Head of the Class: The top WPIAL softball coaches in each classification in 2025

By: Don Rebel
Wednesday, June 18, 2025 | 7:08 PM

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This was a golden spring for our Trib HSSN coaches of the year.

Three of them enjoyed district championship runs; one led his team to a state title while a pair of coaches from Lawrence County had their brooms in hand as they swept both WPIAL and PIAA softball gold.

Trib HSSN salutes ALL the coaches and their assistants for their great work and commitment on the softball diamond in 2025, however these head coaches receive a tip of the cap and a seat up front as they are indeed at the head of the WPIAL coaching class.

Class 6A

Tina Madison, Hempfield

For the fourth straight season, Hempfield and Seneca Valley first separated themselves from the rest of the Class 6A teams while doing battle for first place in the regular season. While the Spartans and Raiders split their two regular season games, Hempfield claimed first place after Seneca Valley lost twice to Pine-Richland. Tina Madison’s squad avoided the upset bug that bit them in the 2024 WPIAL playoffs and won the school’s ninth district championship and second this decade after winning No. 8 in 2023, beating Seneca Valley in the 6A finals, 1-0. In an effort to claim a fifth PIAA softball championship, the Spartans edged State College by one run in the opening round and Chambersburg in the quarterfinals by one. Their run ended in the state semifinals with a heartbreaking loss to Nazareth, 6-4, to finish 23-2.

Class 5A

Denny Little, Penn-Trafford

It was a unique season for Penn-Trafford softball, one that saw regular season dominance, district playoff heartbreak and state postseason jubilation. Denny Little’s squad was perfect in winning the tough Section 2-5A title with a 12-0 record, beating Franklin Regional by three games and defending champion Armstrong by four. The Warriors earned the No. 1 seed in the WPIAL playoffs and defeated Moon, Chartiers Valley and North Hills by a combined margin of 12 runs. However, in the WPIAL championship game, P-T lost to Shaler in 11 grueling innings, 2-1. The Warriors regrouped and beat Central Mountain, Red Land and West Allegheny before blanking Greencastle-Antrim in the state title game, 2-0, to capture state gold for the second time in program history and second time in six years.

Class 4A

Katie Hedderman, Hampton

Katie Hedderman has been the head softball coach at Hampton for two years and has accumulated two section title plaques, a district runner-up trophy and following this spring, a WPIAL championship. After losing to Elizabeth Forward in the 2024 finals, the Talbots lost three of their first four games this season before winning the Section 3-4A crown with a perfect 12-0 record thanks to a 13-game winning streak. Hampton was the No. 2 seed in the 4A postseason and blanked Indiana and Beaver by a combined score of 13-0 to return to the 4A title game. There they captured the program’s first WPIAL championship by defeating upset-minded Blackhawk, 4-3. In the PIAA playoffs, Hampton shut out Punxsutawney in the opening round before falling to Fort LeBoeuf in the quarterfinals to finish 18-5.

Class 3A

Hank Pezzuolo, Mohawk

Teams in the three smallest classifications in WPIAL softball are all looking up and waiting for the Lawrence County gold rush to come to an end. In Class A, Union has won three of the last four WPIAL championships and a PIAA title. In 2A, Neshannock just finished a four-year run dominance that included seven WPIAL and PIAA titles. And now Mohawk is on a championship run with back-to-back district crowns. This time as a favorite in 3A, Hank Pezzuolo’s squad captured the Section 2-3A title by two games. As the No. 2 seed, they beat Southmoreland and Ellwood City to set up a rematch of the 2024 3A championship game against South Park with the same outcome, a win for the Warriors. Mohawk’s stay in the state playoffs was short as its season ended with a loss in the opening round to St. Mary’s.

Class 2A

Jackie Lash, Neshannock

For the four seniors on the Neshannock softball team this spring, it was a run for the ages. One decade earlier, the Clairton football team was a combined 63-1 from 2001-2014 with four WPIAL and PIAA championships. Jackie Lash’s team ended up going 100-1 these last four years with four district titles and three state crowns. Neshannock won another Section 1-2A title by winning all 12 section games by a combined score of 164-7. In the WPIAL postseason, the Lancers knocked off Burgettstown, Apollo-Ridge, Bentworth and Chartiers-Houston by a combined score of 40-4. It was the sixth WPIAL championship in program history. In the PIAA playoffs, the Lancers ousted Sharpsville, Chestnut Ridge, Chartiers-Houston and South Williamsport by a combined total of 35-7 for the fourth state title in program’s history. The 26-0 record marked the third perfect season in the last four years.

Class A

Doug Fisher, Union

When 2024 WPIAL Class A champion Chartiers-Houston moved up in classification to 2A in offseason realignment, it seemed to give hope to several small-school teams with championship aspirations. In the end, though, all it did was allow Union to return to a golden glory with the best season in program history. The Scotties were a force all season, losing only two games during the regular season, both to the Class 2A finalists in 2025: Neshannock and Chartiers-Houston. Union won 13 games in a row between its two losses and ended up winning its final seven games, all in the postseason. Doug Fisher’s team did not allow a run in winning three district playoff games and then gave up only two runs in four state postseason wins. Against Class A teams in 2025, the Scotties outscored opponents 217-3.

Tags: Hampton, Hempfield, Mohawk, Neshannock, Penn-Trafford, Union