Pittston Area’s Kallie Booth slides under the tag by Wyoming Valley West catcher Aubrey Duesler to score the first run of the game in the first inning Tuesday.
Tony Callaio | For Times Leader
Pittston Area starter Tori Para delivers a pitch in the first inning against Wyoming Valley West in a District 2/4 Class 5A quarterfinal game Tuesday.
Tony Callaio | For Times Leader
Pittston Area’s Tori Para breaks up a double play attempt by Wyoming Valley West’s second baseman Maddie Austra in the sixth inning Tuesday.
Tony Callaio | For Times Leader
Wyoming Valley West’s Sara Hoskins attempts to beat out the throw at first as Pittston Area’s Bernadette Liebeck stretches for the out.
Tony Callaio | For Times Leader
Pittston Area’s Tiara George slides safely into third base as Wyoming Valley West’s Samantha Adamski goes for the tag.
Tony Callaio | For Times Leader
HUGHESTOWN — The big inning. Pittston Area got it Tuesday. Wyoming Valley West, despite a few chances, never did.
That inning, when Pittston Area scored four times, proved to be the difference as the Patriots defeated Valley West 8-4 in a District 2/4 Class 5A softball quarterfinal game.
Second-seeded Pittston Area (14-3) will host third-seeded West Scranton (10-3) at 4:30 p.m. Thursday in the semifinals. Seventh-seeded Valley West ended its season at 5-12.
Pittston Area handled Valley West 5-0 and 16-6 during the Wyoming Valley Conference season, but Tuesday was different. The Patriots clung to a 3-2 lead going into the bottom of the fourth, when they finally were able to get a bit of a cushion.
Skylar Borthwick’s two-run single up the middle highlighted the four-run outburst that gave Pittston Area a 7-2 lead. The other two runs scored prior when Ava Callahan walked and Nikki Dennis was plunked with a pitch — both with the bases loaded. All four runs came with two outs.
“That was the key,” Pittston Area coach Frank Parente said. “Skylar had a great at-bat. All the girls battled that inning, but with Skylar coming up and driving in those two runs was huge.”
It was the type of hit Valley West sought all game but was unable to attain.
The Spartans scored two runs in the second, the first coming on an RBI single by Sam Pepe. Kiley Hardin and Aubrey Duesler followed with singles to load the bases. Pepe eventually scored on a wild pitch, but the other two ended up stranded.
Valley West loaded the bases again in the fourth, yet its only run came when Duesler scored on a wild pitch.
It was more of the same in the fifth. Despite getting a double from Pepe and singles from Hardin and Maddy Austra, only one run crossed the plate.
The Spartans’ final at-bats epitomized their afternoon. They loaded the bases and with two outs and Pepe fouled off three consecutive pitches. She then hit a liner that Pittston Area reliever Gianna Adams knocked down and threw to first to end the game.
“Every time they were down, they kept fighting to come back,” Valley West coach Jess Ras said. “You can’t teach that. They fought to the end.”
Pittston Area benefited from a couple of errors to score in the first. RBI singles by Kallie Booth and Tori Para brought in runs in the second inning. The Patriots’ final run came in the sixth on an RBI single by Dennis.
NOTE: Abington Heights will host North Pocono in the other semifinal on Thursday.
Pittston Area and Abington Heights have met every season for the D2-5A title — except last year when there were no spring sports because of the COVID-19 pandemic — since the PIAA went to six classifications in 2017.
District 2/4 Class 5A Quarterfinals
Pittston Area 8, Wyoming Valley West 4
WVW`AB`R`H`BI
DeCosmo ss`3`0`0`0
K.Austra ph`1`0`0`0
Hoskins p`4`0`1`0
Adamski 3b`3`0`1`0
Hand dp`2`0`1`0
M.Austra 2b`4`2`1`0
Peters rf`4`0`1`0
Pepe 1b`4`1`2`1
Hardin lf`3`0`2`1
Duesler c`2`1`1`0
May cf/fx`0`0`0`0
Totals`30`4`10`2
Pittston Area`AB`R`H`BI
Booth rf`4`2`2`1
Weidlich cf`4`1`1`0
Para p-ss`3`1`3`1
Giardina lf`4`1`0`0
Callahan c`3`0`0`1
Moran cr`0`1`0`0
Dennis dp`3`0`2`2
Borthwick 3b`3`1`1`2
Lieback 1b`3`0`0`0
George ss`3`1`1`0
Mihalka 2b/fx`0`0`0`0
Adams p`0`0`0`0
Totals`30`8`10`7
Valley West`020`011`0 — 4
Pittston Area`120`401`x — 8
2B — Pepe.
WVW`IP`H`R`ER`BB`SO
Hoskins L`6.0`10`8`5`3`5
Pittston Area`IP`H`R`ER`BB`SO
Para W`5.2`8`4`2`3`4
Adams S`1.1`2`0`0`0`3
