Union blasts its way to 1st PIAA softball championship

By: James Dotson
Friday, June 13, 2025 | 2:10 PM

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All throughout the postseason, Union softball has been the home team.

When the Scotties finally got the chance to bat first and set the tone of the game, they took advantage.

Union scored six runs in the first and six more in the sixth inning to defeat Northeast Bradford, 12-2, in six innings to win the Class PIAA Class A softball championship Friday at Nittany Lion Softball Park at Penn State.

It is the first softball state championship and second team state title in school history.

“We’ve been used to being home and not getting to strike first,” Union coach Doug Fisher said. “We finally got a shot at it, and I knew we had to take advantage. It was huge.”

Union (23-2) sent 10 batters to the plate in the top of the first inning, scoring six runs on four hits off of Panthers starting pitcher Kelsea Moore.

Olivia Williams ripped the first pitch of the game to right field for a leadoff single. Moore was called for two illegal pitches to the next batter before eventually walking Addie Nogay.

Irelyn Fisher then put the first runs on the board when she lined a ball past the third baseman for a two-run triple. She scored on an Olivia Benedict groundout.

“That was the biggest thing,” Irelyn Fisher, the coach’s daughter, said about the fast start. “We wanted to get up and get hype right when we got there and keep on going and building off of that.”

Maggie Joseph then drove in a run with an infield single. She stole second, stole third and scored when catcher Hannah Berger’s throw deflected off of the fielder’s glove and went into the outfield.

Emily Ross then walked, stole second and scored on a Maddie Settle double to make the score 6-0.

Union ace Mia Preuhs then went to work, retiring the side in order in the bottom of the first. She had a strikeout sandwiched by a pair of groundouts that she fielded herself.

“It was a really big cushion,” Preuhs said. “I was very happy that that happened, because if would have been like 1-0, I would have been much more nervous.”

Northeast Bradford (16-7) elected to make a pitching change in the second inning. Makenna Callear, who pitched in relief in each of the past two playoff games and was the winning pitcher in all three state playoff games, took over in the circle.

“Being the first inning, I was a little nervous to make a pitching change already,” Northeast Bradford coach Makaylah Leljedal said. “The illegal pitch call hurt us. We haven’t been called for it all year. It was hard to have her fix it in the moment.“

The first batter Callear faced, Addie Nogay, blasted one off of the center field wall. The ball bounced away from Ava Lambert, who chased it down and got the relay throw in quickly enough to retire Nogay trying for an inside-the-park home run.

It was a big hit for Nogay, who was 1 for 16 in the playoffs before the hit. The senior reached base three times and scored twice.

“After falling into a slump, I lacked so much confidence,” Nogay said. “Everybody would say that it’s got to come eventually. My dad’s (Union girls basketball coach Rob Nogay) favorite words in basketball are, ‘You have to shoot your way out of it,’ and you have to hit your way out of it. I knew it was coming eventually, and I’m just glad it came now.”

Callear settled down and kept the high-powered Union offense, which averaged over 11 runs per game on the year and 9.3 runs per game in the postseason, in check.

“Makenna was able to hop in and she did a great job and threw strikes,” Leljedal said. “I told the girls that I don’t care if they hit, I just don’t want to walk them. Make them earn it.”

Northeast Bradford broke through in the bottom of the third with a pair of runs. Callear drew a one-out walk, followed by a Kierra Delaney single. After a strikeout, Berger fouled off three two-strike pitches before one-hopping the fence in right-center, making the score 6-2.

“That team can hit,” Coach Fisher said about the Panthers. “They were difficult to pitch around. Hats off to them. But she’s just dominant out there.”

It was the first runs given up in the playoffs by Union. Preuhs, who threw three postseason no-hitters, including one in the WPIAL championship game, struck out 79 batters in 41 innings of playoff softball, surrendering just nine hits.

Union finally figured out the pitching of Callear in the sixth inning. Williams tripled, Nogay walked, and then Fisher blasted the first pitch she saw over the left-center field fence for a three-run home run.

She knew it was gone right off of the bat.

“One-hundred percent,” Fisher said with a chuckle. “But I still sprinted to first because my last one it hit right off the top of the fence, and I was nervous. But that was the best feeling. I just felt like it made our team secure in the win.”

“She really stepped up when she needed to,” Coach Fisher said about his daughter. “She’s always been clutch, but this was huge. It was something special.”

Two batters later, Benedict hit a no-doubter solo home run to right field to make the score 10-2 Union.

“I knew I smoked that thing (off the bat), “Benedict said. “I was a little iffy when I saw it in the air, but I knew it would go.”

Benedict was playing with an injured shoulder that she sustained late in the semifinals. But, according to Coach Fisher, there was no way she would miss this game.

“That was awesome,” he said of her fighting through the injury to hit a home run in the state championship game. “I had that feeling. She just had that look in her eye. Then I heard someone in the stands say, ‘Just put it down the middle,’ and I thought, ‘You don’t want to do that.’”

Moore re-entered in the circle for the remainder of the inning for Northeast Bradford. Korynne Shannon scored on an Emily Ross single and error, and Ross later scored on a wild pitch to increase the lead to 12-2.

Union finished off an error-free performance in style in the bottom of the sixth. Orissa Gardner hit a line drive that went off the tip of Benedict’s glove at first base. Second baseman Joseph dove into right field to stop the ball, spun and fired to first to get the out.

“She doesn’t go up and tip that ball, they have runners on,” Fisher said. “Just to tip that ball, and then the heads up play by Maggie.”

Preuhs then got her eighth strikeout to end the game in six innings due to the mercy rule.

Fisher reached base all four times, driving in five runs, to lead the Scottie offense. Williams finished a triple shy of the cycle and scored twice.

It is the first state championship in Union softball history. The Scotties were runners-up in 2023.

“The first time we came here, I was like hyperventilating in the dugout in the first inning,” Preuhs said. “But this time, I was way more calm and had much more confidence in myself and had my teammates behind me.”

“I was so much more relaxed,” Nogay agreed. “I even told Mia (Preuhs) that I feel completely different than I did last time we were here. And I think overall the entire team mood was very relaxed.”

The two senior, four-year starters end their careers with three district gold medals and a state championship in both softball and basketball.

“Gold tastes good,” Preuhs said with a laugh.

A third senior, Piper Jendrysik, also played a pivotal role for Union. A three-year starter, Jendrysik started nearly every game in the circle as a freshman, with Preuhs coming in relief. Jendrysik chose not to play during her senior year. However, she stayed with the team as a team manager and as a calming presence in the dugout.

“She just lightens the mood,” Preuhs said. “She’s such a big help.”

“As players, we’re all nervous all of the time,” Nogay added, “but she’s just so happy. She keeps everybody up.”

The seniors finished their career with an 85-13 record. Union outscored Class A opponents this season 217-3. Their only losses on the season were both in extra innings, one to 2A state semifinalist Chartiers-Houston and the other to the 2A state champion Neshannock.

“They’ve just been such a great team right from the first day of practice,” Fisher said. “Just the vibe they have. They all love each other. We’ve never had a complete team like that, one through nine. The chemistry is just amazing, you can’t get any better than this.”

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