The victorious Pittston Area Patriots pose with their medals and PIAA Class 5A trophy in front of the scoreboard at Penn State after beating Armstrong for the crown on Thursday.
Tony Callaio | For Times Leader
Pittston Area softball players celebrate with the state championship trophy — the first won by the school in any team sport — after defeating Armstrong in Thursday’s PIAA Class 5A finals at Penn State.
Tony Callaio | For Times Leader
Patriots pitcher Gianna Adams receives her state gold medal from coach Frank Parente after she threw a two-hit shutout to win Thursday’s state title game.
Tony Callaio | For Times Leader
Outfielder Sage Weidlich was the first off the bus with the state trophy at Pittston Area Primary Center in Hughestown, as a crowd awaited to celebrate the Patriots’ title on Thursday night.
Fred Adams | For Times Leader
STATE COLLEGE — There were times in Thursday’s PIAA Class 5A softball state championship game when Pittston Area pitcher Gianna Adams simply fired the ball past Armstrong hitters.
At other times, Adams enticed the River Hawks batters into doing the work, fooling them into swinging through pitches that were still making their way to home plate at Penn State’s Beard Field.
Mixing as many as six different pitches and too many speed variations for Armstrong to ever solve, Adams wrapped up a splendid postseason by striking out 10 in a two-hit shutout as Pittston Area captured the state title with a 4-0 victory.
“I think as the game went on, our motivation and the drive really kicked in the adrenaline, if you will,” said Adams, a sophomore right-hander who also boosted the offense by going 2-for-3 and driving in a run on a sacrifice fly. “All of us, the cheering got louder in the dugout and we got happier.
“We actually could relax. We had smiles on our face. It was amazing.”
Pittston Area built a 4-0 lead through 3½ innings and protected it from there with Adams striking out four straight, including the side in the fifth inning, at one point, then three out of four at the end.
The team effort that brought the Patriots to the brink of a title brought the Pittston Area crowd, positioned behind the team’s dugout on the third-base side, to its feet prior to the final batter.
Adams did not disappoint, finishing the game with one last strikeout. She finished a six-game postseason that included two no-hitters, a one-hitter and the state final two-hitter.
“Her changeup is fantastic,” said Ava Callahan, who had the best view as the Pittston Area catcher. “It was just great today. She was so dialed in.”
Adams dialed up eight shutouts in her last 11 games, posting an 0.58 earned run average during that time, while giving up just 31 hits, nine runs (six earned) and 21 walks along with striking out 107 in 72 innings.
Pittston Area got hits from seven players, including two each by Sage Weidlich, Bella Giardina, Maura Mihalka and Adams.
Weidlich scored the team’s first two runs – an unearned run in the first after reaching on a fielder’s choice, then coming home on a sacrifice fly in the third, which she led off with a single to center field.
“I wanted to get on base so bad, so we could jump on them early and build a good foundation,” said Weidlich, who is headed to Bloomsburg University to play on the NCAA Division II level. “If we did that, we knew that we would be alright.”
The Patriots had at least two runners reach in each of the first six innings, but only scored in half of them.
Giardina’s two-out, two-run single in the fourth made it 4-0.
Mihalka had two hits from the ninth spot in the order and came home on Giardina’s big hit.
“I haven’t been hitting well during the season, so it feels very exciting,” Mihalka said. “It was lifting me up the whole game.”
PIAA Class 5A championship
Pittston Area 4, Armstrong 0
Pittston Area`AB`R`H`BI
Booth rf`4`1`0`0
Weidlich cf`4`2`2`0
Para ss`4`0`1`0
Giardina 2b`4`0`2`2
Callahan c`4`0`1`0
Moran cr`0`0`0`0
GAdams p`3`0`2`1
Hintze cr`0`0`0`0
Antal dp`3`0`0`0
Baiera 1b`0`0`0`0
Borthwick 3b`4`0`1`0
Mihalka lf`4`1`2`0
Totals`34`4`11`3
Armstrong`AB`R`H`BI
Emerick rf`2`0`0`0
Paul ss`2`0`0`0
Egley 3b`3`0`0`0
Clontz lf`3`0`0`0
Pugh 1b`3`0`0`0
CAdams cf`3`0`0`0
Cloak dp`2`0`0`0
Sprankle p`2`0`0`0
Atherton c`2`0`1`0
Yancy cr`0`0`0`0
Benevuti 2b`2`0`1`0
Totals`24`0`2`0
Pittston Area`101`200`0` — 4
Armstrong`000`000`0` — 4
Pittston Area`IP`H`R`ER`BB`SO
GAdams W`7`2`0`0`3`10
Armstrong`IP`H`R`ER`BB`SO
Sprankle L`7`11`4`3`1`4
