Westmoreland County softball notebook: Pitchers also starring for hard-hitting Franklin Regional

By: Bill Beckner Jr.
Wednesday, April 9, 2025 | 4:57 PM

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Franklin Regional is playing sharp softball, and the proof is in its record: The Panthers are 7-2 overall and sit atop Section 2-5A at 4-0.

Veteran coach Jim Armstrong admits the team has taken on an offensive identity in recent years with more emphasis on hitting.

Can you fault him with players like Toryn Fulton and Ciara Camacho leading a lineup?

But the spotlight has turned slightly — to pitching, a product of the team’s new assistant coach.

Armstrong credits pitching coach Maddie Uschock, a former Hempfield standout, for the boost in arm efficiency. Uschock was a shutdown pitcher with speed and craft. There weren’t many better changeups in the WPIAL when she pitched.

“She really relates to the girls,” Armstrong said. “She really works with them and is making us better.”

Uschock has an eye to the future. She said she has several younger girls preparing to make the jump to the varsity level.

“I come from a team that won with pitching and defense,” Uschock said. “We always worked on the little things. I still call coach (Bob) Kalp to talk about how things are going. We have some good pitchers coming up.”

300 for Scarpa

Greensburg Salem junior pitcher Alle Scarpa reached a career milestone with her 300th strikeout.

Scarpa, who helped the Golden Lions to a 6-1 start, followed the achievement with a career game: She struck out 20 and allowed one hit in a 6-0 victory over Freeport.

She helped her cause with a solo home run.

Warriors make jump

There is a new No. 1 in Class 5A.

Penn-Trafford (4-1) went from unranked to No. 1 after four straight wins over quality opponents in Thomas Jefferson, North Hills, Shaler and Armstrong — all ranked teams at one point this season.

Hempfield (7-0) remained No. 2 in the TribLive HSSN WPIAL Class 6A rankings. Norwin stayed at No. 5 in the same classification.

In 3A, Southmoreland and Burrell remained at Nos. 4 and 5.

Jeannette still is No. 4 in Class A.

Derry dingers

Derry is showing promise this season, along with home-run power.

The Trojans (4-1) had nine homers in their first five games. Sophia Doherty leads with six, and Haylee Myers, Kali Henigin and Callie Krause each have one.

Henigin hit a grand slam, and Clayton and Doherty also went deep in a 9-5 in over Indiana.

“We knew Doherty and Myers had power,” coach John DePalma said. “The others caught ones (against Indiana).”

Carrying on tradition

Mt. Pleasant first-year coach Paul Reho knew he had big shoes to fill this season, but he was up to the task.

An assistant last year to highly successful coach Chris Brunson, Reho wanted to bring his own style to the team.

“Every coach is different in the way they go about things,” he said. “We have good players here. You have to move runners and have timely hitting to win games. You don’t have to hit 15 home runs. Sometimes, you have to play smaller. I am not big into track meets.”

Brunson left after five seasons and is now the coach at Waynesburg University. At Mt. Pleasant, he went 72-33 and won WPIAL and PIAA championships in 2021.

Showdown postponed

The much-anticipated Class 6A clash between No. 1 Seneca Valley (6-0) and No. 2 Hempfield (7-0) on Monday was postponed because of rain and field conditions and will be made up Tuesday at Hempfield.

The teams’ second meeting is April 28 at Seneca Valley.

Game moved

The Penn-Trafford at Gateway game scheduled for Thursday was moved to Friday because of an event at Gateway.

First pitch is set for 5 p.m.

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

Tags: Franklin Regional, Greensburg Salem, Hempfield, Penn-Trafford