2024 PHSSBCA All-State Softball Teams Released

The Pennsylvania High School Softball Coaches Association released their all-state softball teams on Friday. There were 25 players from the Big 56 on the all-state team, including 17 on the first team. Lexie Hames of Seneca Valley was named the Overall Player of the Year!

CLASS 6A

PLAYER OF THE YEAR

Tatum Werley – Wilson – SS

PITCHER OF THE YEAR

Bella Nunn – North Penn – P

First Team

Lexie Hames – Seneca Valley – P

Bella Nunn – North Penn – P

Rachael Schumann – Downingtown East – P

Abbey Wagner – Quakertown Community – P

Calle Henne – Pine-Richland – C

Samantha Paetow – Chambersburg – C

Leah Schwalm – Quakertown – C

Bella Smithson – Warwick – C

Emily Griffith – Hempfield – 1B

Karley Skultety – Chambersburg – 1B

Casey Sokol – North Penn – 1B

Emma Morgan – Cumberland Valley – 2B

Breanna Paetow – Chambersburg – 2B

Emma Ahlborn – Downingtown West – SS

Ava Beal – Quakertown Community – SS

Allie Cervola – Hempfield – SS

Kayla Fletcher – Central Dauphin – SS

Bailey Snowberger – Norwin – SS

Tatum Werley – Wilson – SS

Ava Kaczmarski – Downingtown West – 3B

Samantha Raub – Pennsbury – 3B

Maggie Howard – Hempfield – OF

Lizzie Kern – Downingtown West – OF

Annika Shearer – Cumberland Valley – OF

Carlyn Vaupel – North Allegheny – OF

Allie Wenrich – Central Dauphin – OF

Helen Woloshyn – Council Rock South – OF

Nanci Major – Hazleton – DP

Kyra Neiswender – Boyertown – UTIL

Second Team

Addison Carter – Downingtown West – P

Sydney May – Cumberland Valley – P

Lexi Waring – Council Rock South – P

McKenna Shroding – Souderton – P

Anna Powell – Plymouth Whitemarsh – C

Grace Stepp – Council Rock South – C

Lily Vicari – Butler – C

Anna Evanchik – Pennsbury – 1B

Caitlyn Senkow – Ridley – 1B

Angelina Sponheimer – Bensalem – 1B

Madisen Mine – Warwick – 2B

Liv Stevens – North Penn – 2B

Ava Storlazzi – Pennsbury – 2B

Arianna Castillo – Liberty – SS

Gianna Cimino – North Penn – SS

Marissa Perez – Plymouth Whitemarsh – SS

Zoey Rogers – Garnet Valley – SS

Jillian Wimmer – Coatesville – SS

Tallie Smink – North Penn – 3B

Emma Stroup – Cumberland Valley – 3B

Ava Craddock – Springfield – OF

Jade Jenkins – Downingtown East – OF

Ashlyn Robinson – Williamsport – OF

CLASS 5A

PLAYER OF THE YEAR

Kelly Fricker – SS – Bayard Rustin

PITCHER OF THE YEAR

Gianna Adams – Pittston

First Team

Gianna Adams – Pittston – P

Jayda Koontz – South Western – P

Jordin Myers – Donegal – P

Aubrey Shaffer – Thomas Jefferson – P

Emily Bittner – Mechanicsburg – C

Riley Knott – Abington Heights – C

Bella Jackson – Donegal – C

Kinsley Proepper – South Western – C

Madison Hardy – Central Mountain – 1B

Jessie Pugh – Armstrong – 1B

Morgan Alisesky – Thomas Jefferson – 2B

Kaliana Auchey – Ephrata – 2B

Kelly Fricker – Bayard Rustin – SS

Toryn Fulton – Franklin Regional – SS

Emma Paul – Armstrong – SS

Aubrey Police – West Allegheny – SS

Hanna Suhoski – Trinity – SS

Gabby Hieber – Wallenpaupack – 3B

Cam Ponko – Penn-Trafford – 3B

Natalie Colwell – Donegal – OF

Zoe Krizan – Thomas Jefferson – OF

Ella Oakes – Shikellamy – OF

Morgan Pasternak – DuBois – OF

Shaylyn Shall – Western Beaver – OF

Ava Baronick – DuBois – DP

Amelia Noll – West Scranton – UTIL

Sam Rybacki – Mechanicsburg – UTIL

Second Team

Madison Parisi – Unionville – P

Rebecca Opperman – West Chester East – P

Lauren Stalica – Abington Heights – P

Kayla Williams – Latrobe – P

Ava Henke – West Allegheny – C

Mackenzie Keenan – Penn-Trafford – C

Sydney Scarpato – Chichester – C

Sydney Sinko – Shikellamy – C

Avery Gleason – Pottsgrove – 1B

Gabby Gorzkowski – Pittston – 1B

Hayden Sissons – Cardinal O’Hara – 2B

