The 2022 Pittston Area Girls Softball PIAA 5A State Champions served as Grand Marshals of the 2022 Pittston Tomato Festival.
Tony Callaio | For Times Leader
The 2022 state champion softball team was honored on Aug. 16 at the conclusion of the regular board meeting. Kneeling, left to right: Marina Antal, Gabby Gorzkowski, Grace Callahan, Bella Giardina, Maura Mihalka, Kallie Booth, Taylor Baiera. Second row: Coach Jessica Parente, Abby Colleran, Julia Mehal, Natalya Soto, Tori Para, Sage Weidlich, Olivianna Venesko, Ava Callahan, Cassie Hintze, Alyvia Doran, Kim Roman. Back row: Coach Anthony Bellino, Head Coach Frank Parente, Coach Michael Callahan. Absent from photo: Gianna Adams, Skylar Borthwick and Jiana Moran.
Tony Callaio | For Times Leader
The victorious Pittston Area Patriots pose with their medals and PIAA State 5A trophy in front of the scoreboard in their defeat of Armstrong River Hawks on Thursday.
Tony Callaio | For Times Leader
PITTSTON – It didn’t take too long for Sunday Dispatch and Times Leader officials to agree on who the 2022 Person of the Year should be. After accomplishing the never done before in Greater Pittston, the Pittston Area girls softball team became the PIAA 5A State Champions on June 16, 2022, in style with an undefeated season.
Since that great day in June, the team, under the leadership of head coach Frank Parente along with assistant coaches Anthony Bellino, Michael Callahan, Kimberly Roman and Jess Parente, the coaches and team have been recognized many times over from the Pittston Area School Board to being grand marshals of the Pittston Tomato Festival in August of 2022.
The Person of the Year award is an accomplishment that should put the final exclamation mark on their championship season for the last time.
“This is awesome, what an incredible honor,” Coach Parente said. “This is just special, it’s humbling, especially to be mentioned as Person of the Year with all of the previous recipients. Anytime we can extend what we did last year and bring back the four seniors that graduated that I miss so much, is special. People love knowing we were undefeated and it’s different, you don’t see an undefeated team in sports anymore. Look at that 1972 Miami Dolphins team, that mark will never be broken, people still talk about it today, so yes, having an undefeated championship team is pretty special and this is quite an honor.”
Tori Para, now at Marywood University, a power hitter for the Patriots and a team leader said, “To be chosen as the 2022 Persons of the year means a lot. To achieve this title shows the commitment that each and every one of the girls and coaches put forward in order to achieve this end result. This past year was surreal. I couldn’t have asked for a better senior season. We accomplished it all – WVC Champions, District Champions, and State Champions yet doing it all undefeated. The community of Pittston was right behind us in support throughout our season.”
Current Pittston Area senior and top-ranked student academically in her class, Isabella Giardina, the starting second baseman, said she’s really happy for the community and how her team’s championship was so uplifting to not just Pittston Area, but Greater Pittston.
“It means a lot more to the community than I really thought it would,” Giardina said. “People will stop me and tell me they are so proud of me and we did a great thing for the community and you put us on the map. I get it, the sports accolades are a good thing but it’s really cool to see what I did for the community as a whole. I even get compliments from people from Wyoming Area. Actually, it didn’t set in yet and yeah, we won a few game but I haven’t fully understood the full impact of the championship.”
The Patriot’s number one ace, Gianna Adams, then just a sophomore for the championship game, was in her second year at that starting role. She came off of her freshmen year with tremendous anticipation of what could the following year, but could have never predicted its outcome.
“My team being chosen as the 2022 Persons of the Year is such an honor,” Adams said. “It means everything to be out on the field with girls with such amazing personalities and talents. To be able to count on someone on the field is all you can ask for, but the characters of these girls off the field makes them true people of the year. This past year has been so rewarding, both personally and within our community. I’m just so glad our team can celebrate an honor like this with each other and our graduated players.”
Para said her 2022 team had some key moments during the season to launch them to the championship game and is thankful for her teammates and coaching staff for the team’s preparation going into the 2022 season.
“It all started really in the off season,” Para added. “After a tough loss the previous year to West Scranton, the momentum from our off season practices had spread rapidly to our spring season. All of the girls wanted it and so did the coaches. We were all prepared for any situation we would be put in when it was game time. We had long and hard practices that were executed.”
