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For the third consecutive game in the 2026 WPIAL 4A Softball Tournament, Elizabeth Forward found itself trailing. And for the third consecutive contest, the No. 1 seeded Warriors (20-2) rallied, claiming their third WPIAL 4A Championship in the past seven tournaments.

Trailing No. 3 seed Blackhawk 3-0 entering the bottom of the fourth inning, Elizabeth Forward scored twice in the fourth and three times in the fifth to capture a 5-3 win over the Cougars at PennWest University California’s Lilley Field. The Warriors (20-2) won their second WPIAL 4A crown in three years, having also won the title in 2019 and 2024.

“It’s a great feeling,” said EF head coach Harry Rutherford, who also earned his 250th career win in his 17th season, along with assistant coach Warren Chellman. “This team plays for each other. We’ve been down every game in this tournament and fought back every time. We’ve had a target on our back for the last several years.”

The No. 1 seed in Class 4A for the past four seasons, the Warriors defeated Derry (8-4) and defending 4A champion Hampton (7-5) to reach the title game. Blackhawk beat EF in the 2025 WPIAL semifinals.

“This was a big goal for us, especially the six seniors,” said Julia Resnick, who relieved starting pitcher Berlyn Holibaugh in the top of the fifth inning and earned the win. “I felt really good when I moved to the mound. Our defense was insane and I knew they had my back.”

Blackhawk scored twice in the top of the third to take a 2-0 lead and took a 3-0 lead in the top of fourth, but a runner was thrown out at third base to stop the Cougars’ momentum.,

In the bottom of the fourth, senior Addy Nigut walked and senior Hannah Evans singled. Senior Aubri Cimba sacrificed the runners to second and third base and then junior Sophie Pasinsky flied out just beyond the left field line. But, the Blackhawk outfielder fell after making the catch, allowing Nigut and the speedy Evans to score, cutting the Cougars’ lead to 3-2.

“I’m an aggressive base runner in general and I knew I could get two bases when she went down,” Evans said. “I think that play did a lot for the energy of the team. I’ll do whatever I need to do for the team.”

In the bottom of the fifth, EF senior Claire Balint got on base on an error and later moved to second base. With two outs, Resnick then also reached first via an error, with Balint racing home to tie the game, 3-3. Nigut singled and Evans blasted a triple to right field, scoring Resnick and Nigut for the 5-3 Warrior lead to the delight of the large EF crowd beyond right field.

“It feels great,” said Evans, who was 2 for 3, with 2 RBI, a run scored and five putouts in center field. “We wanted it so bad. This has been one of our goals since the start of the season.”

Resnick kept the Cougars at bay over the final three innings to seal the championship. She allowed three hits, struck out one batter and didn’t walk any over her three innings. Holibaugh allowed just three hits and struck out two during her four innings on the mound.

Elizabeth Forward won WPIAL Class 4A, Section 2 with a 12-0 record.

The Warriors have advanced to the PIAA 4A Tournament for the 8th consecutive tournament, with the PIAA bracket to be announced on Friday. The last time EF didn’t qualify for the PIAAs was 2017.

The EF Softball team will be joined in the state playoffs by the EF Baseball team. The section winners made it to the WPIAL 4A Championship at EQT Park in Washington but fell to Indiana. However, EF retained a silver medal and a spot in the PIAA 4A Baseball Tournament.

If artificial intelligence – AI – is the future, then students in Dr. Jen Spiegel’s new class at Elizabeth Forward High School will be positioned to embrace it. 

“I wanted this class to utilize research skills,” said Dr. Speigel, “but I wanted the students to tie it in with what AI is doing.” 

As part of the district’s involvement with Remake Learning Days 2026, Dr. Speigel’s class – AI in Media Ethics – presented its findings in one of two class projects. One set was practical – creating things such as songs – and the other set was theoretical, consisting of presentations which were made on Thursday. 

“I had to create this class from scratch,” said Dr. Speigel, “because no one is really doing this. So, it’s been a lot of experimentation this semester.” 

Juniors and seniors prepared presentations that examined a question based on their interests and arrived at a conclusion. Students explored areas ranging from the military industrial complex to health care. During Thursday’s visit, Senior Nathan Pozzuto (seen in top photo)– who will study Computer Science at the University of Pittsburgh this fall – dove into this question: ‘Will AI replace software engineers?’ His answer? 

“We don’t know yet, basically,” said Pozzuto. “I might be biased, but I think there’s a positive outlook because of some of the stuff I talked about, like the Jevons paradox.” 

Jevons paradox is an economic principle that says technological progress which increases a resource’s efficiency often leads to an increase in that resource’s consumption instead of a decrease.  

“When things get more efficient, it’s tempting to think, ‘OK, all of the jobs are going away,’” said Pozzuto. “But really, maybe we should think there will be more of the output, and there will be the same or more people working- because it’s more efficient- and these companies will benefit from that.” 

It’s heady questions like Nathan’s that Dr. Speigel wants her students to think about in this rapidly changing world. 

“I’m a very big believer that technology is a great tool,” she said, “but if it supplants student learning then it’s not giving us that end goal, which is learning something new.” 

Dr. Speigel’s class featured plenty of scholarly readings which students had to utilize in their presentations, along with more popular media and a field trip to the Google offices in Pittsburgh’s Bakery Square. 

“This was more of a content and ethics-based look at AI,” she added, “but I did manage to squeeze in a new AI platform.”  

Students used Gamma, an AI presentation builder, to create their presentations. But the use of Gamma was not a “plug and play” approach. 

“I wanted the presentations to feature their content, “said Dr. Speigel. “I didn’t want them to sit down and tell AI, ‘Hey, write me a presentation.’ I didn’t want that.” 

The mission: Produce two pages of well-researched notes, featuring all of the readings and sources students wanted to incorporate in their presentation. In Dr. Speigel’s view, the students succeed. 

“It was their content,” she said. “There was no learning lost there.” 

It fuels the idea that technology is only as good as the person used it – or, in this case, the person who is learning how to wield it. 

Said Dr. Speigel: “Nathan touched on a lot of the things that we've talked about this semester related to ethics: Who bears responsibility for what AI does? Whose job is it that the AI is doing? And how do we make sure the output is what we want? 

As for the future of AI and the careers which will be linked with it, Pozzuto is ready for whatever comes his way in computer science—even if ‘Plan A” doesn’t pan out. 

“I have plans B and C, and D. I think this is a good field, and I think there’s a good future there, especially in the city of Pittsburgh,” he said. “From what I’ve heard, there are a lot of people that are optimistic. If the bottom 30% of workers get cut off, I’m just going to work my hardest to not be in the bottom 30%.” 

If Dr. Speigel’s class is any indication, Elizabeth Forward students won’t have to worry about falling behind.