May 20, 2025 4 min read

By Joe Smeltzer

For the Observer-Reporter

newsroom@observer-reporter.com

McKEES ROCKS – A key to winning any game is to start fast, and Canon-Mac didn’t do it.

Sometimes, teams can compensate for so-so starts with a strong middle or end.

Canon-Mac fell short of that, too.

This was a recipe for a disappointing afternoon at Montour High School, and Canon-Mac’s bad day led to the end of its WPIAL championship dreams with an 8-2 loss to Hempfield in the Class 6A semifinals.

Because only the WPIAL champ goes to states in 6A, Canon-Mac’s season is over.

“Kudos to Hempfield, longtime Canon-Mac coach Michele Moeller said. “They’re a great hitting team. We knew that coming in here. We played them twice this season. We’ve been 10-runed. We’ve had probably over 11 strikeouts each game. So we knew we couldn’t let them get off to that lead, but we were trying to stay close.”

Although Hempfield starter Riley Miller pitched a complete game and allowed just two runs, Moeller liked what she saw from her offense.

“The success that Riley Miller’s had against us the other two games …” she said. “I think, besides an attempted-bunt strikeout, we only had four strikeouts, six hits. Two of my kids (Kadence Merigo and Emily Booher) had two hits, no (strikeouts looking). They really stepped up and did what we were trying to work on.”

Canon-Mac’s Brooke Bumer gave up six runs on nine hits over 3 ⅔ innings.

Hempfield scored in the first inning when Lauren Howard doubled home leadoff hitter Claire Mitchell, who singled and then stole second. Hempfield added on a batter later when Ella Berkebile singled home Howard. Hempfield kept it going in the second, scoring on a single by Allie Cervola and a triple by Howard. Canon-Mac’s offense came alive in the second, scoring its first run on an error by Hempfield third baseman Josephine Cline.

In the bottom of the fourth, Mitchell hit a solo shot to make it 5-1. Allie Cervola followed with a solo shot to make it 6-1 and put Hempfield firmly in command.

Hempfield added another in the bottom of the fifth and one more in the sixth. Canon-Mac scored in the seventh, but by then the game was virtually put to bed.

So Canon-Mac ends the year 13-8 with a trip to the semifinals.

Overall, Moeller is proud of how things turned out.

“We came into this season with some preseason injuries,” she said. “Losing Kiersten Williams early to the ACL tear in soccer, then she came back and tore her meniscus. We also lost one of our sophomores who is another big stick. She had labrum surgery. She never got to play. Our designated player, who was hitting real well, got a concussion and was out for three weeks. Another girl that we have on our team, fractured back. She’s played most of the season that way. So we had a lot of in-season injuries and preseason.

“The girls set these goals to make sure we had a winning season and they were climbing the ladder through the playoffs. And they hit those targets, and every bump in the road that we had, all the injuries, we just kept getting better and better.”

She also credited Bumer, who did a “fabulous job” this season.

“I’m real pleased overall with everything that they did,” Moeller said. “I thought their improvement, their growth showed, and really, when we had a lot of bumps in the road due to those injuries, people stepped up and they kept working together. So, real proud of them..”

Canon-Mac has much slated to come back next season, losing just Hailey Swoope and Skylah Steban to graduation.

For Moeller, replacing those two in the lineup is going to be key in making it to the WPIAL title game in 2026.

“We have two experienced pitchers that now are going to be seniors and juniors, and they both have plenty of playoff game experience. We have a freshman that throws harder than both of them. We have five pitchers… we should be fine that way,” Moeller said. “We just have to make sure we can replace the experience of Skylah, especially, and Hailey Swoope in the infield. They’ve been anchoring the left side for a long time. So we really have to find a way to replace those sticks in the lineup.”