Pittston Area starting pitcher Gianna Adams had a strong outing against Dallas on Tuesday, throwing a one-hitter with 14 strikeouts.
Tony Callaio | For Times Leader
Dallas second baseman Jordan Porasky gets to first base before Pittston Area’s Kallie Booth (1) for the forceout in a bunt attempt.
Tony Callaio | For Times Leader
Pittston Area third baseman Skylar Borthwick tags out Sophia Maier in the second inning Tuesday.
Tony Callaio | For Times Leader
Pittston Area’s Tori Parra rips a single against Dallas on Tuesday.
Tony Callaio | For Times Leader
Home plate umpire Lou Lussi calls Pittston Area’s Skylar Borthwick safe as she slide under the tag at third base.
Tony Callaio | For Times Leader
Pittston Area second baseman Bella Giardina tosses to first basemen Taylor Baiera (25) to get out Dallas’ Victoria Spaciano.
Tony Callaio | For Times Leader
DALLAS TWP. — First the good news for Pittston Area softball.
The Patriots defeated Dallas 10-0 Tuesday to finish the regular season unbeaten. No other softball team in District 2 can make that boast heading into next week’s district playoffs.
“I’m so proud of them,” Pittston Area coach Frank Parente said. “I told them we want to keep going until they tell us we can’t play anymore, but no one can take that away from them. I believe that’s the first time for the school, but I’m not positive the first time a team ever finished undefeated.”
And those district playoffs bring the bad news. Pittston Area (18-0) is in the District 2/4 Class 5A playoffs along with West Scranton (16-1) and Abington Heights (14-2). A strong argument could be made any of those three teams would in favored in the five other classifications.
Plus, it doesn’t end there. Seven of the eight D2/4-5A teams have won at least 10 games. The other five classifications have a total of nine teams with at least 10 victories. So the Wyoming Valley Conference Division 1 champs have a tough road ahead.
“5A is a nightmare, just an absolute nightmare,” Parente said. “We’re going to be ready, but I know they’re going to be ready, too. We’re looking forward to it, we really are. We’re looking forward to it.”
Back to the good news.
“I think I knew in the beginning of the season that we would have a tremendous record,” Pittston Area senior center fielder Sage Weidlich said. “And now that we are undefeated, it’s like ‘Wow.’ I believed in this team that we would have an undefeated record.”
Weidlich went 3-for-4 with three doubles and three RBI on Tuesday. Her second double was part of a six-run fifth inning where Pittston Area busted open the game and left little doubt of a perfect regular season.
Weidlich’s double knocked in the final two runs of the inning to give Pittston Area a 9-0 lead. Skylar Borthwick had a two-run single and Gianna Adams and Kallie Booth each had an RBI single. Bella Giardina had a double as the Patriots grouped eight of their 17 hits in the inning.
Based on how Adams was pitching, the 3-0 lead gained in the third inning appeared to be enough. She struck out 14 and allowed one hit — a double to Sophia Maier in the second inning. Maier hit to the right-center gap was the only ball Dallas managed to get out of the infield.
After Maier’s double, Adams retired 17 in a row until issuing consecutive walks with one out in the seventh. By then, Pittston Area was up 10-0 as Weidlich plated a run in the top of the inning with a double.
Pittston Area scored three times in the third as Weidlich’s first double was followed by consecutive singles by Tori Para, Giardina and Ava Callahan.
Dallas finished the regular season at 7-9 as games this week with Old Forge and Mid Valley were canceled to allow those teams to finish their Lackawanna League schedules. The Mountaineers appear locked into the third seed in the D2-4A playoffs.
“We just got to play better defense,” Dallas coach Joyce Tinner said. “We make mistakes and it’s not just one mistake, it just multiplies. It’s like contagious.”
Crestwood 13, Wilkes-Barre Area 4
The Comets pounded out 19 hits and scored 13 runs to defeat the host Wolfpack.
Victoria Butler went 2-for-5 at the plate for Crestwood, clubbing a double and a home run and driving in four runs. Allison Babula was 4-for-4 with three runs scored and two RBI.
Jessica Koptcho picked up the win on the mound. She went seven innings allowing four earned runs on six hits and five walks while striking out eight.
Royals take two
Jenna Santuk picked up a pair of victories on the mound as Holy Redeemer swept a doubleheader from MMI Prep, winning the first game 22-0 in three innings and the second 14-0 in five innings..
In the first game Santuk went three innings, allowing just one hit and walk while striking out two.
Akira Kopec, Payton Parker and Santuk all drove in three runs in the victory.
In the second game, Santuk went four innings, allowing just one hit while walking one and striking out six. Abby Williams picthed the final inning, allowing just a walk while striking out two.
Santuk also starred at the plate in the second game. She went 3-for-3 with a double and a home run while driving in four runs and scoring three.
