When Whitehall won the District 11 4A softball championship in 2009, the Zephyrs did it in dramatic fashion. Whitehall beat Nazareth 5-4, Pleasant Valley 2-1 in nine innings and then Parkland 1-0 to win the program’s district gold in 20 years. Fast forward to Friday night at Patriots Park and the latest Zephyrs district gold in softball wasn’t nearly as dramatic, but make no mistake, it was just as satisfying.
Whitehall pounded 16 hits and rolled to a 15-5, five-inning win over Southern Lehigh to end the 15-year title year and vanquish some of the demons caused by four consecutive runnerup finishes in the district tournament. The Zephyrs lost to Parkland in the 2019 district title game, and then after no softball was played due to COVID in 2020, they fell to Northampton in back-to-back finals in 2021 and 2022 and then squandered a 6-2 lead in a heartbreaking 7-6 loss to Pocono Mountain East last year. But there were no lost leads for Whitehall on Friday night as they kept tacking on runs against a Spartans team that lost its pitcher, Chloe Benner, earlier in the season due to torn ACL.
For the second straight district game, the Zephyrs scored 15 runs and ended the game via the mercy rule. They avenged last year’s loss to Pocono East with a 15-0 rout in the semifinals. “Finally, right,” said third-year coach Jeff Vivian.
“I’ve been a bridesmaid at this too long. l am happy for the girls for the way they stuck together. They allowed us to give them a game plan and.