Westmoreland County high school softball notebook: Hempfield has pair of aces

By: Bill Beckner Jr.
Wednesday, May 1, 2024 | 11:01 AM

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Hempfield softball has a number of talented hitters. In fact, 1 though 9 in the batting order can connect at any time.

There are days when coach Tina Madison has an embarrassment of riches on her lineup card.

But the Spartans also have pitching depth. Junior Riley Miller is tremendous, but the Kent State commit hasn’t thrown every inning this season.

Sophomore Julia Varhola has become a productive complement to Miller.

Miller pitched most of the innings last year for Hempfield during a WPIAL 6A championship run, but Madison went into this season knowing she wanted not only to enhance Miller’s game but also begin to get Varhola adapted to varsity hitting.

She’s found a way to do both.

“Both are very talented, and we’re trying to get Julia comfortable for the future,” third-year coach Madison said. “Riley is 100%. It is nice when you have a pitcher that is fresh. We have played four games the past two weeks and have four this week. Twelve games in three weeks is a lot for any pitcher, and being able to split some of the innings helps them stay fresh and not burn out.”

At the start of the week, Miller was 9-1 with a 0.54 ERA, 56 strikeouts and 15 walks in 50 innings.

Miller recently threw a pair of five-inning no-hitters — over a three-day stretch.

She has continued to pitch at a high level despite the death of her grandmother, Diana, last week.

The hard-throwing Varhola was 3-0 with a 0.54 ERA, 47 Ks and seven walks in 26 innings.

The pitchers are different but can be equally effective, their styles keeping opponents honest and, at times, off balance.

“Riley is mostly a down pitcher with her drop-curve, whereas Julia throws a bit harder and throws a rise ball and screw ball,” Madison said.

No. 2-ranked Hempfield, which gave No. 1 Seneca Valley its first loss of the season in a section rematch Wednesday, could use the two-pitcher approach in the postseason, although Miller was strong last year and is the likely go-to arm.

For now, it is to be continued …

“I don’t know this answer yet,” Madison said. “Riley has proven time and time again she can handle high-pressure situations.”

Playoff teams

With section play set to wrap up next week, a number of county teams have secured spots in the WPIAL playoffs.

They include Hempfield in 6A; Penn-Trafford, Latrobe and Franklin Regional in 5A; Belle Vernon in 4A; Burrell, Ligonier Valley, Southmoreland, Mt. Pleasant and Yough in 3A; Greensburg Central Catholic in 2A; and Jeannette and Monessen in A.

The WPIAL will announce playoff brackets May 9.

Section rematch

Southmoreland (11-2, 6-2) and Yough (6-3, 5-3) finally will play their second Section 3-3A game of the season at 4:30 p.m. Friday at Yough. The game has been postponed twice.

No. 3 Southmoreland won the first game 4-3.

Big crowd

Jeannette is in the top five rankings and playing some of its best softball in years. The fans are noticing.

Give the Jeannette community a team to get behind, and it will show out.

That was the case Monday when dozens of fans came to the field at the high school campus to watch the Jayhawks play Frazier for first place in Section 3-A.

Both teams were undefeated.

Frazier (9-0, 9-0) scored in the top of the eighth and edged Jeannette (10-1, 9-1), 5-4.

“I looked around before the game, and there were like 25 people here already,” Jeannette coach Tubby Stein said. “Then I looked again, and there were a whole bunch more. It’s great to see a lot of people out here to support us. There haven’t been that many people at a game in awhile.”

K-ayla

Latrobe senior ace Kayla Williams was locked in Tuesday during an extra-inning win.

Williams, a Slippery Rock commit, struck out a career-high 22 as the Wildcats won 7-4 in nine innings.

Milestone for Piper

Ligonier Valley senior pitcher Cheyenne Piper, who has helped lead the Rams to a Section 3-3A title, recorded her 400th career strikeout in a 7-0 win over Derry.

Derry rebounded nicely to upset the Rams the next day 2-1.

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

Tags: Belle Vernon, Franklin Regional, Hempfield, Jeannette, Latrobe, Mt. Pleasant, Norwin, Southmoreland, Yough