HUGHESTOWN — There is one thing Pittston Area pitching sensation Gianna Adams will never accomplish in her high school career.
Adams will never have the opportunity to know what it’s like to bat against herself.
“I would love that!” Adams said. “It would be great. Sometimes we do intrasquad scrimmages where I pitch to our starters, but I’ve always wanted to because everyone else is getting reps and I don’t get reps. I’d like to be out there batting, too.”
Unless a computer simulation could be developed quickly, Adams instead will be facing real batters when District 2 champion Pittston Area (21-1) plays District 7 runner-up Thomas Jefferson (15-8) at 4 p.m. Thursday at Penn State for the PIAA Class 5A championship.
An Adams vs. Adams computer simulation would probably favor the pitching Gianna. True, she’s hitting .433 and has been an outstanding hitter throughout her four-year career. But her pitching statistics are incredible.
Adams has 820 career strikeouts, which is considered a Wyoming Valley Conference record. She has a 0.33 ERA, 273 strikeouts and has allowed only 29 hits in 128 innings. She was clocked at 66 mph earlier this season, which is the equivalent of a baseball pitcher throwing 95 mph.
“Scary,” starting center fielder Lili Hintze said of facing Adams in a team scrimmage. “It’s coming in fast. You have very minimal time to decide whether to swing and to swing.”
“She has so much control, she has so much spin and she has so many pitches, too,” starting third baseman Tori Stephenson said. “She’s insane.”
Adams politely declined to reveal her arsenal, but it is vast. She started the season with four consecutive no-hitters. Her latest gem came in Monday’s state semifinals, where she no-hit District 3 champion South Western, a previously unbeaten team with a potent offense, in a 2-0 victory.
“We adjust to every team,” Adams said. “We throw different pitches to different teams. Whatever is working that day, we really go off of that. We never give up on a certain pitch. If it’s not working, we might still use it in a game to keep batters off balance.”
Pittston Area coach Frank Parente has so much confidence in Adams that he allows her to call her own pitches. Oftentimes, a coach will relay a series of numbers to a pitcher that correspond with a pitch on a wristband chart.
Adams, who will continue her academic and athletic endeavors at Division III Carnegie Mellon in Pittsburgh, credited local softball legend Joe Drach for developing her love for pitching. Drach, who died in 2021 at age 90, was one of the top fast-pitch softball pitchers in the country starting in the mid-1950s. He mentored countless pitchers and would often attend their games.
“He was like 84 and I was 9 years old,” Adams said. “I think that’s when I really started to love it. He was my first pitching coach. He would do tricks. He would throw the ball behind his back and would make it fun. He would make me close my eyes when I pitched. He would make me feel just the motion of the pitch.
“I don’t think I would have really loved pitching if it wasn’t for him.”