North Hills Varsity Slow Pitch Softball wins their first championship

The North Hills Varsity Slow Pitch Softball Team defeated Plum to secure their first championship in over thirteen years this past weekend.

On Saturday, October 19, WPISL (Western Pennsylvania Interscholastic Softball League) started their yearly playoff games. North Hills took their first win of the weekend against North Allegheny. The game started in the first three innings with North Allegheny hitting four runs against North Hills, then throughout the rest of the game, North Hills racked up the score, leaving it 19-4. 

The games kicked up on Sunday. Plum defeated Shaler 8-6. North Hills won against Bethel Park in their first game of the day. One of the team’s star juniors, Ashley Katz, started off all three games placing the ball in the gaps of other team, getting her on base all but once. It was a rough start for North Hills when Bethel Park lead with 4-0, but the group got back out there and rallied until the end, leaving the score 17-4. 

The championship game all came down to Plum and North Hills. Taking the lead in the beginning, North Hills was 6-0 until the fifth inning when Plum took back seven runs, putting them in the lead by one point. The bottom four batters were up starting the momentum for the rest of the game. It was the top of the seventh, with two outs, and girls on first and third. A Plum player hit a fly ball to senior Sofia Calerio in left field, who caught the third out. Winning the game and the championship, Caliero broke out into a loud shriek.

The North Hills fans went wild and every teammate surrounded Caliero, hugging,  screaming and cheering. After North Hills had their moment, both teams lined up on opposite foul lines so they could get called to get their medals and their rightful trophies. Everyone took their pictures with their medals, trophies and the opposing team. Even through the tears, both teams gave their best smiles for all of the photos. Sadly, for some girls, that was their last game with all their friends they’ve been playing with since they started school and a game they’d been playing even longer.