Pittston Area 10, Dallas 0
Pittston Area`AB`R`H`BI
Booth cf`5`1`1`1
Weidlich cf`4`1`3`3
Para ss`5`1`3`1
Giardina 2b`4`2`3`0
Callahan c`4`0`2`0
Antal dp`3`0`0`0
Moran cr-ph`1`1`0`0
Borthwick 3b`4`1`2`2
Mikala lf`4`1`1`0
Adams p`2`0`1`1
Hintze cr-ph`1`2`1`0
Baiera 1b`0`0`0`0
Totals`37`10`17`8
Dallas`AB`R`H`BI
Lombardo cf`3`0`0`0
Spaciano ss`3`0`0`0
Barrouk p`2`0`0`0
Porasky 2b`2`0`0`0
Mair c`3`0`1`0
Comitz 1b`2`0`0`0
Atherholt 3b`2`0`0`0
Nichols dp`0`0`0`0
Sakulich dp`2`0`0`0
Smacchi rf`2`0`0`0
Yoder 2b`0`0`0`0
Totals`21`0`1`0
Pittston Area`003`060`1 — 10
Dallas`000`000`0 — 0
2B — Weidlich 3, Giardina, Maier.
Pittston Area`IP`H`R`ER`BB`SO
Adams W`7`1`0`0`2`14
Dallas`IP`H`R`ER`BB`SO
Barrouk L`7`17`10`9`0`7
Crestwood 13, Wilkes-Barre Area 4
Crestwood`ab`r`h`bi
Babula ss`4`3`4`2
Aton c`5`2`2`0
Koptcho p`5`2`1`0
Butler 3b`5`2`2`4
Pollock lf`5`1`1`1
Kalinowski 2b`5`1`5`2
Amend rf`4`1`3`0
Mills rf`1`0`0`0
Wisniewski 1b`4`1`1`1
Niznik cf`3`0`0`0
Totals`41`13`19`10
Wilkes-Barre Area`ab`r`h`bi
Eddy 3b`2`0`0`0
Martin 3b`2`0`0`0
Rhodes ss`3`1`0`0
Kasper rf`4`0`2`0
Keathing cf`4`1`2`0
Walker`2`2`0`0
Mazurek p`1`0`1`2
Davies c`3`0`1`1
Sekelsky lf`2`0`0`0
Ryman 2b`3`0`0`0
Totals`26`4`6`3
Crestwood`003`413`2`–13
WBA`020`001`1`–4
2B – Butler, Pollock. 3B – Babula, Kasper. HR – Butler.
Crestwood`IP`H`R`ER`BB`SO
Koptcho W`7`6`4`4`5`8
WBA`IP`H`R`ER`BB`SO
Mazurek L`7`19`13`9`1`9
Holy Redeemer 22, MMI 0 (Game 1)
Holy Redeemer`ab`r`h`bi
K.Santuk`3`4`2`1
Whitman`4`2`2`2
Kopec`3`4`2`3
J.Santuk`4`4`4`3
Gryboski`3`2`1`1
Carter`1`1`0`0
Parker`4`1`3`3
Paulukonis`4`1`2`2
McIngvale`2`1`0`0
Rosenko`0`0`0`0
Williams`3`2`2`2
Totals`31`22`18`17
MMI`ab`r`h`bi
Karlick`2`0`0`0
Warner`2`0`1`0
Winter`2`0`0`0
M.VanDenBerg`0`0`0`0
Galada`0`0`0`0
Allen`0`0`0`0
Loss`1`0`0`0
Tavaris`1`0`0`0
L.VanDenBerg`1`0`0`0
Totals`9`0`1`0
Holy Redeemer` ` `44(14) — 22
MMI Prep` ` `000`–0
2B – J.Santuk, Whitman, Parker 2, K.Santuk. 3B – J.Santuk.
Holy Redeemer`IP`H`R`ER`BB`SO
J.Santuk W`3`1`0`0`1`2
MMI Prep`IP`H`R`ER`BB`SO
Winter L`3`18`22`3`2`5
Holy Redeemer 14, MMI Prep 0 (Game 2)
MMI`ab`r`h`bi
Karlick`2`0`1`0
Warner`1`0`0`0
Winter`2`0`0`0
M.VanDenBerg`2`0`0`0
Galada`2`0`0`0
Allen`1`0`0`0
Loss`2`0`0`0
Hoaxa`2`0`0`0
Borchik`1`0`0`0
Totals`15`0`1`0
Holy Redeemer`ab`r`h`bi
K.Santuk`3`1`1`2
Whitman`4`2`2`0
Kopec`3`1`0`0
J.Santuk`3`3`3`4
Carter`3`2`0`0
Parker`1`1`0`0
Rosenko`1`1`1`1
Paulukonis`3`1`3`3
McIngvale`3`1`0`0
Williams`3`1`2`0
Totals`27`14`12`10
2B – J.Santuk, Paulukonis, K.Santuk, Williams. HR – J.Santuk.
MMI Prep` `000`00 — 0
Holy Redeemer` `01(13)`0x — 14
MMI`IP`H`R`ER`BB`SO
Karlick L`4`12`14`3`3`1
Holy Redeemer`IP`H`R`ER`BB`SO
J.Santuk W`4`1`0`0`1`6
Williams`1`0`0`0`1`2
