Like two heavyweight boxers, Shaler and Thomas Jefferson went toe-to-toe for 10 innings in their PIAA Class 5A softball semifinal showdown Monday evening at West Mifflin.
The Jaguars blinked first, and now the Titans are returning to Penn State for the first time since falling in the state title game three years ago after winning an 11-inning thriller, 5-3.
“I personally feel that was the state championship game,” Thomas Jefferson coach Heidi Karcher said.
“They had a bunch of opportunities; we had a bunch of opportunities,” Shaler coach Tom Sorce said. “I don’t know, we just hung in there and hung in there.”
With the game tied 3-3 in the top of the 11th inning, Shaler loaded the bases with one out when Addi Aleski lined out to left field so hard that the runner at third, Olivia Gieraltowski, had no chance to tag.
Up came senior Alyssa Schaffold, who earlier had a chance to deliver a big hit in the ninth inning and popped up.
This time, she lined a single to left-center field, scoring Gieraltowski and Haley Machajewski with the go-ahead runs.
“I knew I was too eager in that first at-bat, so I came in more calm,” Schaffold said. “I’ll be honest, when I hit the ball, my mind went blank. After the hit, I was on cloud nine. I was down on myself and my whole team picked me up and supported me through the whole thing.”
Indiana commit Bria Bosiljevac then struck out Zoie DeCostro, got Camdyn Noderer to pop up to third and Madden Stanek to line out sharply to center field to end the game.
Early in the game, Shaler scored to take the lead in the top of the inning before Thomas Jefferson answered with a run in the bottom.
Both teams scored their first run on wild pitches.
The Titans’ run came after an illegal pitch call on TJ starting pitcher Aubree Shaffer when she delivered a pitch that had struck out Bosiljevac on a 3-2 count with runners at second and third and two out.
The illegal pitch was ball four, and Shaler had the bases loaded and scored a few pitches later on a wild pitch.
“He said her foot moved,” Karcher said of the illegal pitch. “I tried to go out there and talk to him, and the umpire said, ‘If I were you, I’d stop talking or you’re going to get tossed.’”
The teams each scored again in the third inning with the Titans’ run coming on a Jayla Antomachi home run.
Jenna Danko singled home Sophia Janosko, allowing the Jaguars to even the game at 2-2.
The Jaguars took their only lead of the game in the bottom of the fourth inning on a solo home run by Noderer.
However, the Titans answered and tied the game on an RBI single by Antomachi in the top of the fifth inning.
That is when the two pitchers, Bosiljevac and Shaffer, went to work.
Both had the help of some great defensive plays and timely pitches in clutch situations to keep the opposing team off the board between the top of the fifth and top of the 11th inning.
The Jaguars thought they had won the game in the bottom of the eighth inning when Noderer lined a shot off the base of the right field fence with DeCastro at first base and two outs. However, two perfect relay throws from Machajewski in right to Ellie Nickel at second to Schaffold at the plate gunned down DeCastro at home.
“We make that play in the eighth inning when they hit one off the fence and we get her out at home plate,” Sorce said. “The kids that made those throws, they won the game.”
The Jaguars managed six hits against Bosiljevac, who also allowed three walks, one intentional, and hit three TJ batters.
“I don’t think I had my best game, but at the end of the day, it doesn’t matter because my teammates came through,” Bosiljevac said.
Danko and Noderer each had two hits to lead the Jaguars.
Thomas Jefferson’s season ends at 19-6.
“I’m incredibly, incredibly proud of them,” Karcher said. “We’re a bunch of sophomores on this field. We fought like hell and we took that team to 11 innings. Nobody did that this year.”
Antomachi had three hits and two RBIs while Aleski, Schaffold and Nickel each had two hits for the Titans.
Shaler (23-1) will face District 2 champion Abington Heights (24-1) at 4 p.m. Thursday at Penn State.
“The first round of the state playoffs last year after we won the WPIAL, we fell flat on our face,” Sorce said. “This group learned from that. They could have given up a bunch of times with our backs to the wall. It’s just a resilient group, so maybe destiny is on our side.”