Canon-McMillan dethrones 5-time defending WPIAL softball champ Hempfield

By: Don Rebel
Wednesday, May 19, 2021 | 8:03 PM

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The longest WPIAL softball championship streak has ended.

Hempfield no longer has that sixth sense.

Canon-McMillan scored two runs in the top of the sixth inning and held on to beat Hempfield, 2-1, in a Class 6A quarterfinals softball game Wednesday at West Mifflin.

“I haven’t had a whole lot of opportunity to deliver the end-of-the-year talk on a negative outcome,” Hempfield coach Bob Kalp said. “I’ve been spoiled. I’ve been extremely lucky to have the talented players we’ve had and the good fortune we’ve had.”

The win propels Canpon-McMillan (8-9) into the 6A semifinals on Wednesday against No. 2 seed Norwin.

“We’ve been really up and down all season, flashes of greatness and then to the bottom,” Canon-McMillan coach Michele Moeller said. “They’ve continued to work hard despite having some ups and downs this season.”

The game was a throwback pitchers’ duel between Lauren Duke of Canon-McMillan and Callie Sowers of Hempfield, who kept their opponents off the scoreboard through four innings.

The same two pitchers started when the two teams met nine days earlier in a 4-2 win for Hempfield.

In the bottom of the fifth, Spartans junior Olivai Kline walked and was sacrificed to second on a bunt by Sydney Mitchell.

Hempfield freshman Sarah Podkul singled up the middle and Kalp, coaching third base, gave Kline the green light to score. However, a great throw by Canon-McMillan center fielder Elli Kotar gunned Kline out at the plate.

“Well, if you could do it over again, you wouldn’t do it,” Kalp said of sending Kline home. “I’ve also been coaching long enough to realize that if you hold the runner at third and you don’t get a hit, then you say, ‘Why didn’t I make them make a play?’

“It’s nothing-nothing. Nobody is really doing anything, I’m going to make them make a play. It’s going to take a good throw, which she did make a good throw, good tag and she was out.”

The Spartans did score a batter later. Keli Terzolino singled to right-center, and when the ball was bobbled in the outfield, Podkul scored all the way from first base.

Canon-McMillan answered quickly in the top of the sixth inning.

Mackenzi Adams laid a perfect bunt single down the third-base line for only the third Big Macs hit.

“That was huge,” Moeller said. “She hasn’t been playing all season for us, and that was a change we just made at the end of the regular season to use her speed, and it worked.”

Olivia Ulam followed with a double off the left-center field fence to put runners on second and third with no outs.

“Ulam had some success against Sowers, so we thought they might not want to pitch to her. That’s why I moved her up to the leadoff spot,” Moeller said.

A wild pitch scored Adams and a sacrifice fly by Grace Higgins scored Ulam with what would be the winning run.

When Hempfield (12-5) beat North Allegheny in the 2019 6A finals, it tied the Spartans with Sto-Rox (2000-04) for the most consecutive district softball titles at five in a row.

However, the ending of the title run didn’t mean much to Kalp after the game.

“Not really,” he said. “This is a quality group of young ladies. It hurts, but as I told them, if it hurts, it’s a good thing, because if it doesn’t hurt, you’re wasting your time.”

Tags: Canon-McMillan, Hempfield