Pittsburgh-area slow-pitch softball players hope to earn recognition at WPIAL, PIAA levels
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) -- It may be called slow-pitch softball, but it's a fast-paced game.
On Sunday, the Hempfield Spartans took on Mt. Lebanon at Carbon Field in Hempfield as part of the Western Pennsylvania Interscholastic Softball League.
"We have teams from grades 2 up through 12," Leo Orelli said, the president of the WPISL.
Slow-pitch softball has been gaining momentum across western Pa. over the years, with a big push now to take it to the next level.
"We've had a couple [of] communications with PIAA on the emerging sports program, getting the details on what we need to do to be accepted into that," Orelli said.
"The players want a chance to be able to be in a WPIAL and be able to go for that WPIAL championship or PIAA championship," said Mike Palmiero, the head coach of the Hempfield Spartans.
Orelli said there are 60 teams in the league right now, 10 of which are at the varsity level. He said they're building from the ground up in hopes of getting the recognition the players deserve.
"We've had two new teams at the junior high division. Next year, we anticipate them moving to JV and eventually to varsity. We're building from the ground up, and that's the goal," Orelli said. "The girls, they work hard. They work just as hard as any other sport. They're practicing a couple of times a week, they're conditioning. They're playing doubleheaders every weekend. Varsity playoffs come up on Oct. 19-20."
"They want to be part of the school districts, and they want to be able to compete at the district level," Palmiero said.
"The only difference (between slow-pitch and fast-pitch softball) is this is an arch ball pitch. You throw with an arch of 6-12 feet," Orelli said.
Fast-pitch softball allows for steals, lead-offs, pick-off attempts, balks, delayed steals, and more regulations similar to baseball.
Emma Orndorff is a senior on the Hempfiled Spartans team and said slow-pitch has more action.
"For me, it was the hitting aspect. In fast-pitch, I was always, like, terrified of the ball because it was too fast, but in slow-pitch, it just comes in, I can hit it out of the air and absolutely smack it," Orndorff said.
"Some just like the action of slow-pitch. Every ball is in play. It's a high-scoring game. There's a lot of action. There's a lot of cheering. Some kids enjoy it more than fast-pitch," Orelli said.
Orndorff said getting recognized on the district and state level would change the game.
"It would mean a lot because it shows we're slowly moving up in the ranks in the school system and be able to get more opportunities," Orndorff said. "A lot of club sports are overlooked by a lot of the school, and this year is the year we're getting the most recognition from the school. We were on the big screen at the football game on Friday. That's the first time that's ever happened."
Ornelli said moving forward, they hope to recruit more players and add the program to schools that don't currently have it. By doing that, he hopes the sport will soon be recognized at the WPIAL and PIAA levels.
"They put in the same work as everybody else that is recognized, so we feel they've earned it and deserve it," Ornelli said.
The Spartans played a doubleheader Sunday, losing 24-25 in the first game. The team won 10-7 in game 2.
Hempfield is 5-1 so far this season.
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