Carly Bickle – West Chester East – 2B

Lindsey Tasker – Abington Heights – 2B

Blaire Balestrini – Shikellamy – SS

Laura Craska – Mars – SS

Kendall Noel – Dover – SS

Caelyn Rodriguez – West Chester East – SS

Ali Williams – Ephrata – SS

Harley Kunes – Central Mountain – 3B

Tori Stephenson – Pittston – 3B

Isabelle Wilmot – Abington Heights – 3B

Emersen Gatten – Peters Township – OF

Lili Hintze – Pittston – OF

Grace Koberg – West Chester East – OF

Adrianna Martz – Franklin Regional – OF

Haley Reed – DuBois – OF

Cora Myers – Central Mountain – DP

Ciara Camacho – Franklin Regional – UTIL

Armstrong’s Emma Paul named Trib HSSN Girls Athlete of the Year

Emma Paul was named by the TribLive High School Sports Network as their Girls Athlete of the Year! Paul led Armstrong to championship appearances in both girls basketball and softball. She was also a Big 56 first-team selection in both sports.

For complete article, click here.

Seneca Valley’s Lexie Hames wins 2024 TribLive HSSN Softball Player of the Year

by: Don Rebel

It’s not always easy being the most dominant pitcher in the area, playing for a team with WPIAL title expectations.

For complete story and interview, click here.

2023-2024 PIAA Champions

GIRLS VOLLEYBALL

CLASS 4A – North Allegheny (7 in a row)

SOFTBALL

CLASS 5A – Thomas Jefferson

2023-2024 WPIAL Champions

FOOTBALL

CLASS 6A – North Allegheny (2 in a row)

CLASS 5A – Peters Township

BOYS SOCCER

CLASS 4A – Norwin

GIRLS SOCCER

CLASS 4A – Fox Chapel

GIRLS VOLLEYBALL

CLASS 4A – North Allegheny

BOYS BASKETBALL

CLASS 6A – Upper St. Clair

CLASS 5A – Moon

GIRLS BASKETBALL

CLASS 6A – Norwin

CLASS 5A – South Fayette (3 in a row)

BASEBALL

CLASS 6A – North Allegheny

CLASS 5A – Penn-Trafford

SOFTBALL

CLASS 6A – Seneca Valley

CLASS 5A – Armstrong

3 Big 56 players named to Trib HSSN Terrific 10 Softball Team

30% of the Trib HSSN Terrific 10 softball team was filled by Big 56 players.

Lexie Hames – Seneca Valley – P

16-1 record, 265 strikeouts, 114 2/3 innings

.380 average, 9 homeruns, 27 RBIs

Emma Paul – Armstrong – SS

.478 average, 7 homeruns, 38 runs scored, 26 RBIs, .609 on base pct., .899 slugging pct., 1.507 OPS

.985 fielding pct

Aubrey Police – West Allegheny – SS

.506 average, 6 homeruns, 27 RBIs, 43 runs scored, 16 for 16 on stolen bases

Trib HSSN names WPIAL Softball Players, Coaches of the Year

CLASS 6A PLAYER OF THE YEAR

Lexie Hames – Seneca Valley

2nd straight year winning Player of the Year

16-1 record, 265 strikeouts, 114 2/3 innings

.380 average, 9 homeruns, 27 RBIs

2024 Gatorade PA Softball Player of the Year

Committed to Clemson

CLASS 6A COACH OF THE YEAR

Brian Mesich – Norwin

Got to the WPIAL Championship as the 5-seed (6 teams make playoffs), finished with 10-11 record

CLASS 5A PLAYER OF THE YEAR

Emma Paul – Armstrong

Led Armstrong to 1st WPIAL title appearance and 1st PIAA victory in basketball, turned silver into WPIAL gold in softball.

.478 average, 7 homeruns, 38 runs scored, 26 RBIs, .609 on base percentage, .899 slugging percentage, 1.507 OPS

.985 fielding percentage

Committed to play softball at Fairmont State

CLASS 5A COACH OF THE YEAR

Heidi Karcher – Thomas Jefferson

Finished 3rd place in the section but got to the WPIAL Championship before falling to Latrobe.

Beat Solanco, West Chester East, Central Mountain and Pittston Area to win the program’s first ever state championship

Thomas Jefferson’s Zoe Krizan named Trib HSSN softball player of the week

by: Don Rebel

Trib HSSN softball player of the week: Zoe Krizan

School: Thomas Jefferson

Class: Senior

Position: Center Field

For complete story and interview, click here.

