Seneca Valley’s Lexie Hames named Gatorade Pa. Softball Player of the Year

By: Chris Harlan
Friday, June 7, 2024 | 11:44 AM

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Seneca Valley pitcher Lexie Hames was named Gatorade Pennsylvania Softball Player of the Year on Friday, making her the first WPIAL athlete to win the award in six years.

The junior is a two-way standout for the Raiders, who won the WPIAL Class 6A title for the second time in three years. The Clemson recruit led the team in batting average (.380), RBIs (25) and home runs (eight), while also going 17-1 inside the circle with a 0.60 ERA and 250 strikeouts in 104 2/3 innings pitched.

The 5-foot-10 right-handed pitcher struck out 11 or more batters 14 times this season, including a 20-strikeout game against Norwin in April.

“Lexie is always tough to handle,” Baldwin coach Ron Santillo said in a Gatorade statement announcing the award. “She’s very confident in her pitches, shows a great mound presence and she’s in attack mode at all times. Probably her best attribute is that she’s the leader of her team and they go as she goes. This year, that resulted in a WPIAL title.”

Hames is the first WPIAL player to win the state award since Seton LaSalle’s Lexi Wagner in 2018. The award began in 1999, and the list of previous winners included Ambridge’s Amy Joy (2006), Vincentian Academy’s Trish Melvin (2007), Latrobe’s Alexa Bryson (2008) and Hempfield’s Morgan Ryan (2017).

Award organizers noted that Hames owns a 4.37 grade point average and has volunteered on behalf of a local food bank, Toys for Tots, the Salvation Army and Neighbors for Neighbors.

Seneca Valley’s season ended Thursday in the state quarterfinals with a 4-0 loss to North Penn.

Chris Harlan is a TribLive reporter covering sports. He joined the Trib in 2009 after seven years as a reporter at the Beaver County Times. He can be reached at charlan@triblive.com.

Tags: Seneca Valley