Pittston Area’s Tori Stephenson heads for home after clubing a two-run homer against Little Flower on Monday.
Tony Callaio | For Times Leader
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Gianna Adams hits a single for Pittston Area helping her cause against Little Flower in the first round to the State title on Monday.
Tony Callaio | For Times Leader
Pittston Area’s Gabby Gorzkowski calls time out after sliding back to first in a pick off attempt by Little Flower. Gorzkowski was 1 for 1 batting, scoring 2 runs.
Tony Callaio | For Times Leader
Patriot Marina Antal went 3 for 3 at the plate with 5 RBIs against Little Flower on Monday at Hughestown.
Tony Callaio | For Times Leader
Pittston Area pitcher, senior Gianna Adams, tossed a perfect game against Little Flower on Monday afternoon. The Patriots took the game in a three-inning shortened game, 19-0.
Tony Callaio | For Times Leader
HUGHESTOWN – The Pittston Area softball team went to work early Monday evening preparing for what is ahead in up to three remaining steps in the state tournament.
The Patriots clearly had no problem late in the afternoon with their first PIAA playoff game since winning the Class 5A state title two years ago.
“We mean no disrespect, but we’re going to do some hitting now,” Patriots coach Frank Parente said of a practice session his District 2 champions were ready to move into after needing less than an hour to pummel the visiting Little Flower Catholic School for Girls 19-0 in 2½ innings in a first-round game. “We’re expecting to see more velocity along the way, so we’re just going to give the girls a little bit of extra hitting now.”
Little Flower’s two pitchers probably felt like Pittston Area had already done extra hitting when the first eight batters and 18 of the first 19 reached base in an 18-run second inning.
Pittston Area’s second inning featured 10 hits, including Tori Stephenson’s home run just to the right of the 225-foot sign in center field, Marina Antal’s second triple of the day, Julia Long’s two doubles and Lili Hintze’s two-run double.
“We were definitely starting to lock in and focus because we knew we had to play this game first to obviously go forward,” said Antal, who finished 3-for-3 with five RBI, four of which came in the big inning, and two runs scored. “We were trying to get locked in all week, on all different speeds. We basically went in here blind, but it went pretty well.”
While Pittston Area had no trouble with the pitching it faced Monday, Little Flower could not handle the speed and precision of two-time state Class 5A Pitcher of the year Gianna Adams.
Adams threw her fourth perfect game and six no-hitter of the season, striking out seven of the nine batters, including the last five.
While Adams kept Little Flower from ever getting started, the Pittston Area production went from the top of the order to the bottom, allowing the Patriots to bat around twice in the second inning.
Hintze and Adams each scored twice and drove in two runs in the first two spots in the order. So, did seventh-hitter Stephenson and ninth-hitter Long, who were both 2-for-2.
“It’s so exciting,” Antal said. “It feels like my freshman year again. It feels like the same energy.
“We want it so bad again.”
Sam Herbert walked in all three of her plate appearances and scored three times.
The Patriots (19-1) advance to the quarterfinals Thursday against District 3 third-place finisher Mechanicsburg (21-6), a 7-4 winner over District 1 champion Marple Newtown.
Pittston Area 19, Little Flower 0
Little Flower`AB`R`H`BI
Szychulski cf`1`0`0`0
Hughes c`1`0`0`0
Trahey dp`1`0`0`0
Becker lf`1`0`0`0
Dugan p`1`0`0`0
Pawlowski p`0`0`0`0
Lawrence 1b`1`0`0`0
EAlampi ss`1`0`0`0
Brotschul rf`1`0`0`0
SAlampi 2b`1`0`0`0
McCormack flex-3b`0`0`0`0
Totals`9`0`0`0
Pittston Area`AB`R`H`BI
Hintze cf`2`2`1`2
Adams p`2`2`1`2
Herbert ss`0`3`0`1
Antal lf`3`2`3`5
Mehal dp`2`0`0`0
Haas ph`1`1`1`1
Gorzkowski 1b`1`2`1`1
Colleran ph`1`1`0`0
ToStephenson 3b`2`2`2`2
Viglone ph`1`0`0`1
Roman rf`1`2`0`0
Sarf ph`1`0`0`0
Long 2b`2`2`2`2
TaStephenson ph`1`0`0`0
Totals`20`19`11`17
Little Flower`000 — 0
Pittston Area`1(18)x — 2
2B — Long 2, Hintze. 3B – Antal 2. HR – ToStephenson.
Little Flower`IP`H`R`ER`BB`SO
Stone L`1.2`7`11`9`4`1
Pawlowski `0.1`4`8`5`1`0
Pittston Area`IP`H`R`ER`BB`SO
Adams W`3`0`0`0`0`7