Inaugural Western PA Softball All-Star Game takes place tomorrow

Tomorrow the first ever Western PA Softball All-Star Game will take place under the lights at Plum High School at 8 p.m. as Team Gold will take on Team Black.

Players from throughout the Big 56 and WPIAL with many of them headed to college to play softball will be participating in the event. 18 players from the Big 56 will be playing in this game. The game will be at least nine innings long.

Here are the rosters with Big 56 players BOLDED:

TEAM BLACK

Pitchers:

Madison Baker – Armstrong

Makenzie Wade – Bethel Park

Madison Brown – Southmoreland

Autumn Boyd – Laurel

Catchers:

Alexis Brua – Laurel

Rylee Gray – Avonworth

Lauren Sipple – Penn Hills

1st Basemen:

Jessie Pugh – Armstrong

2nd Basemen:

Stephanie Esswein – Mars

Ali Giordano – Neshannock

3rd Basemen:

Mia Dunleavy – Fox Chapel

Bella Mubel – Shaler

Shortstops:

Emma Paul – Armstrong

Shaye Bailey – Freedom

Amarah McCutcheon – Soutmoreland

Outfielders:

Grace Kindel – Greensburg Central Catholic

Autumn Weitzel – Chartiers Valley

Jazalyn Sanders – Woodland Hills

Belinda Bova – Bethel Park

Mykayla Spoonhoward – Yough

London Irish – Penn Hills

TEAM GOLD

Pitchers:

Brooklyn Kotch – Norwin

Olivia Zimmerman – Indiana

Kayla Williams – Latrobe

Madisyn Zigarovich – Serra Catholic

Kelsey Ogin – Butler

Sydney Selker – Freeport

Catchers:

Haley Hamilton – Indiana

Gabrielle Perod – Neshannock

Morgan Mosqueda – South Allegheny

1st Basemen:

Gracie Sokol – Belle Vernon

2nd Basemen:

Caitlyn O’Farrell – Chartiers Valley

3rd Basemen:

Josey Michalski – Norwin

Marta Gualazzi – Chartiers Valley

Shortstop:

Aricka Young – Mohawk

Abby Dejidas – Freeport

Bailey Snowberger – Norwin

Outfielders:

Savannah Bodnar – North Hills

Trinity Seibel – Kiski Area

Emma Scanlon – Mt. Pleasant

Jocelyn Scardina – Highlands

Shaylyn Shall – Western Beaver

Mya McGreal – Mohawk

Thomas Jefferson takes home 1st state title with walk-off win

Taylor Karmic hit a bases loaded single in the bottom of the eighth inning giving Thomas Jefferson a 2-1 victory over Pittston Area on Thursday afternoon at Beard Field on the campus of Penn State University. The state title is the first one in program history for Thomas Jefferson softball.

Both teams had multiple chances throughout regulation to come away with the win but neither could come through with Thomas Jefferson leaving eight runners on pace and Pittston leaving 10 runners on base.

The Jaguars got it going early when they got a leadoff triple and a sacrifice fly and just like that Thomas Jefferson was up 1-0 going into the bottom of the first inning.

In the bottom the second, Thomas Jefferson got back-to-back singles before Pittston pitcher Gianna Adams got three straight strikeouts to get out of the inning. The Jaguars got the leadoff hitter on in the fourth inning as well before another three straight strikeouts by Adams.

Pittston got even in the third inning when they got a double and a two-out single to even the score at one a piece.

In the fifth inning, it looked like Thomas Jefferson would have an opportunity to break the game open when they got the bases loaded with two outs. There was a well hit ball to right field but it was caught and the score remained tied 1-1.

The sixth inning it looked like Pittston’s was going to take advantage when they had two runners on but Thomas Jefferson pitcher Aubrey Shaffer got a pop out to end the inning and the score remained tied. Shaffer also got out of a bases loaded situation in the seventh and a second and third situation in the eighth.

In the bottom of the eighth, Morgan Alisesky fell behind with 0-2 in the count but was able to battle and ended up with a leadoff single. Alisesky would steal second base putting the Jaguars in great position. Pittston would intentionally walk Alayna Grese. Grese got to second on a wild pitch so Pittston intentionally walked Alison Chalovich as well. Which set up Karpac who hit a single through the left side and won the game and the state championship for Thomas Jefferson.

Shaffer was the winning pitcher going eight innings striking out 10 batters. Adams also went the distance striking out 14 for Pittston.