situational shaler softball team takes methodical approach during 17-0, three-inning win over Penn hills

Shaler's Ellie Nickel punches a ball into left field during the first inning of the Titans' 17-0, three-inning Section 1-5A win Monday night at Linton Middle School. Josh Rizzo/PIttsburgh Preps and Colleges

PENN HILLS -- Shaler softball coach Tom Sorce wanted the Titans to think about each plate appearance Monday night at Linton Middle School. Every at-bat, Sorce had a plan. Don't pull this one. Try to think about where your hands, hips and feet are positioned.

Facing an overmatched Penn Hills pitching staff, Sorce wanted every hitter to be working toward the future. Later this week, the Titans will have a tough matchup with North Hills. Shaler beat Penn Hills 17-0 in three innings in Section 1-5A matchup.

"For the most part, we work on those little things because we believe it's more important than the stuff that comes out of the stats," Sorce said. "We want to do the little things to win games. That's one of the things I go with."

Freshman Gia Colamarino delivered one of the things Sorce was looking to see. Colamarino looked strong in fall ball, but her power hitting hadn't shown through in the early stages of the varsity season. She smashed a three-run home run in the second inning to stretch Shaler's lead to 15-0.

"It's going to build her confidence up and show that all the hard work she's been putting in has been paying off," Sorce said. "This is a good game to do that. Now, if we could transition that and get in bigger swings as we move along, the hard work she's been doing in the gym and the stuff we've been tracking, it will give her confidence. Sometimes you have a little bit of wide eyes as a freshman."

Shaler (5-1, 3-0) has won two in a row since losing to defending PIAA champions Penn-Trafford. The Titans pressed the issue with Penn Hills early, plating 12 runs in the first inning. Addison Aleski delivered a double and a triple in the first inning for Shaler.

Jayla Antomachi, Olivia Gieraltowski, Leah Eich, Ellie Nickel and Alyssa Schaffold also collected hits for the Titans in the opening inning.

"When we're up like this, we can work on things," Sorce said. "Nothing is better than going against live pitching. When you are going against live pitching and have runners in scoring position, we want to hit behind the runner. That's one of the things I was talking about during the game. It's tough to duplicate in practice."

Penn Hills (0-5, 0-3) has a young team and has had a hard time generating runs against a difficult schedule. The Titans didn't throw star pitcher Bria Bosiljevac against the Indians. They instead had Taylor London step inside the circle. She only allowed one hit, a single to Penn Hills sophomore Addy Helsel.

London finished with nine strikeouts.

"Her windup was a little odd to try to time up, but I got it down," Helsel said. "It was pretty slow at first, but she had a good whip and a lot our girls were struggling, but it happens."

Josh Rizzo is the editor and publisher of Pittsburgh Preps and Colleges. Story ideas can be sent to [email protected] or on X @J_oshRizzo.