Bob Kalp (Hempfield High School, Greensburg, Pa.) 

The mark of a great high school coach is what happens to his or her program once a dominant player graduates. Does the team fall back to the pack or stay at the top?

For Bob Kalp, the answer in 2018 was an emphatic one. Stay at the top. With two-time state player of the year and 2017 All-American Morgan Ryan now at Notre Dame, Hempfield stayed at the top when they beat Parkland of Allentown 4-3 in eight innings to win the Class 6A state crown.

That made it three straight state titles for Kalp and the Spartans, the first time that has happened since the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association began offering softball state championships in 1985. 

It took a freshman to have the confidence to come through at the end and that’s what happened for the Spartans as Emma Hoffner collected a double in that eighth inning against Parkland to deliver the state title.

Kalp is a retired chemistry teacher and didn’t start coaching the girls at Hempfield Area until he was 50 years old. He’s now reported at age 73 and in those 23 seasons, he has 401 wins (career record is 401-98-3) and four state title titles. Kalp’s first state title came in 1999 in Class 3A. If he keeps coaching, those totals figure to go even higher.