Penn State-Bound South Jersey Softball Star With Baseball Background Displays Philly Flair

Eastern High School junior Lily Kwis is easy to pick out on a softball field, and it isn't just because she batted .603 as a sophomore while showing off a quick glove and powerful arm at shortstop. There's also that unmistakable headband featuring the eyes of the Phillie Phanatic, a fixture in just about every photograph of Kwis wearing her softball uniform.

It's a fun expression of her Philadelphia sports loyalties, one that has become part of her identity as a player and a reminder of where she's from.

The city of brotherly love’s Citizens Bank Ballpark is located 14.5 northwest of South Jersey’s Eastern High School. And Kwis loves her Phillies.

“I’ve been wearing the headband ever since I started playing baseball at age five, and even softball, which I started playing when I was 12,” Kwis says. “I just wanted to take a little bit of Philly with me wherever I go. I get to a bunch of Phillies game every season, my family bleeds Philly. We’ve always been behind them through all of their ups and downs.”

In September Kwis will be taking that Philadelphia pride, her signature headband and considerable softball talent to Penn State, recently announcing her decision on Instagram with a photo of herself wearing a Nittany Lions uniform. The headband, of course, was in place across her forehead.

I am beyond excited to announce my commitment to continue my academic and athletic career at Penn State University! 🔵🦁

My dream has always been to play ball at a high level, whether it was baseball or softball, and I’m so excited to see that dream become a reality.

First,… pic.twitter.com/WFOEUr1Z7z
— Lily Kwis (@LilyKwis2028) October 6, 2026

Pride in Representing Eastern High School

Kwis has plenty to look forward to at Penn State, but her commitment hasn't changed the importance she places on representing Eastern. The Vikings have gone 11-29 over the past two seasons, a challenging stretch for a program that has a winning tradition, yet Kwis recognizes the value of competing for her high school.

Not surprisingly for a player of her talent, Kwis had a number of private schools, in the region and throughout the state, she could have transferred to. Instead, Kwis has refreshingly remained loyal to her hometown high school.

“I didn’t want to go to a private school. I just wanted to stay local to my family where I can easily commute to school and stay and compete with my friends,” she said. “I had a chance to transfer to many different schools but I wanted to stay with my local team and help them.

Lily Kwis — YSPN Youth Sports Photography Network

“I try to help out my team and lift everybody up and to help each girl love the sport as much as I do,” she continued. “I think that at Eastern we can all do one percent better and try our hardest to make it to the playoffs and eventually be the best in our division.”

Top High School Moment So Far

Her best high school memory to date, she says, was hitting a home run against the best pitcher in the Olympic Conference as a sophomore last season.

“It was senior night and everybody thought we were going to lose and we did end up losing the game,” she recalled. “But I told my team, ‘hey, don’t give up and that we’ve got this’. And I hit the home run off of Callie Taylor of Cherokee, the top team in our conference. She is now a freshman pitcher at LIU (Long Island University) and everybody on our team was terrified of her,” she added with a laugh.

“I just tried to impress to my teammates that she was not somebody who could not be hit,” Kwis continued. “I mean, she liked no-hit everybody, she’s really good, don’t get me wrong, but she’s hittable. Though we lost the game (by a 6-3 margin), we were definitely more competitive than in our previous game against them in a game where I think we got no-hit. But we got a couple runs on the board this time so at least it was not a complete blowout.”

Got Her Start in Baseball, Which She Still Plays

Prior to her prodigious softball career, the now 16-year old Kwis competed with and against boys in baseball until the age of 12.

For years she competed with Baseball for All, an organization that creates opportunities for girls to compete in a sport traditionally dominated by boys. She still plays for the Philadelphia Liberty, a travel club that promotes baseball development for girls ages 8 through 18.

In 2022 at 12 years old, Kwis traveled to Costa Rica as part of the inaugural Baseball for All Ambassadors Program. As a select U.S. girls' youth baseball player, her all-girls team competed against all-boys teams from Panama, Mexico, Venezuela, the Dominican Republic, Nicaragua, and Costa Rica in the coed Pony League International Tournament, where she “built leadership skills and shared an incredible cultural exchange.”

How competitive? Let Kwis tell the story.

“One time I pitched against these 6-foot tall, 200-pound Dominican guys who were supposedly 12 years old,” she recalls with a laugh. “And people behind the backstop were yelling at me in Spanish, and blowing vuvuzelas. I just had to block everything out. It was just me and the catcher and the funniest story was I struck out this 6-foot tall Dominican guy, getting him to swing and miss at fastball right down the middle.”

How did competing against boys aid Kwis in her softball development?

“Playing baseball against boys taught me to compete, work hard, and believe in myself,” she said. “I learned that if I wanted to get better I had to put in the work. I also hoped that by playing baseball I can show other girls that they belong on the field too and encouraged them to try to do something new.”

One thing won't change when she heads off to Penn State in the fall of 2028. When she swaps her cardinal and navy blue Viking uniform for Nittany Lion blue and white, Kwis has every intention of keeping her trademark Phillie Phanatic head band, just that little bit of Philadelphia flair.

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