PIAA Class 6A softball championship preview: Hempfield vs. North Penn

By: Bill Beckner Jr.
Wednesday, June 14, 2023 | 12:37 PM

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PIAA softball playoffs

Class 6A

Championship

Hempfield (21-3) vs. North Penn (27-0)

4 p.m. Thursday at Beard Field, Nittany Lion Softball Park, Penn State University

TV: PCN

Tickets: piaa.org (Hometown ticketing)

District seeds: Hempfield 7-1; North Penn 1-1

PIAA titles: Hempfield 4 (1999, 2016, ‘17, ‘18); North Penn 4 (1976, ‘81, ‘85, 2021)

How they got here: Hempfield — Defeated Mifflin County, 5-0; Downingtown East, 2-0; Cumberland Valley, 6-1; North Penn — Defeated Governor Mifflin, 3-1; Hazleton, 18-0 (5 inn.); Chambersburg, 1-0 (8 inn;)

Coaches: Tina Madison, Hempfield; Richard Torresani, North Penn

Players to watch: Riley Miller, Hempfield; Julia Shearer, North Penn

Extra bases: Hempfield is back in the state finals for the first time since 2018, the year it captured a third straight title. Emily Griffith and Sarah Podkul homered in a 6-1 win over Cumberland Valley in the semifinals. Miller struck out eight and scattered seven hits. Freshman Lauren Howard went 3 for 4 with a triple, double, two RBIs and two runs. The Spartans have homered in all but one playoff game. Hempfield’s first state title came in 1999 at Shippensburg when Madison (Tina Skelly) was the ace in the circle. She later pitched at Penn State, so this is a homecoming of sorts for the second-year coach. Hempfield has never lost in the PIAA finals. The Spartans are tied with North Penn for the second-most state titles (four). Parkland and Pennsbury have the most with five. … Senior pitcher Shearer is among the best in the country. She is 27-0 with a 0.25 ERA and 346 strikeouts against 13 walks. Shearer, who won a state title in 2021, has over 500 career K’s. She is a Maryland commit who had a .638 average, 51 hits, 52 runs, 11 home runs and 34 RBIs going into the semis. She struck out 15 in a controversial 1-0 win over Chambersburg in the semifinals. North Penn, out of Lansdale, scored in the top of the eighth on a close call at the plate. Brianna Wilmot had 33 RBIs, and Sarah Sabocsik had six homers and 29 RBIs for the Knights. Eight girls were hitting .360 or better. Gianna Cimino had 32 hits, including eight doubles. North Penn, which won its fourth state title in 2021, lost in the semifinals last year to Spring-Ford, 2-0. Spring-Ford them blanked WPIAL champ Seneca Valley, 5-0. Torresani has more than 400 wins.

Bill Beckner Jr. is a TribLive reporter covering local sports in Westmoreland County. He can be reached at bbeckner@triblive.com.

Tags: Hempfield