Westmoreland softball notebook: Greensburg Central Catholic dealing with small roster

By: Bill Beckner Jr.
Wednesday, April 2, 2025 | 4:20 PM

Greensburg Central Catholic is playing only section games this season as it deals with low roster numbers.

Second-year coach Chelsey Frock has had trouble maintaining a dozen girls on the roster.

The Centurions had not played a game through the weekend, having to cancel nonsection matchups with Chartiers-Houston, Seton LaSalle and East Allegheny.

“Our 10th player was down with an illness and just returned,” Frock said. “We are currently at 13. We ended up talking some senior girls into playing.”

Top returning players include Abi Dei, Jules Saxion, Maddie Keller and Maddie Bova. That is the nucleus that Frock not only wants to keep healthy but also to build around.

Frock said developing players is a challenge because there are no lower-grade teams at GCC.

“I just think it’s hard to build a varsity team with no softball offered in the lower grades,” Frock said. “We have two girls that have never played joining us. It’s hard to get these newer players where they need to be with no foundation of a JV or junior high team.”

GCC had only “four or five” girls at some practices, which means the team was going to play games with little prep work.

“We now hit the issue with trying to get these girls ready at a competitive level with little to no time due to the shortage of girls,” Frock said. “I had to cancel a lot of practices due to just being shorthanded and not being able to plan practice accordingly. We are, hopefully, ready to go with our newest additions that are going to step in.”

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Golden Lions rolling

Greensburg Salem won its first five games … out of frustration?

Coach Bill Wright said the Golden Lions’ hot start is a product of last year’s playoff defeat.

“We ended the season with a loss to Knoch (8-3), and we made five errors,” Wright said. “We took time to focus on what went wrong. We worked on our approach and what we could do better.”

While the Golden Lions are getting more timely hits, they have a quietly good pitcher.

Junior Alle Scarpa has been one of the better arms in the area. She had 84 strikeouts in her first five starts.

“Since my freshman year, I have improved more mentally with my pitching,” Scarpa said. “Coach Bill told me to work more on my change-up, and it has worked well.”

Scarpa can alter her speed but also can bring it. Her rise ball can be just as effective as the change-up.

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Hempfield dominating

Hempfield had itself a week.

The Spartans (7-0) last week went 3-0, scored 47 runs while allowing three, pounded out 52 hits — including eight doubles and five home runs — and had two abbreviated no-hitters.

Julia Varhola tossed five perfect innings in a 13-0 win over Uniontown, and Riley Miller no-hit Mt. Lebanon in a 14-0, four-inning victory.

Lauren Howard, a Virginia commit, leads the team with a .625 average (15 for 24) with three doubles, a triple, a home run and 11 RBIs.

Hempfield is ranked No. 2 in the WPIAL and No. 5 in the state in Class 6A by TribLive HSSN.

The big game to watch is Monday when Hempfield hosts No. 1 Seneca Valley and ace pitcher Lexi Hames.

Norwin scratched out a couple of runs and gave the Raiders another close game, falling 3-2 on Monday. Hames still struck out 19.

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Helping themselves

Jeannette junior pitcher Grace Stein appears to be just fine as she recovers from ACL surgery.

Stein pitched a two-hitter with eight strikeouts and went 3 for 4 with a grand slam and a double (five RBIs) as the Jayhawks crushed Monessen, 15-3.

Derry sophomore Haylee Myers had a similar afternoon when the Trojans blanked Valley, 17-0, in four innings. Myers was the winning pitcher with nine K’s and only two hits allowed and helped her cause by going 3 for 4 with a home run and five RBIs.

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

Tags: Greensburg C.C., Greensburg Salem, Hempfield, Mt. Pleasant