SCRANTON – There is a certain amount of responsibility that goes with pitching in softball.
Coping with that on a regular basis may be one of the things that helps Pittston Area senior pitcher Alexa McHugh remain at ease in big games.
And, it may have helped freshman Tori Para, who fills in when McHugh is not pitching, to seem right at home in her first District 2-4 Class 5A Subregional softball championship game Thursday night.
McHugh handled her pitching responsibilities and joined Para in leading the offense during a 5-0 victory over Abington Heights at The University of Scranton’s Magis Field.
The win gave Pittston Area a state tournament berth, a successful title defense and an even 2-2 record against Abington Heights when going head-to-head in district or subregional championship games the past four seasons.
McHugh has been a huge part of that success while batting .467 in 80 games over the past four seasons and striking out 234 batters since moving to the circle part time as a sophomore.
“That’s an outstanding team, up and down that order,” Pittston Area coach Vito Quaglia said. “The meat of that order is some of the best hitters around and she dominated them.
“The whole night, all of her pitches were on. She changed speeds when she need to to keep them off-balance.”
McHugh tossed a four-hit shutout with 11 strikeouts and just one walk. All four hits were singles, two of them in the infield. She did not allow a runner past first base after the first inning.
“I’ve said all along when there’s a big game, she plays bigger,” Quaglia said. “She was awesome tonight, offensively as well.”
McHugh went 3-for-4 with a double, home run, two runs and two RBI.
Para was 3-for-4 and drove in three runs.
“Tori’s been doing that for us a lot all year, stepping up as a freshman,” Quaglia said. “She doesn’t get nervous. She’s a pitcher, too, so she has some of that where she doesn’t get rattled.”
Para had run-scoring hits with two outs in the first and third innings
McHugh and Para each drove in runs on 0-2 pitches in the first inning.
Gabby Para started the game with a walk. McHugh doubled her in with one out and scored on Tori Para’s single to right field.
The top of the order again started a two-run inning in the third.
Gabby Para and Lexi Felinski began the inning with singles. Felinski avoided a tag between first and second base, keeping the Lady Patriots out of a double play and keeping the inning alive until Tori Para’s two-run single.
McHugh got into a groove, retiring 17 of 19, and the 4-0 lead carried into the top of the seventh when she homered down the left-field line.
The last two innings were played in a hard, steady rain. The game was delayed for 13 minutes in the top of the seventh, but it resumed and finished in the rain.
There was no break in sight on the radar and the game was past the point of being official, so it was either going to be shortened to six innings or completed – not suspended to be continued later.
Umpires sent the teams back onto the field for the final four outs.
McHugh finished up her shutout.
Pittston Area advances to Monday’s first round of the PIAA state tournament. The Patriots will open at a District 2 site against the third-place team from District 1, the winner of Friday’s game between Upper Perkiomen and Upper Merion.
