Jun 4, 2025 By Jerin Steele 3 min read

The Chartiers-Houston softball team has been a fixture in the PIAA playoffs for decades.

Their next opponent is the opposite of that.

The last time Seneca won a state playoff game was in the 1970s – until Monday, when it defeated Riverside, 7-2.

If the Bucs are going to return to the PIAA semifinals for a second consecutive season, they’ll have to get past a Bobcats team on a historic run when they meet in the PIAA Class 2A quarterfinals, at noon Thursday at Slippery Rock University.

“I saw that it’s been close to 50 years since they’ve won a state playoff game, so obviously that’s good for their program,” Bucs coach Tricia Alderson said.

Prior to Monday, the Bobcats hadn’t won a PIAA playoff game since 1976.

That’s also the last time Seneca won a District 10 championship, which it accomplished this season.

Though the Bobcats don’t have history on their side, they seem to be a powerhouse in the present.

They’ve won 19 games in a row and haven’t lost since March. Their lone loss came against Springside Chestnut Hill Academy, a team from Philadelphia. Springside Chestnut Hill won the Pennsylvania Independent Schools Athletic Association championship last week.

Seneca’s lineup has five players in its lineup that have a batting average better than .400. Haylee Farrell, Sofia Primavere and Mallory Hammill lead the way. Farrell has a .610 batting average with 21 doubles, five triples, six homers and 45 RBI. Primavere has a .600 average, seven home runs and 42 RBI. Hammill is hitting .513 with three homers and has driven in 31 runs.

Primavere has also been strong in the circle, pitching to a 1.25 ERA over 123 1/3 innings. She has 202 strikeouts to 32 walks and 13 shutouts.

“At this point when you’re down to the final eight teams in the state everyone is going to be good,” Alderson said. “Everyone’s going to have good hitters and I know they have a strong sophomore lefty pitcher. She’s had a really good year. We have to focus on the things we do well. Pitch well and play good defense.”

Chartiers-Houston will aim to keep the momentum rolling from their 5-2 comeback win over District 9 champion Cranberry Monday, which was highlighted by Ella Richey’s grand slam in the top of the seventh. It was Richey’s 43rd homer of her career. The Bucs were down to their final three outs and trailing 2-0 before the rally.

“I know what we did (Monday) was very special,” Bucs senior pitcher Meadow Ferri said. “If we keep playing like we are and have faith that we can come back if we are down, then everything will be fine. At the same time, we can’t expect to win games because we pulled that (comeback) off. We still have to work hard.”

There was a jovial atmosphere around Chartiers-Houston practice on Tuesday. During the state playoffs the team has come up with a theme for each practice. On Tuesday it was “white lies” where each player wore a white t-shirt and wrote a funny “lie” about themselves on the front of it with a marker.

They hope to be planning another theme for practice after Thursday’s game.

“This is a fun group to be around,” Alderson said. “We love coming to practice every day and they just want to keep playing together. Whatever anybody can do, no matter where you are in the lineup or if you’re on the bench, to try and extend and give us a few more days together is really what they’re looking to do.”