On May 31, 1975, the Parkland girls softball team rallied from a 3-1 deficit to score three runs in the bottom of the seventh inning to defeat Coatesville 4-3 at Topton and win the first PIAA softball championship game ever played.
A half-century and three months later, the Trojanettes, as they were called, made more history Wednesday night at Allentown’s Patriots Park when they were inducted into the Lehigh Valley Softball Hall of Fame.
The first girls state championship team in the history of PIAA softball became the first entire squad inducted into the local Hall of Fame.
That special team was honored along with four individuals who shone as either players or coaches, and in some cases, both.
Former Northern Lehigh standout and Northwestern Lehigh coach Jen Horrner was recognized, as was longtime DeSales University coach Rachel Turoscy, former Parkland High and Lehigh University star and longtime college coach Shana Treon, and former men’s fastpitch great Ed Bennick.
The 24th annual induction ceremony brought the total of Hall of Famers to 123 – 122 individuals and one team.
All of the inductees were well received, but some of the loudest cheers went to the Parkland team, which paved the way for future girls’ softball success in the Lehigh Valley with its memorable run to the state title, while girls’ sports in general, and girls’ softball in particular, were just gaining traction after the passing of Title IX was enacted in 1972.
“Our field was in the corner of the football practice field,” coach Marcia Thomas said in a previous Morning Call story. “We had a portable backstop they would move in for the games and two little wooden benches. Fans brought in their lawn chairs. It wasn’t until I was finished coaching that they got a dirt infield.”
What the team didn’t have in amenities, it had in unity and heart.
Parkland lost its sixth game of the season, 7-6, to Southern Lehigh, but wouldn’t lose again. The Trojanettes gained revenge for the early-season loss by routing Southern Lehigh 11-2 for the district championship and then beat St. Mary’s and Central Dauphin in the first two rounds of states before the thriller against Coatesville.
Even though LaRue Moser, Parkland’s first batter in the seventh inning, was thrown out trying to stretch a double into a triple, the Trojanettes remained relentless.
Joanee Geiger rekindled the rally with a single. With two out, Mary Beth Schmoyer tied the game with a two-run single, and Donna (Spence) Katcher won it with a single.
Katcher, who was inducted into the Hall of Fame as a player in 2007, became the first person to be inducted into the Hall of Fame as an individual and team member.
Katcher was diagnosed with ALS in 2005, but she and her sister Dawn formed the Donna’s Dugout ALS Walk Team, which has an annual walk and other events to raise money to help in the fight of ALS. This year’s ALS walk will be held on Sept. 27 at Cedar Crest College, and many of her teammates will be there to support Katcher as they have been over the last 20 years.
“I was there when Donna told the team she had ALS, and they have rallied around her with Donna’s Dugout and supported her in every way they can,” Thomas said. “They have been so together, so unified, and so supportive of each other for 50 years. Part of the reason for that was that I was an extremely ethical coach. I stressed we’re playing for the love of the game and sometimes we’re going to be the best team in a game, and sometimes we’re not.
“But I said there’s nothing wrong with even cheering for the other team. We’re here to love the game and support one another, and build them back up when they fall. I wanted them to have each other’s backs. I stressed that, and I think some of that seeped into them. I tried to lead by example, and I was so proud of the fact that we won the sportsmanship award from the umpires every year that I coached.
Parkland head coach of the team Marcia Thomas speaks as Pennsylvania’s first high school softball state champions, the 1975 Parkland High team, are inducted Wednesday, Sept. 3, 2025, during the Lehigh Valley Softball Hall of Fame at Patriots Park in Allentown. (April Gamiz/The Morning Call)
Thomas, who is now a retired pastor, said, “What I wanted to convey to the girls in the stands tonight is that the love of the game is so important. It’s that love that makes the mind, the body, the heart, and skill come together in the pursuit of excellence. When you succeed, it’s just a wonderful, spirited thing that you can explain. That day we won the state championship was one of the best memories of my life, something that we as a team will never forget.”
Team members who were in attendance Wednesday night included Katcher, Geiger, Joanne Knerr Wehr, Karen Leh, Jane Mann, Moser, Brenda Reinert, Denise Scherr Reifinger, Vykie Smoyer Whipple, Kay Zelina, Robin Kramer Lynn, and Sue Buhosky Roth.
A look at the other inductees:
Ed Bennick
Ed Bennick is inducted Wednesday, Sept. 3, 2025, during the Lehigh Valley Softball Hall of Fame at Patriots Park in Allentown. (April Gamiz/The Morning Call)
A 1975 Freedom High graduate who played baseball for the Patriots, Bennick gravitated toward men’s fastpitch and became one of the area’s best players as a shortstop and pitcher. He was a key factor for Duke’s Pub winning East Penn Men’s Fastpitch League titles in the early 1980s. He helped the Northampton VFW win three straight Lehigh Valley League titles from 1987-89 and later was a catalyst for All-Seasons/B&N winning the Class B men’s state championship in 1994 and the Class A crown in 1995. He was named the most outstanding pitcher and the most valuable player in several tournaments.
Jen Horner
Horner, who was unable to attend the ceremony, was a key member of Northern Lehigh’s 1988 state title and an assistant coach on the Bulldogs’ 1996 state championship squad. She earned second-team All-American honors at Lock Haven. As a head coach, she led Northwestern Lehigh to league titles in 2004 and ’06 and a District 11 championship in 2007. She was The Morning Call’s coach of the year in 2006 and resigned as coach in 2013 after winning 183 games in 18 seasons.
Shana Treon
Shana Treon is inducted Wednesday, Sept. 3, 2025, during the Lehigh Valley Softball Hall of Fame at Patriots Park in Allentown. (April Gamiz/The Morning Call)
Treon was a dynamic offensive player who helped Parkland win a PIAA title in 1998 by hitting .511 that season. She followed it up by hitting .519 as a junior in 1999. She was also a standout in basketball and ended her Parkland career with 10 varsity letters. She earned a scholarship to Lehigh, where she became one of the Patriot League’s best players. She hit .396 as a freshman in 2001, .321 as a sophomore, .328 as a junior, and .344 as a senior. She ended her college career in the Top 10 in Patriot League history in doubles, triples, and steals, and helped the Mountain Hawks play in two NCAA tournaments.
She was also a CoSIDA Academic All-District II selection in 2004 and was awarded the Lehigh Graduating Female Athlete of the Year in 2004, an award given to the senior with the most distinctive and extraordinary accomplishments in her Lehigh career.
After Lehigh, she has stayed in the game as an assistant coach at Penn State-Abington for four seasons, at Holy Family for seven, and has been an assistant coach at Rider since 2017, where she coaches the outfielders and the offense overall and is responsible for team academics, travel, and assists with budgeting.
Rachel Turoscy
Turoscy, an Allentown Central Catholic graduate, was a four-year starter and two-time captain at Lehigh University.
She got her coaching start with Raiders Softball of the ASA Affiliate Women’s Class A League from May 1987 to August of 1992, as well as being the assistant varsity coach for both Emmaus and ACCHS in the mid-80s. She also coached the Topton VIPs and Lyons Spirit in ASA Class A women’s fastpitch for more than a decade, and also coached at Cedar Crest College.
But she has made her biggest mark as the coach at DeSales University, where she has led the program for 23 seasons and guided her team to 428 wins. She led the Bulldogs to MAC Freedom Conference titles in 2008, ’13, and ’15 and ECAC South Region championships in 2010 and 2011. She was named MAC Freedom coach of the year in 2008 and ’13.
