He played softball across the world. But Erie claims this pitcher's fondest memories.
One in a series of profiles from the Erie Times-News on the Metropolitan Erie Sports Hall of Fames’ 2023 class.
Hugh Hillhouse pitched at hundreds of venues.
His fastpitch softball career took him across the United States and the world, and in 2023, into the Metropolitan Erie Sports Hall of Fame. To Hillhouse, however, no other atmosphere matched what he experienced playing at the East 11th and Hess streets complex.
That’s where Hillhouse and generations of softball players before him played their ball in Erie, a space that, at the time, was as integral to the city’s sports scene as any.
“The crowds we got in Erie, the way the newspaper covered the game… We just didn’t know how good we had it,” said Hillhouse, 54, now a high school teacher at Northwest Pennsylvania Collegiate Academy. “I played all over the world, and Erie was just such a great place to play, and I know my brother (Bill) would say the same thing. There was nothing like playing at 11th and Hess, and I don’t say that to be politically correct — it really was special.”
Continuing a family tradition
Hillhouse was born into fast-pitch softball. His father played in Erie’s industrial league, routinely deploying Hugh and Bill Hillhouse as bat boys. They’d grow up to become quite the players themselves, but for Hugh, Erie’s Hall of Fame never crossed his mind.
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“It’s just something I never dreamed of in a thousand years,” Hugh Hillhouse said. “It was never a consideration. (Playing in Erie) was all we knew. To be recognized for playing in that atmosphere, I never expected it.”
Hillhouse’s first exposure to big-time softball came in 1985, when, at age 16, he was invited to play in a local 18-and-under tournament. Upon winning it, he and his teammates traveled to nationals in Kansas City.
From there, Hillhouse began making connections. Before his career was over, he played in New Zealand, Canada and in numerous parts of the continental U.S.
Leaving a legacy
He won American Softball Association state championships in Pennsylvania, Nebraska and New York, and pitched in multiple ISC world tournaments and ASA major championships. He and his brother won the Pioneer Days Top Invitational Tournament in Salt Lake City, Utah in 1999 — regarded as the top invitational tournament in the country — and Hugh is estimated to have thrown more than 50 no-hitters in his career.
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Hillhouse has since become a highly regarded pitching instructor. And while the lights might not shine on 11th and Hess like they once did, he is a reminder of what softball once was in Erie.
“I just got to do so many things through softball that don’t even seem possible,” said Hillhouse, who will be inducted into the Erie Hall on June 28 in a ceremony at Zem Zem Shrine Club. “Every night, the park was filled with teams and players. It was just amazing. For my brother and I, that was all we ever knew. We just did what was in front of us.”
Contact Jeff Uveino at juveino@timesnews.com. Follow him on Twitter@realjuveino.
This article originally appeared on Erie Times-News: Hillhouse's renowned softball career prompts Erie Sports Hall call
