EDWARDSVILLE — With Gianna Adams in her usual excellent form in the circle, Pittston Area just needed the bats to get going a bit in Tuesday’s District 2-4 Class 5A Subregional softball championship.
After four scoreless innings, Lili Hintze answered the call.
Hintze’s two-out double to the left-field fence broke a scoreless tie and helped bring the district championship back to Pittston Area as the Lady Patriots beat Abington Heights 3-0 at Wilkes University.
“I’m always ready to talk about Lili Hintze. … She’s had an unbelievable season; she’s an unbelievable player,” Pittston Area coach Frank Parente said. “She’s our energy, she brings it all the time in practice and she’s getting some great at-bats.”
The sophomore center fielder stepped to the plate with two outs in the bottom of the fifth and a runner on first. Up to this point, the Patriots had just one hit — a Marina Antal base hit way back in the first inning.
Hintze made it two hits for the Patriots in loud fashion, scorching a ball over the head of the Abington Heights left fielder and to the wall.
“It was a low pitch in a good spot,” Hintze said. “I was just looking to swing the bat hard and make contact, and that’s what I did.”
Julia Long was running all the way and scored from first to give Pittston Area that crucial first run in a game where it felt like one run might be enough to get the job done.
Pittston Area added one more run in the fifth and another in the sixth, finally able to break through against Abington Heights ace Lauren Stalica after the first four-plus innings featured nothing but zeroes from Stalica and Adams.
A year after Abington Heights knocked Adams and the Lady Patriots out in the district title game, Adams wouldn’t be denied a second time.
The senior allowed just one hit over seven innings, striking out 15 Comets to earn the win.
“Last year, it was heartbreaking when we lost,” Adams said. “It feels so great to be back on this field, and to bring home the gold this time.”
Adams was also able to help her own cause at the plate, coming up in the leadoff spot right after Hintze’s RBI double gave the Patriots a 1-0 lead.
Adams hit a grounder that Abington Heights second baseman Lindsey Tasker snared on a dive, but the Comets couldn’t get Adams at first. Meanwhile, Hintze never stopped running after contact, coming around from second base to make it a 2-0 lead.
Tori Stephenson laced a double down the right-field line in the sixth inning to add another insurance run for the Patriots, making it a 3-0 lead heading into the final inning.
A three-run lead might as well be 300 against Adams, who finished the game with eight strikeouts of the final 10 batters she faced.
Her 15th strikeout of the game, ringing up Riley Knott, brought her teammates pouring into the infield to celebrate as Pittston Area found themselves once again back on top in District 2.
“This is who she is, this is where she thrives,” Parente said of Adams. “There’s nobody you want out there more than Gianna.”
It’s the second District 2 title in three years for the Lady Patriots, who went on to win the Class 5A state title in 2022 after conquering the field in District 2.
Pittston Area (18-1) will get its state tournament started Monday at home against District 12 runner-up Little Flower Catholic from Philadelphia (6-8) at 4 p.m.