Team Scotti from Culmerville's Modified Softball League wins state championship

During the first weekend in August, Josh Uncapher and his Team Scotti modified softball team traveled to Sharon to compete in the Pennsylvania modified softball state championship.

Behind solid team play, the squad made up of players from around Saxonburg and based out of the Culmerville Modified Softball League won the 2020 USA Softball of PA Class C 10-man modified pitch state championship.

“We play as a team,” said Uncapher, who is also the vice president of the Culmerville league. “No one wants any recognition or anything like that. We are just out there to have fun and a product of that was winning.”

Uncapher said Team Scotti was the first team from the Culmerville softball league to win the state championship since 2007, and his team had a connection to that previous team. Back in 2007, Tom Eurich won the state championship with Pit Stop, a team that is still a part of the Culmerville league. His son Hyte was a part of the last weekend’s championship-winning team.

“It was a cool feeling, but I thought that was one of the cool things about it,” Uncapher said.

The Culmerville Modified Softball league, which was formerly known as the Fieldhouse/Pike league, has been in existence since 1984. Until 2006, league games were played in south Butler County, mostly at the Pike field, according to their website. But in 2007, the league moved to its current location at the Culmerville Sportsmen Club Ballfield in West Deer Township.

The league features teams and players from around the area, including Saxonburg, Chicora, Hampton and Pine-Richland. But in the past, it had teams made up of players from Butler, Armstrong, Allegheny, Lawrence, Westmoreland and Washington counties. Because of the coronavirus pandemic, this past year has been a little bit different.

In a normal year, Uncapher said the league will consist of six to eight teams, but has had 10 teams before, and will play 18 to 20 games from May to the first week in August. This season, the league was only able to play eight games before the state championship last weekend. Uncapher said games can get pretty competitive, which drew him to the league and keeps bringing him back.

“All the teams are pretty well even, and there’s not one team that just gets dogged all the time,” Uncapher said. “The league has gotten younger over the years and we’ve grown it a little. I’ve had friends who have spread the word through their families, so the competition level has gone up as the years have gone by and I’ve just liked it a lot more. It’s a lot of fun.”

The Culmerville softball league is still looking to grow. Uncapher believes it could appeal to a lot of athletes who are just graduating high school or are looking to fill their competitive drive.

Like it does for Uncapher, the sport may appeal to former baseball players as there are some similarities. Modified softball is a version of the game that is played around the country by men of all ages. It’s somewhat like slow pitch softball in that there are 10 players in the field, which usually means four outfielders or five infielders. But the pitching is different in the modified version.

Pitchers are required to throw the ball with no arc, and they also have to keep the ball within 6 inches of their hip and are not allowed to bring the ball above their shoulders. Although some pitchers look to just hit the zone, some can throw hard.

“There are guys that who may have not played baseball at all and they are coming down and doing pretty well,” Uncapher said. “It’s not too hard to hit. I mean guys are still throwing underhand, but it’s not super easy either like in slow pitch where you have time to figure out what you want to do with the ball.”

If players are interested in joining the Culmerville Modified Softball League or building a team for it, they can find more information on the league’s website or its Facebook page.