New coach aims to lead Penn Hills softball back to postseason

By: Josh Rizzo
Sunday, March 9, 2025 | 11:01 AM

Michele Stiller was excited to have the opportunity to take over the Penn Hills softball program. Stiller, a 2012 Penn Hills graduate, was confident the pipeline supplying the varsity program was in good shape.

“There is a lot of good coaching at the middle school and rec level,” Stiller said. “There is a strong foundation for me to build off of.”

Stiller has never been a varsity head coach before. Last year, Stiller coached the middle school program. The Indians will have six freshmen on the team who played for Stiller last season.

“I’m excited to coach at this level,” Stiller said. “It’s a good dynamic to have so many players who played for me last year come up at the same time.”

The Indians struggled in section play last season. Penn Hills was 6-9 overall last season but finished 1-9 against section opponents and were outscored 101-30 in those games.

Penn Hills was put in Section 1-5A this season along with Fox Chapel, Mars, New Castle, North Hills, Plum and Shaler. The Indians haven’t made the WPIAL playoffs since 2007.

Penn Hills will return its starting pitcher from last season, senior Isabella DeCarlo. DeCarlo has seen a lot of time with the varsity team since she was a freshman.

“She has a lot of different pitches,” Stiller said. “Her speed and accuracy is her biggest strength. She has a lot of game knowledge and is a good leader.”

DeCarlo is one of two seniors on the team, along with Kaylee Helsel. Brooklyn Best, Denni Strasser, London Seymore, Brianna Marazas and Hailey Brewer all are returning varsity players.

Penn Hills has 16 players out for the team. Stiller said she has seen a lot of progression from this group at the plate.

“Our offense is coming together,” Stiller said. “We are a power-hitting team. We are dangerous on the bases with our speed and game awareness. This group of girls has played together a lot.”

Stiller said she would like to pilot Penn Hills back to the postseason. The Indians were one game short of qualifying two seasons ago.

“Our ultimate goal is to make the playoffs,” Stiller said. “We also want to bring positivity, and we have a lot of positive players on this team.”

Tags: Penn Hills