Pittston Area’s Marina Antal high fives a member of the coaching staff after scoring the first of four runs in the fifth inning against Mechanicsburg in the PIAA 5A quarterfinals in Allentown.
Fred Adams | For Times Leader
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Pittston Area’s Gabby Roman grabs an infield fly hit by Mechanicsburg’s Rilyn Magee in the second inning. Marina Antal backed up on the play.
Fred Adams | For Times Leader
Pittston Area’s Jillian Haas scores the fourth and final run in the fifth inning against Mechanicsburg in the PIAA 5A quarterfinals in Allentown on Thursday.
Fred Adams | For Times Leader
Gianna Adams was the starting pitcher for Pittston Area in the PIAA 5A quarterfinal against Mechanicsburg Thursday at Patriots Park in Allentown.
Fred Adams | For Times Leader
Pittston Area third baseman Tori Stephenson makes the throw to first base in the sixth inning to put out the Mechanicsburg batter Thursday afternoon at Patriot Park in Allentown.
Fred Adams | For Times Leader
ALLENTOWN — With its bats held in check through the first half of Thursday’s state quarterfinals, Pittston Area turned to a little bit of small ball — with big results.
The Patriots used a combination of bunts and baserunning to score four runs in the fifth inning, beating Mechanicsburg 4-1 to punch their ticket to the Class 5A softball semifinals.
Pittston Area had to wait a while to crack the scoreboard at Patriots Park on Thursday. First, rain delayed the game by about 75 minutes, and then sharp work from Mechanicsburg pitcher Sam Rybacki kept the Patriots without a hit or a baserunner through four innings.
Marina Antal gave Pittston its first baserunner with a leadoff single in the bottom of the fifth, and then the Patriots got crafty.
Back-to-back bunts dropped by Julia Mehal and Gabby Gorzkowski were misplayed by the Mechanicsburg third baseman, loading the bases.
“It throws off the infield for the other team, and once you get one down you see that they’re not ready for the next one,” Gorzkowski said. “Sometimes, bunting is the best option.”
Then, all within one at-bat, Pittston Area scored not once, not twice, but three times on three wild pitches from Rybacki, taking a 3-0 lead.
“Everyone did their job, and that’s all you could ask for. … You need crooked numbers, and we got one,” Pittston Area coach Frank Parente said.
Pittston Area added a fourth run in the inning after Lili Hintze singled in Tori Stephenson, who was up at bat when the three previous runs came in to score.
It was an unfortunate frame for Rybacki, who was only tagged with one earned run out of the four that scored. Otherwise, the Mechanicsburg senior was excellent, allowing just two Pittston Area hits (both in the fourth inning) and striking out 12.
Four runs was plenty for Gianna Adams, who matched Rybacki zero for zero and then kept the Wildcat bats quiet until the last inning.
Adams allowed just one run on four hits, walking two and striking out 12 to earn the win for Pittston Area. She was able to dance out of danger in the fourth inning with the game still scoreless, stranding runners on the corners with a strikeout of Jada Lacey to keep the game tied.
The only run scored by Mechanicsburg came in the seventh inning, where Lacey blasted a double and came around to score on a base hit from Rilyn Magee to make it a 4-1 game.
Adams quickly squashed any hopes of a Wildcat comeback, with a flyout to center and a groundout to third wrapping up the win.
“She’s dominating, we all believe in her, we just have to do our hitting,” Mehal said of Adams.
Pittston Area will play in the Class 5A semifinals on Monday, taking on the winner of Friday’s game between Shippensburg and South Western, both from District 3.
BASEBALL
Faith Christian 11, MMI Prep 0
The Preppers’ season came to an end in the PIAA Class A quarterfinals with a six-inning loss to District 1 champion Faith Christian Academy at Stump Stadium in Pine Grove.
MMI finished 15-7 in a season highlighted by a no-hitter at PNC Field to win the District 2 Class A championship.
The Preppers knocked off District 4 winner Millville in Monday’s opening round before bowing out of the state tournament on Thursday.
Faith Christian advanced to Monday’s state semifinals to face District 6 champ Bishop McCort.
PIAA Class 5A Quarterfinals
Pittston Area 4, Mechanicsburg 1
Mechanicsburg`AB`R`H`BI
Rybacki p`2`0`0`0
Rizzutto 2b`3`0`0`0
Bittner c`3`0`0`0
DeMaio ss`2`0`0`0
Lacey cf`3`1`1`0
Magee 1b`3`0`1`1
Pratt rf`2`0`0`0
Gladfelter ph`1`0`0`0
Heckert 3b`3`0`1`0
Miller pr`0`0`0`0
Masser lf`2`0`0`0
Totals`24`1`3`1
Pittston Area`AB`R`H`BI
Hintze cf`3`0`1`1
Adams p`3`0`0`0
Herbert ss`3`0`0`0
Antal lf`3`1`1`0
Mehal dp`3`1`0`0
Gorzkowski 1b`3`1`0`0
To. Stephenson 3b`1`0`0`0
Haas ph`0`1`0`0
Roman rf`2`0`0`0
Long 2b`2`0`0`0
Totals`23`4`2`1
Mechanicsburg`000`000`1 — 1
Pittston Area`000`040`x — 4
2B — Heckert, Lacey.
Mechanicsburg`IP`H`R`ER`BB`SO
Rybacki (L)`6`2`4`1`1`12
Pittston Area`IP`H`R`ER`BB`SO
Adams (W)`7`4`1`1`2`12