BUTLER TWP — The Butler High girls softball team won its first WPIAL playoff game in 14 years last spring.

Don't expect it to be a one-shot deal.

Two Butler fast-pitch summer teams, ages 18 and under and 15 and under, finished first and second, respectively, in the Greater Pittsburgh Girls Softball League recently.

Butler's 18-under squad won the 14-team circuit with a 14-4 record. The 15-under team finished second in its category with a 12-2 mark, then won a tournament in Wheeling, W.Va.

"This is the first time we've ever won this league," Butler 18-under coach Scott Bachman said. "There's plenty of softball talent in Butler. It was just a matter of getting it together."

Three members of the 18-under team, center fielder Karen Cumberledge, catcher Dana Sikorski and shortstop Jocelyn Bachman, played for the Golden Tornado varsity in the spring. Sikorski hit .400 this summer.

Pitcher Fallon Bachman, first baseman Danielle Lloyd, second baseman Julie Brenckle, third baseman Sara Cobern, left fielder Olivia Hortert, right fielders Brittney Knass and Rebecca Sarvey played on the junior varsity team.

Two other team members, outfielders Emily Leith and Shelby Leitch, didn't play high school softball last season.

"A bunch of these girls hit over .300 this year, but we won with pitching and defense," Bachman said.

Ditto for the 15-under squad.

"Our defense was phenomenal. That was the key," said 15-under coach Tina O'Donnell, who also coaches the Butler Junior High team.

Fallon Bachman, an incoming junior, pitched for the 18-under and 15-under teams. Angie Reddick, Butler's main varsity pitcher and winner of its playoff game against Kiski Area, also pitched for the 15-under squad.

"Fallon was incredible for us," Bachman said. "She pitched every (18-under) game but one. We had a triple-header one day and I didn't want her pitching a third game.

"Three of our four losses were in the second game of doubleheaders."

Bachman averaged seven strikeouts per game and pitched four shutouts, three one-hitters and a pair of two-hitters. She had 105 strikeouts and 20 walks in 87 innings this summer.

Butler's 15-under team consisted of three freshmen, four sophomores and three juniors. Four players, first baseman-pitcher MacKenzie O'Donnell, shortstop Kate Baxter, right fielder Tori Hesidence and second baseman Beyona Eckstein, played junior high ball in the spring.

The Wheeling tournament featured 10 teams ages 16 and under. Butler went 5-1, winning games 10-1, 6-2, 6-1, 1-0 and 4-3. The latter score was the championship game against the Tri-City Thunder.

"Other teams in the tourney were pulled together from different areas," Coach O'Donnell said. "Our team was strictly Butler girls. It was a big deal to us to win that event."

Other players on the 15-under team include catcher Amber Steinheiser, second baseman Erin Pennington, left fielder Amanda Steinheiser, center fielder Becca Schnur and third baseman Hannah Henry.