Top-ranked Hempfield is at it again, a glut of offensive talent linked together in a lineup that comes at teams like a bullet train.
The defending WPIAL 6A softball champion Spartans (10-1, 8-0 section) have outscored teams 113-14 and have 10-runned seven of their last eight opponents.
They have 90 runs in their last eight games.
Impressive, for sure. Now, imagine if the team started as well as it has been finishing.
“It’s taking us a little bit of time to get used to pitchers,” senior catcher Ella Berkebile said. “Once we do get used to them, we go.”
And go …
Though Hempfield — 10.2 runs per game — has been slow out of the gates, the offense has been explosive in most games from the fourth inning on.
“Our goal is to win the fifth inning,” senior pitcher Julia Varhola said. “That inning is where we have been good. If you win the fifth inning, it puts you in the driver’s seat to win games. We always are thinking in the mindset to win the inning. Taking one inning at a time.
“We haven’t played our best game yet.”
Against Moon, Hempfield scored five times in the third and four in the seventh in a 12-2 win. The Spartans scored five in the sixth inning when they blanked North Allegheny, 10-0.
They scored four times in the fourth when they beat Mt. Lebanon, 10-0 and put up eight in the fifth in a 15-5 win over Pine-Richland.
In a 13-0 win over Canon-McMillan, they hung a crooked 10 runs up in the fifth, and they rang up nine in the sixth when they toppled Pine-Richland a second time 17-2.
Sense a theme here?
“It’s crazy,” coach Tina Madison said. “Fifth inning comes around, and we’re going for nine or 10 runs.”
Last year, the Spartans had 11 straight mercy-ruled wins, and 14 overall, on the way to a 23-1 year that ended with a bizarre 6-4 loss to Nazareth in the PIAA semifinals.
The program has been so strong, it is often news when the Spartans lose, not when they win.
Shaler is the only team to solve the Spartans so far as fast-throwing ace Bria Bosiljevac no-hit the Spartans in the third game of the season 3-2. Hempfield struck out 17 times on a Saturday afternoon in March.
But … “We needed that,” Berkebile said. “We saw a good pitcher and it was a nonsection game, so it helped us. It wasn’t the end of the world.”
The expectation comes from reputation.
Nine-time WPIAL champion Hempfield is held to a different standard, respectful of a winning tradition instilled by late former coach Bob Kalp, who died last month.
Madison wants to keep the bar high and take nothing for granted, not a one-run loss or a 10-run win. It is all relevant.
“Coach Kalp always said, ‘take time to enjoy it,’ ” Madison said. “I try to celebrate the little things.”
A new-look lineup includes two freshmen and, uniquely, three slap hitters who have given teams fits.
The freshmen are Madison’s twin daughters, Jayelyn and Jocelyn Luft, who have combined for 37 of the team’s 121 hits.
Jocelyn Luft is hitting .500 (19 for 38) with 10 RBIs and nine runs, and Jayelyn, one of the efficient slappers, has a .462 average (18 for 39) with 15 runs.
The latter sister, a tall lefty with speed, is also a relief pitcher who has hit 66 mph on the gun.
The other slappers are junior Joey Cline and junior Abby McGill (14 runs).
“We’ve been able to create some chaos on the bases with the speed,” Madison said. “It’s nice to have three slappers. Our girls feel like they have protection around them (in the lineup.”
Berkebile, a Bucknell commit, is hitting .441 with a team-high three home runs, 18 RBIs and 15 runs.
She also leads the team with five doubles.
“Ella has been raking,” Madison said.
Marist commit and senior Claire Mitchell is hitting .425 with 16 RBIs and 17 runs.
Senior Lauren Howard, a Virginia recruit, has 12 RBIs and 16 runs.
Hempfield has a team batting average of .383.
“They are loose,” Madison said. “They are all clearly having fun.”
Madison knows how talented her team is, and trusts the players will not get ahead of themselves as they chase WPIAL and PIAA titles.
“If you start out hitting .600,” Madison said, “you want to end the season at .600. The girls know it’s a long season. They are all very grounded. They see the big picture.”
A program known for producing proficient pitchers, Hempfield leans on Varhola as the ace. The James Madison commit, who throws more than 60 mph, is 10-1 with 1.23 ERA and 99 strikeouts in 57 innings.
Jayelyn Luft has seven appearances and has allowed three hits and struck out 14 in nine innings.
Hempfield has big plans for how it wants this season to end. But the key to it all could be how the year started.
The team traveled to Orlando, Fla., and played two games to open the schedule.
“The trip to Florida was exactly what this team needed,” Madison said. “They had so much fun. These girls are thick as thieves with travel teams. They like to go everywhere. It was so much of a cool thing to see them develop team chemistry.”
Said Berkebile: “It gave us new friendships. Seniors were talking to freshmen, and we were all getting along. It really brought us together. We were in line for some rides for three hours, so we had a lot of time to talk.”
The way Hempfield is playing, this ride could be worth the wait.