Pittston Area Softball: Lady Patriots settle for silver in second state final appearance

Pittston Area’s second trip in three years to Penn State for the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association Softball Championships ended with the Patriots settling for a silver medal.

The Lady Patriots finished 22-2 in a season in which their only two losses came by a single run in an extra inning in the final game of the regular season and last game of the postseason. Along the way, they won Wyoming Valley Conference Division 1 and District 2-4 Class 5A Subregional titles.

Pittston Area won the state title in 2022 to cap a perfect season.

Thomas Jefferson 2, Pittston Area 1

STATE COLLEGE — Pittston Area’s method to victory in close games all season was twofold.

Pitching ace Gianna Adams would keep opposing hitters at bay while the offense found ways to scratch out just enough runs.

Only the first half of the formula worked in Thursday’s PIAA Class 5A softball championship game against Thomas Jefferson. The Patriots had opportunities to take the lead in the sixth, seventh and eighth innings, but failed. Jefferson then finally pushed a run across in the eighth for the win.

Jefferson, which reached the state tournament as the District 7 runner-up, finished 16-8 and won its first state title.

“You have to give her credit,” Pittston Area coach Frank Parente said of Jefferson pitcher Aubrey Shaffer. “For a freshman to come in in a state final and pitch like she did. We struggled. We struggled offensively.”

Adams finished with 14 strikeouts. She strung together six consecutive strikeouts after giving up a run in the first inning, then kept the game tied by working out of a bases-loaded jam in the fifth.

The Patriots couldn’t escape another bases-loaded situation in the eighth. Morgan Alisesky led off by rolling a single through the left side of the infield. She stole second and Alayna Grese was then intentionally walked. Both moved up a base on a passed ball, and Alison Chalovich was intentionally walked to create a force play at home.

Taylor Karpac then delivered an RBI single to left to send the Jaguars back to Pittsburgh as state champions.

Pittston Area got singles from Adams and Julia Mehal in the sixth but couldn’t snap a 1-1 tie. The Patriots loaded the bases with two outs in the seventh, but a foul pop ended the threat.

Then in the eighth, a walk to Gabby Gorzkowski and a single by Tori Stephenson put runners on the corners with two outs. Again, Pittston Area couldn’t push a run across.

Pittston Area scored its only run in the third when Julia Long doubled and scored on Sam Herbert’s single to tie the score 1-1.

Jefferson’s Olivia Stock opened the game with a line triple to center. She scored on a sacrifice fly by Drexel recruit Zoe Krizan.

“I’m originally from Old Forge and I knew the pitcher was getting a lot of press because when I go back to visit the news stations are giving her a lot of hype and she is an incredible pitcher,” Jefferson coach Heidi Karcher said. “But I didn’t want to stand in the way of the girls because we’ve faced very good pitchers our in western PA and knew we had the capability to put the bat on the ball.”

Adams surrendered a pair of singles to start the second and then allowed two hits from the third through seventh innings.

“It’s just an adjustment,” Adams said. “Getting ready, getting more comfortable during the game and picking each other up when we’re down. Little mistakes happen, but overall I think we all settled in pretty nicely.”

Pittston Area stranded 10 runners, including six in scoring position.

The Lady Patriots had seven hits, one each by seven players.

Shaffer struck out 10 and walked four.

Pittston Area 2, South Western 0

PINE GROVE — Excellence has become the norm for Gianna Adams, so much so that Pittston Area’s senior ace didn’t even realize until after Monday’s game that she had added another no-hitter to her long, decorated resume.

But with a trip to the state title game on the line, against a loaded South Western lineup, Adams did exactly that — no hits, just a handful of walks, and 10 strikeouts to pitch her Patriots back to Penn State.

Pittston Area punched its ticket to the Class 5A state championship with the victory over District 3 champion South Western at Pine Grove High School, handing the Mustangs from York County their first and only loss of the year in the process.

Critical to the success of Adams, and Pittston Area’s success as a whole, was a great defensive effort by the Patriots, with several key plays made around the diamond to preserve the no-hitter and keep South Western contained in a close game.

The loudest of those plays came in the fifth inning, with the Patriots leading 2-0. Remi Yates led off the inning for the Mustangs with a walk, and moved to second on a sacrifice bunt.

With one out, Riley Crowl roped one-out drive to right field, a run-scoring double for sure — if not for a fantastic catch by Gabby Roman, making the over-the-shoulder grab and having the presence of mind to keep the runner from even advancing to third, let alone scoring.

“You just have to turn and burn, and run. … That’s what I did,” Roman said. “I kind of read it wrong, I ran in and then I sprinted back.”

The defensive effort looked even more impressive when compared to South Western, which made six errors that allowed both Pittston Area runs to score off of Mustangs pitcher Jayda Koontz.

Both of those runs were scored by freshman second baseman Julia Long, one in the third inning and one in the fifth.

In the third, Long reached on an error by the South Western second baseman, was moved to second on a sacrifice bunt from Lili Hintze and scored when a hard-hit grounder from Adams got through the legs of Mustangs first baseman Kelsey Smith.

Long reached again to lead off the fifth inning on another South Western error, and scored all the way from first after a bad throw sailed past Smith and into right field.

“I just wanted to make contact, make sure that the ball goes into play,” Long said. “ … They may make mistakes, you never know.”

The Patriots only had five hits on the day — including two each from Hintze and Gabby Gorzkowski — but took advantage of the South Western miscues to full effect.

“If you put the ball in play, they have to make the plays,” Pittston Area head coach Frank Parente said. “I was proud of the girls putting the ball in play so much today.”

The second run came in after a fourth inning that saw South Western load the bases on three walks with just one out, as Adams’ command seemed to get a bit shaky on her.

After a rare mound visit from Parente, Adams got right back to work. She stranded all three runners with a strikeout and a flyout to center.

In total, Adams issued a season-high five free passes — the only way Mustang hitters could find their way aboard.

“Gianna wasn’t her best today, that’s how special she is,” Parente said. “She threw a no-hitter in the state semifinal, and she didn’t have her best stuff.

“… The kid is amazing.”