Seneca Valley’s Lexie Hames, the Butler Eagle Female Athlete of the Year, earned respect in 4 years of dominance
Perhaps the ultimate sign of respect for Lexie Hames’ career came from one of her closest rivals.
So dominant was she so early at Seneca Valley, Hempfield Area coach Tina Madison a few years ago petitioned her booster club to raise money to buy a high-tech pitching machine called the Hack Attack, capable of throwing more than 80-mph fastballs and multiple breaking balls while hitting specific spots in the strike zone.
“My parents club bought us a pitching machine to beat Lexie Hames,” Madison said last week.
That respect, and Hames’ sheer dominance, is why she’s the Butler Eagle’s Female Athlete of the Year for the second year in a row. Arguably the greatest softball pitcher in Butler County history, Hames finished with 940 career strikeouts, led SV to two WPIAL titles in four appearances and is off to Clemson this fall to compete with one of the nation’s top programs.
The machine itself wasn’t always enough to beat Hames. She threw one of her varsity no-hitters against the Spartans in 2024, an 18-strikeout masterpiece. She punched out 17 against them in April.
So before May’s WPIAL Class 6A championship game, Madison walked into practice, set the pitching machine to 74 mph and turned the lights off in the room. Madison, a college softball junkie, had seen teams do this to prepare for Tennessee star Karlyn Pickens. Whatever Madison could do to better prepare her team for a player opposing coaches called a generational talent or an “era kid.”
Hames struck out just nine, and Hempfield won a second district title against the Raiders in three years by a 1-0 score.
“I have basically spent the last four years of my coaching career at Hempfield trying to figure out ways to beat Lexie Hames,” Madison said.
Hames — a two-time Gatorade Pa. Player of the Year who made numerous WPIAL, section and all-state teams — went 17-3 this season with a microscopic 0.48 ERA and 0.71 WHIP, and 279 strikeouts in 116 2/3 innings.
And the senior was also so feared at the plate — she hit .487 with seven home runs and 18 RBIs — teams routinely intentionally walked her. She was given a base 40 times in 79 plate appearances this year. Hempfield, a powerhouse in its own right, intentionally walked her 25 times in her career, Madison estimates, and four times in the district final.
The only thing missing from her sparkling resume is a state championship — the Raiders made the Class 6A final in 2022, Hames’ freshman year, and lost 5-0 to Spring-Ford. This year’s district final loss also leaves a particular sting for Hames.
“It’s definitely a lot to process,” she said. “I think after the last out of the last game, it was definitely hard to process a little bit.
“My freshman year I wanted to go in and really leave a mark on this program and legacy for (the next generation). ... Really put Seneca Valley on the map for how competitive we are and how we are as people.”
She did.
Butler head coach Kara Sroka first learned of Hames four years ago during warmups before a Mars vs. SV non-section game. Sroka, then coaching the Planets, was walking around the field when an opposing freshman fired a fastball into the fence.
“This pitch rattles the backstop (loudly), and I’m like, ‘Who the heck is this kid?,’” Sroka said.
Hames.
Sroka and the rest of the WPIAL, Western Pennsylvania and much of the softball nation now likely knows the name. Hames developed from a fire-balling but raw freshman into the No. 1 pitching recruit in the nation in the 2025 class.
And with it came the respect of coaches and opponents, who are also happy to not have to face her anymore. Madison told her husband she wants a Clemson hoodie.
“This year was kind of cool because she had a lot of little girls who came (to games) and stayed around (for photos and autographs),” said Hames’ mom and SV’s head coach, Marlesse Hames.
Mother and daughter tried to soak in as much of the season as they could.
“When I hear those things, it makes me really realize the level (she’s at) because I do get caught up in the coaching part of it,” Marlesse Hames said.
They are spending one last summer together traveling from tournament to tournament with an elite club team of Power Four prospects to get ready for college. Lexie will be a pitcher and maybe hit.
“I love pitching, til the day I die,” she said.
