PHILIPSBURG — Another complete game in the books, Julia Varhola came off the field Monday at Philipsburg-Osceola and received high-fives and fist-bumps from teammates like she had many times this season.
Only on this occasion, the power pitcher removed her face mask and, in a voice as deadpan as the expression on her face, offered just two words.
“One more.”
Varhola and Hempfield (24-1) advanced to the PIAA Class 6A softball championship with a statement victory, 8-0 over District 3 champion Central Dauphin, giving Varhola her 20th win of the season.
Hempfield, on a 22-game winning streak, will now face District 1 champion Owen J. Roberts (26-1) for state glory at 4 p.m. Friday at Penn State’s Nittany Lion Softball Park. The Spartans will play for a state title for the sixth time in school history and will try to win their first PIAA championship since 2018 and their fifth title overall.
They lost in the 2023 championship to North Penn, 1-0, for the program’s only loss in the PIAA finals.
Quietly, Varhola (20-1) has joined elite company in the program. Only Morgan Ryan (twice), coach Tina (Skelly) Madison, Maddie Uschock and Jaci Kalp have won 20 or more games in a season.
Riley Miller, who pitched ahead of Varhola the last three years, had two 19-win seasons before heading to Kent State.
Varhola can join another short list: Only three pitchers have won WPIAL and PIAA titles in the same year at Hempfield — Danielle Resovich, Ryan (twice) and Uschock.
Madison won a WPIAL title as a freshman outfielder in 1998 and a state title as a sophomore pitcher in ’99.
“We have had a lot of good pitchers here,” Varhola said. “It means a lot to get 20 wins. I just wanted to do my part to help us win. I want us to finish it off and win a state title; one last hoo-rah.”
In a way, Varhola is making up for lost time. Good enough to be the ace of any other program, she had a reliever role behind Miller, mixed with a few starts, so she bided time and waited for the spotlight to shine on her.
She took the circle as the No. 1 pitcher this season, with freshman Jayelyn Luft waiting in the wings in relief and as her heir apparent for the next three years.
Varhola, who has 306 career strikeouts, has pitched back-to-back shutouts in the state tournament, including a 4-0 win over Chambersburg in the quarterfinals as she struck out 11 and allowed three hits.
She fanned nine and allowed two hits in an 8-6 win over McDowell in the first round.
In 28 2/3 innings in the playoffs, she has allowed two earned runs and has 34 strikeouts.
“We knew Julia could do the job (Monday), but we knew if things went a little off, we had Jaye ready to come in,” Spartans senior catcher Ella Berkebile said of Monday’s semifinal win, which came a year after Hempfield lost 6-4 to Nazareth in the same round, blowing a four-run lead with one out to go in the seventh. “We knew we would be all right.”
Said Varhola of the 8-0 win: “We slammed the door.”
Varhola has a 1.73 ERA and 181 strikeouts in 113 1/3 innings.
“She has been lights out,” Madison said. “She is throwing some of the best games she’s thrown all year.”
Varhola is anxious to take the circle at Penn State because she is primed to pitch at the Division I level next year. She is a James Madison commit.
“Everybody is excited to get back to Penn State,” she said. “Especially coach Tina.”
Madison was a former star ace at Hempfield — you need a magnifying glass to see her career ERA of 0.27 from 1998-2001 — before pitching at Penn State for two years.
“Our seniors have won so many tournaments and trophies all over the country,” Madison said. “But the one thing they haven’t won is a state title. I told them step up and go get it. Let’s go.”
Madison pitched in relief for the Spartans in the 1999 PIAA title win.
Her twin daughters, starting freshmen Jayelyn and Jocelyn Luft, are getting Division I college attention. They have been to camps at Penn State, and a Nittany Lions coach came to watch them at a WPIAL playoff game a few weeks ago.
“We’re excited,” Madison said. “Jaye and Joce will get to play on the field. It will be a good experience. It’s going to be a difficult game.”