This was a historic season for WPIAL softball.
A record six teams medaled in the PIAA postseason, District 7 teams captured a record-tying four state titles, and there was a first-ever battle for state gold between WPIAL teams.
Also, five coaching head-of-the-class honorees enjoyed district championship runs and one finished as runner-up in the WPIAL and PIAA playoffs.
Trib HSSN salutes all the coaches and their assistants for their great work and commitment on the softball diamond in 2026. However, these head coaches receive a tip of the cap and a seat up front as they are indeed at the head of the WPIAL class as coaches of the year.
Class 6A
Tina Madison, Hempfield
For the fifth straight season, Hempfield and Seneca Valley fought for regular season title and then for the WPIAL Class 6A championship. First place in the regular season was just the start of a golden run for the Spartans, who defeated the Raiders for a second straight district crown and the program’s third title in four years. Hempfield wasn’t done as it defeated McDowell, Chambersburg, defending champion Central Dauphin and Owen J. Roberts for the first state championship under Tina Madison. The titles were a record-tying 10th in the WPIAL and a district-leading fifth PIAA crown. This also marks the second straight year Madison was named Trib HSSN Class 6A Coach of the Year.
Class 5A
Tom Sorce, Shaler
Shaler repeated as WPIAL champion in dominant fashion. The Titans earned their fifth district title with a successful repeat by outscoring their four playoff opponents — Moon, Armstrong, Baldwin and North Hills — by a combined score of 41-2. However, the road to gold in the PIAA postseason was a lot tougher for Tom Sorce’s team, especially in the state second and third rounds. In a rematch against Baldwin in the quarters, the Titans escaped with a 2-1 win. Then in an epic 11-inning marathon against Thomas Jefferson in the semifinals, Shaler won 5-3. The bread on that stressful state sandwich was a pair of 10-0 wins over Red Land in Round 1 and Abington Heights in the finals for PIAA crown No. 3.
Class 4A
Jim Riggio, Blackhawk
The three seniors on the Blackhawk softball team know what it’s like to climb the ladder of success. As freshmen in 2023, the Cougars missed the playoffs. The following spring, they qualified for the playoffs as the No. 11 seed and made a surprising run to the final four. Up the ladder they climbed in 2025 to reach the WPIAL championship game, where they lost a heartbreaker to Hampton. This year, Jim Riggio’s Cats again played in the WPIAL finals and again lost another tough one. But instead of staying on the same rung as last year, Blackhawk made a run in the state playoffs, where they settled for PIAA runner-up after falling to Valley View, 13-8, in a wild 4A title game.
Class 3A
R.J. Matetic, South Park
South Park coach Rudolph John Matetic took a page from the old Bum Phillips coaching book. The former Houston Oilers coach said his team had knocked on the Pittsburgh Steelers’ door a couple of times and that, in 1979, they were going to kick the door down. That never happened, but after losing two straight years in the WPIAL Class 3A softball championship game, the Eagles finally kicked the door in, or perhaps they just flew over it to the program’s second district crown. South Park took two years of frustration out on Mt. Pleasant, beating the Vikings, 10-1, in the 3A finals. The Eagles reached the PIAA semifinals before they fell to undefeated Sharon, 1-0, in nine innings.
Class 2A
Jack Cramer, Bentworth and Bill Garroway, Laurel
This was a tough one (thus the tie) following a historic showing by Class 2A teams in both the district and state playoffs. First, a tip of the cap to newly minted WPIAL Hall of Famer and Chartiers-Houston head coach Tricia Alderson. In a class dominated the last four years by Neshannock, the changing of the guard took place in the District 7 final when Cramer and his Bearcats won a first WPIAL title, beating the Lancers, 4-1. Then in the PIAA postseason, two teams that didn’t even reach the district finals made it all the way to the PIAA championship game in a first-time WPIAL vs. WPIAL state final. Bill Garroway and his scrappy Spartans claimed their first state softball championship with the 7-1 win over Jack Cramer’s Bentworth Bearcats.
Class A
Doug Fisher, Union
Everything about the Class A softball season in 2026 screamed win, gold, repeat. That was the story of the Union softball team. First in a WPIAL Class A rematch, the Scotties knocked off Carmichaels for a second straight year, 6-2. It was the fourth district championship in five years for the Scotties. Then in the state playoffs, Union brought the lumber with 32 runs in the first three PIAA wins, and then it completed a repeat of its 2025 state crown with a 7-3 victory over Holy Cross. This also marks the second straight Trib HSSN Class A Coach of the Year recognition for Doug Fisher, who has six championships in seven seasons as coach at Union.