Battery mates Julia Varhola and Ella Berkebile remember what it was like reaching the PIAA Class 6A softball championship game when they were freshmen.
The bus ride. The atmosphere. The ice cream at the Berkey Creamery.
Even though the Spartans lost to North Penn, 1-0, and the ice cream wasn’t as sweet because of it, the girls vowed to return to State College to try again for a winning scoop.
Now still seniors athletically — they graduated from school last Friday — they have their chance.
Hempfield (23-1), on a 21-game winning streak, is a win away from the state finals as it gets set to face Central Dauphin (23-1) at 4 p.m. Monday in the semifinals at Philipsburg-Osceola High School in Philipsburg.
If they are victorious in their third state semifinal matchup in four years, the Spartans will get the winner of Owen J. Roberts (25-1) and Haverford (21-5) in Friday’s title game at Nittany Lion Softball Park.
“This season has been so special, and we want to continue and end it on a high note,” said Varhola, the ace pitcher of the WPIAL champion Spartans. “It would be be such a precious moment to cherish with all these girls with a state championship title to end our season. At the end of the day, we could only have, at most, two more games with this group of girls. We just need to leave everything out on the field and give it our all.”
If Hempfield can double down on its district title, its seniors likely will play important roles in the chase.
Hempfield’s senior six-pack comprises Varhola, Berkebile, Claire Mitchell, Lauren Howard, Emily Bozek and Hailey Uhrinek.
“We have been playing together since we were really young,” said Berkebile, one of the state’s top catchers. “It hurt really bad to lose our freshmen year, so we want to get back there. All three years, we haven’t made it as far as possible.”
Varhola (James Madison), Berkebile (Bucknell), Mitchell (Marist) and Howard (Virginia) are Division I college commits. Bozek, a first baseman, is headed to IUP to continue her playing career, and Uhrinek, a reserve utility player, is going to to Saint Vincent to play softball and golf.
Consider what they have accomplished and seen in four seasons:
• 85 wins and nine losses.
• Three WPIAL championships.
• Three PIAA semifinal trips.
• Howard has 136 career hits and 96 runs, both program records. Her .614 average last season and 38 RBIs also are records.
• Varhola has 301 career strikeouts, ninth all-time at Hempfield.
• Mitchell set the single-season record for runs in a season last year with 41.
Hempfield coach Tina Madison knew she had something in this group. When the seniors were freshmen, they pushed upperclassmen for playing time.
“When they were in eighth grade, we knew how special they could be,” the fifth-year coach and former star pitcher said. “This group was talented, and they were coming up fast. Cream of the crop.”
Shortstop Howard, outfielder Mitchell and Berkebile are three-year starters.
“As seniors, it would truly mean the world to us to end our senior year off as state champions,” Varhola said. “It would be a great way to leave our mark as Hempfield alumni. I really think our team puts in such hard work and dedication into the team. I think this is our season to prove ourselves here since we came up short the last couple times.”
Getting to Penn State with her team would carry extra meaning for Madison, who pitched for the Nittany Lions for two years when she was known as Tina Skelly. Her twin daughters, freshman starters Jayelyn and Jocelyn Luft, look up to the current seniors and aim to replicate their four-year run.
Madison pitched the Spartans to a PIAA title in 1999.
“Always,” the coach said about the pride she has returning to Penn State’s campus. “Last time we didn’t visit the lion (statue). If we get there and win, we will be there.”
But first, Central Dauphin.