[2] The Hardhats owner Jim DiIorio brought a challenge in federal court in an attempt to prevent splitting the young professional sport.
[8] Tensions with Stepien remained as he tried to lure talent away from the APSPL teams, notably Chuck Lazar, a football player from near-by Allegheny College who had been in-camp with the Pittsburgh Steelers and had played previously with the Hardhats.
[14] Fred Ryan hit 29 home-runs for Pittsburgh, 7th most in the NASL, and Jim Picard, Ed Zalewski, Mark Johnson and Roger Snatchko made the mid-season All-Star team.
[15][16] Across town, the Hardhats had their best season, finishing with a 44-19 (.698) record, trailing only the Kentucky Bourbons who they upset 3–2 in the playoffs to advance to their first APSPL World Series, where they were swept 3-0 by the Rochester Express.
The Hardhats moved to the Champions stadium, LaRussa Field in Lower Burrell in 1981, where they continued to play until the UPSL folded after the 1982 season, bringing an end to the professional softball era for men in the United States.