runs there anyway. At that point, it was picking my poison.”

Hames struck out the first 10 batters she faced. Lauren Howard beat out a chopper to third base for a single with two outs in the fourth and stole second base to get into scoring position, but Hames got a strikeout to end the frame.

She allowed only one baserunner the rest of the way, a two-out walk to Margaret Howard in the sixth.

“I just want to attack every pitch and attack every batter,” Lexie Hames said. “I want to get that swing and miss and produce for the team. I wanted to create energy from strikeouts for the team. That was my main goal today.”

Miller pitched a strong game as well. Outside of the three-run homer in the sixth, she allowed only five other baserunners. She struck out six in six innings.

Hempfield and Seneca Valley will have to win one playoff game to meet again for the Class 6A championship in a few weeks. Neither coach would be surprised to see the other at Cal (Pa.) this year.

“Lexie and Riley are both sophomores, so we’re going to be battling this team for the next two years,” Madison said. “We’ll have plenty of shots, and I’m sure Marleese feels the same way. It’s always going to be a battle. At Hempfield, they made the mistake, and today we made the mistake. That’s what it’s going to come down to when you have dominant pitching.”

Jerin Steele is a freelance writer

Tags: Hempfield, Seneca Valley