Pittston Area teammates greet Tori Para (13) as she’s about to pounce on home plate after hitting a 2-run homer in the victory over South Western in PIAA States playoff action at home. Pittston Area defeated South Western 13-0 in a shortened 10-run rule game on Monday.
Tony Callaio | For Times Leader
Patriots trounce South Western in first round of PIAA playoffs
Pittston Area centerfielder Kallie Booth makes contact grabbing two RBI off of her hit.
Tony Callaio | For Times Leader
The Patriots’ Marina Antal connects for a base hit in PIAA States playoff action at Hughestown on Monday.
Tony Callaio | For Times Leader
Sage Weidlich (2) fights off the sun and she runs down a pop fly from South Western’s Morgan Stalnecker.
Tony Callaio | For Times Leader
Pittston Area’s Gianna Adams pitched a shortened 10-run-rule game against opponent South Western when Adams pitched a 13-0 shut out to advance in States 5A division.
Tony Callaio | For Times Leader
HUGHESTOWN — Pittston Area kicked off its state tournament run with authority on Monday, with a great pitching performance from Patriots ace Gianna Adams complemented by an offensive explosion in a 13-0 victory in five innings over South Western in the first round of the PIAA Class 5A softball tournament.
The Patriots put up a full games’ worth of numbers in just four turns at the plate: 11 hits, RBI from eight different batters and runs scored by eight different runners.
After running through some stiff competition in their run to a District 2 crown, the Patriots looked right at home on the state tournament stage.
“I don’t think there’s a team playing in any classification that’s going to see three pitchers like the ones we saw in the district [tournament],” said Pittston Area Head Coach Frank Parente after the game. “The level’s going to be getting better and better, we’re just so lucky that we’re battle-tested.”
The first rumblings of the offensive outburst soon to come for Pittston Area came with the very first batter the Patriots sent to the plate, as Kallie Booth led off the home half of the first with a triple into the left-center gap.
Booth was ultimately left on base after South Western pitcher Emalee Reed was able to get the next three outs, but the Patriots wouldn’t have to wait long to crack the game open.
In the next inning, the first four Patriot batters reached base on a walk and three singles, and all four runners would come around to score.
It was Adams, who had navigated a clean first inning and a tricky second one on the mound, who drove in the first run for Pittston Area on a RBI single, scoring Ava Callahan.
Before the final out of the inning was recorded, six runs had scored for the Patriots, the last two coming on a two-run home run to center field by Tori Para, who led Pittston Area with three RBI total on the day.
“It’s a really good feeling after coming out of a slump from the West Scranton game,” Para said. “I had a really good emotion coming into this game, and I just wanted to get up to the plate and do my job and help out my pitcher.”
The six-run cushion certainly did help Adams, who grew stronger and stingier on the mound as the game wore on. After leaving two runners stranded in scoring position in the top of the second inning, Adams only allowed two baserunners total over the last three innings, with neither runner advancing past first base.
And if a six-run lead weren’t enough, Pittston Area went back out in the third inning and put up another crooked number, pushing seven more runs across.
In that inning, the first seven Patriot batters reached base and all came around to score. Reed was lifted from the game and replaced with Ryleigh Sprague, who had been playing second base for South Western.
She initally didn’t have much better luck than Reed, but after taking a nasty liner off the thigh from Para, Sprague was able to stay in the game and make it out of the inning, coming back out for the fourth inning to set the Patriots down in order.
But the damage had been done, and with the Mustangs unable to muster up any sustained offense against Adams, the mercy rule went into effect after the top of the fifth and South Western’s season came to an end.
Coming off a no-hitter in the district championship win over West Scranton, Adams allowed just three hits through five innings of work in another shutout win.
The sophomore struck out seven batters (one would end up reaching on a dropped third strike, one of the runners left stranded in the second inning) and didn’t issue a single walk.
“We plan on getting better every game,” Adams said, praising her teammates after the victory. “It’s so comforting having the girls in the lineup doing great and the girls in the field making plays.”
Next up for the Patriots will be a date with the defending 5A state champions from Lampeter-Strasburg High School, who entered the state tournament as the fifth and final team advancing out of District 3 but knocked off District 1 champ West Chester Rustin in their first-round matchup on Monday.
PIAA Class 5A First Round
Pittston Area 13, South Western 0 (5 inn.)
South Western`AB`R`H`BI
Stalnecker cf 3`0`1`0
Sprague 2b-p 2`0`0`0
Proepper 3b 2`0`0`0
Reed p 2`0`1`0
Crowl ss 2`0`1`0
Kontz dp 1`0`0`0
Baney ph 1`0`0`0
Grempler rf 2`0`0`0
Hickman c 2`0`0`0
Hershey 1b 2`0`0`0
Totals 19`0`3`0
Pittston Area AB`R`H`BI
Booth rf 3`2`2`2
Weidlich cf 3`1`0`1
Para ss 3`1`2`3
Giardina 2b 3`0`0`1
Callahan c 2`2`1`1
Adams p 2`2`2`1
Moran ph 1`0`0`0
Antal dp 3`2`2`0
Borthwick 3b 2`2`1`2
Mihalka 2`1`1`1
Totals 24`13`11`12
South Western`000`00 — 0
Pittston Area`067`0x — 13
2B — Crowl. 3B — Booth. HR — Para.
South Western`IP`H`R`ER`BB`SO
Reed L`2`8`10`8`2`0
Sprague`2`3`3`3`0`1
Pittston Area`IP`H`R`ER`BB`SO
Adams W`5`3`0`0`0`7
