WRIGHT TWP. — The Pittston Area 8-10 softball all-stars hadn’t played a game in nearly a month. The wait was worth it Monday.
After seeing a four-run lead evaporate, Pittston Area made sure its next advantage would be too difficult to overcome. It scored seven runs in the eighth inning to defeat New York champion South Shore 11-5 in the Little League Softball 8-10 Eastern Regional tournament at Mountain Top Little League.
Pittston Area moved to the winner bracket semifinals where it will play either Maryland champion Tri-City or Delaware champion MOT at 5 p.m. Wednesday at the Mountain Top field.
Pittston Area won the District 16 title on July 5 and received a spot in Eastern Regional as the host district. So the team bypassed the Section 5 tournament where that champion received an opportunity to play for the state championship.
District 16 has hosted the Eastern Regional since 2015 with the exception of two years canceled by the COVID-19 pandemic. Throughout those years, the District 16 champion didn’t fare well against state champions from the northeast.
“If I’m not mistaken, this is the first time the host team has ever won a game,” Pittston Area manager Bill Kroski said. “I knew we had a chance to compete. We’re really excited. I think we have a chance to make some noise here.”
The eighth inning was quite noisy as Pittston Area scored seven times with two outs to take an 11-4 lead.
The eighth started with the international tiebreaker rule where the last player to get out in the seventh started the inning on second base. Ainsley Lear seemed destine to be stranded there as South Shore pitcher Daniella Cirillo recorded her 14th and 15th strikeouts.
Lydia Luvender, though, walked and Danielle Budzak followed with an infield single to score Lear for a 5-4 lead. After Sara Basile walked, Lexi Bartle’s pop just behind the pitching circle was misplayed to score another run. An error on Isabella Kroski’s flyball scored three more. She later pulled off a delayed steal of home, and Lear’s triple brought across the seventh run.
South Shore loaded the bases with no outs in the bottom of the eighth, but managed to get only one run.
Lear picked up the win in relief, striking out five and allowing two runs in 4.2 innings. Starter Ava Thomas struck out eight in 3.1 innings before being replaced after being hit on the pitching hand trying to stop a grounder up the middle.
“They did great,” Kroski said. “They battled back. They were down in counts and came back in big spots and battled back. And that’s what they’ve done all year.”
Pittston Area led 4-0 after scoring four times in the second inning. Sophia Laudato started the inning with an infield single. Kroski’s two-run double was the big hit of the frame.
Gianna Ullo was 4-for-4 for South Shore. Brooke Miriello and Sam Miriello had two RBI each.
Pittston Area 11, South Shore (N.Y.) 5, 8 inn.
Pittston Area`AB`R`H`BI
Kroski c`5`1`1`2
McAndrew ss`3`1`0`0
Lear 1b-p`5`1`2`1
Laudato lf`4`1`2`0
Thomas p-1b`4`1`0`0
Luvender 2b`3`2`1`0
Budzak 3b`2`1`1`1
Pesotini ph`2`0`0`0
Basile rf`1`1`0`0
Distasio ph`1`0`0`0
Karboski ph`1`0`0`0
Fediw cf`0`1`0`0
Bartle ph`3`1`1`0
Totals`24`11`8`4
South Shore`AB`R`H`BI
Ullo 1b`4`1`4`1
B.Miriello c`4`1`1`2
S.Miriello 2b`3`0`0`2
Cirillo p`3`0`1`0
Silecchia cf`4`0`2`0
Parlanti ss`2`0`0`0
Tronolone 3b`4`0`0`0
Maniscalco lf`4`1`1`0
Lazzara rf`0`1`0`0
Giordano rf`1`1`0`0
Totals`29`5`9`5
Pittston Area`040`000`07 — 11
South Shore`010`300`01 — 5
2B — Kroski, B.Miriello, Silecchia 2. 3B — Lear, Ullo.
Pittston Area`IP`H`R`ER`BB`SO
Thomas`3.1`5`3`3`4`8
Lear W`4.2`4`2`2`5`5
South Shore`IP`H`R`ER`BB`SO
Cirillo L`7.2`7`11`1`5`15
S.Miriello`0.1`1`0`0`1`0
LITTLE LEAGUE 8-10 SOFTBALL
EASTERN REGIONAL
(all games at Mountain Top LL)
Monday’s Results
Game 1: Cranston Western (R.I.) 13, Gorham (Maine) 3
Game 2: MOT (Del.) 4, Toms River (N.J.) 0
Game 3: Caln Twp. (Pa.) 8,.Champlain (Vt.) 0
Game 4: Pittston Area 11 South Shore (N.Y.) 5, 8 inn.
Tuesday
Game 5: Jesse Burkett (Mass.) vs. Cranston Western (R.I.), 9:30 a.m.
Game 6: Tri-City (Md.) vs. MOT (Del.), noon
Game 7: Champlain (Vt.) vs. Toms River (N.J.), 2:30 p.m.
Game 8: Gorham (Maine) vs. South Shore (N.Y.), 5 p.m.
Wednesday
Game 9: Game 7 winner vs. Game 5 loser, 9:30 p.m.
Game 10: Game 8 winner vs. Game 6 loser, noon
Game 11: Caln Twp. (Pa.) vs. Game 5 winner, 2:30 p.m.
Game 12: Pittston Area vs. Game 6 winner, 5 p.m.
Thursday
Game 13: Game 11 loser vs. Game 10 winner, 9:30 a.m.
Game 14: Game 12 loser vs. Game 9 winner, noon
Game 15: Game 11 winner vs. Game 12 winner, 2:30 p.m.
Friday
Game 16: Game 14 winner vs. Game 13 winner, 9:30 a.m.
Game 17: Game 15 loser vs. Game 16 winner, noon
Saturday
Game 18: Game 15 winner vs. Game 17 winner, 10:30 a..m.
Game 19: If necessary, 1 p.m.
