Pittston Area baseball coach Paul Zaffuto expects “some growing pains,” but he also anticipates his team again being ready to compete for a district championship come May.
The Patriots suffered significant graduation losses from a team that produced a perfect regular season and a pair of titles in 2025, but they also return some key players, including National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I commits Elijah Barr and Beau Widdick.
Barr is headed to the University of Pittsburgh, while Widdick, who was a second-team, all-state choice as a utility player according to the Pennsylvania Baseball Coaches Association, is headed to the University of Massachusetts. Both were Times Leader Wyoming Valley Conference all-stars last season, along with first-team, all-stater Silvio Giardina, who is now at Lehigh, and catcher Jake Aftewicz, who is playing at Kutztown University.
Both Barr and Widdick will contribute on the mound and at the plate.
The Patriots won WVC Division 1 and District 2 Class 5A titles on the way to their 22-1 finish.
Barr was 5-0 and went 4-for-4 on save opportunities last season while posting a 1.72 earned run average. Also a first baseman, he batted .382 with 19 runs and 15 RBI in 23 games.
Widdick, who joined Giardina in the middle infield, led the team in batting average (.438), doubles (10), and RBI (30). He was also 3-0 on the mound with a 2.92 ERA.
Nick Innamorati, who can play middle infield or outfield, also returns after batting .375 with 16 RBI.
Most of the rest of the lineup will be new, although Jacoby Harnen, Kellen Kroski, Joe Bradley, Zack Budzack, and Alex Rosencrance did pick up some experience on the championship team. Senior Brady Baldrica had a win and two saves in his three pitching appearances.
Softball
Pittston Area returns an experienced lineup it hopes will help improve upon last season’s 7-5 WVC Division 1 and 11-9 overall records.
“We have a strong group of returning starters that I will be relying on to lead us on and off the field,” coach Frank Parente said.
Senior pitcher Samantha Herbert, a returning Times Leader All-WVC selection, leads that group.
Herbert drove in a team-high 35 runs while batting .382 with 14 extra-base hits last season. She also had 82 strikeouts as a pitcher.
Senior pitcher Taylor Stephenson, junior first baseman Val Colon, senior first baseman Annabelle Viglione, sophomore second baseman Kelcey Podwika, senior shortstop Lili Hintze, junior third baseman Julia Long, senior left fielder Mikaila Sarf, junior center fielder Gabby Roman, junior right fielder Jillian Haas, and senior catcher Julianna Cocco all return.
Hintze led the team with 29 runs scored and was second in batting average at .406. Roman scored 28 runs and drove in 20. Haas and Long ranked 1-2 on the team in doubles with eight and seven.
