‘A perfect championship game scenario’: Top seeds Penn-Trafford, Shaler to battle for 5A title

By: Bill Beckner Jr.
Tuesday, May 27, 2025 | 2:34 PM

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A thunderstorm bears down on Harrison City, and heavy rain pelts the roof of an unassuming maintenance building inside Warrior Stadium.

The big bangs keep coming every few seconds, but they aren’t just from thunder.

The Penn-Trafford softball team’s bats are clapping softballs off nets inside their makeshift “hitting center” as the WPIAL championship game loomed one week away.

“We have to come in and get a lot of reps,” Warriors senior Cam Ponko as her team prepared for Thursday’s final. “We have to have a confident mindset and keep doing what we’ve been doing.”

Penn-Trafford (20-2) has been one of the top offensive teams in the WPIAL, averaging 9.2 runs a game. Those hot bats could go a long way in producing the team’s first WPIAL title.

But it can’t be the bats alone.

“I know we’re known for offense,” coach Denny Little said, “but right now I think our defense is better than our offense. Our girls are excited. If you’re not fired up for this … I don’t have to give a coach (Herman) Boone speech from ‘Remember the Titans.’”

But the top-seeded Warriors are preparing for the Titans — from Shaler.

The teams will meet at 3:30 p.m. Thursday at North Allegheny.

Shaler (17-4), the No. 2 seed, is led by junior pitcher Bria Bosiljevac, an Indiana commit who tossed a two-hitter with 15 strikeouts in a 4-0 victory over West Allegheny in the quarterfinals. She is 12-2 with 143 strikeouts and has allowed only eight earned runs.

The Titans have won seven in a row, including four straight shutouts.

Shaler coach Tom Sorce said the WPIAL could not have asked for a better matchup in the finals.

“Low scoring, good defense, good pitching — a perfect championship game scenario,” Sorce said.

The teams already played once this season, although that game is probably a throwaway. Penn-Trafford pounded the Titans in the fourth game of the season, 11-1, but Bosiljevac did not pitch in that game.

“They didn’t show us much,” Little said. “Bria is a step above other pitchers, but our girls are well-trained. We have several girls who can step up and get a big hit. Probably 2 through 8, any of them can hit a home run.”

In that matchup, Little said to a Shaler assistant, “I hope to see you in the championship.”

Penn-Trafford sophomore pitcher Allyson Paulone took a no-hitter into the seventh inning in last Tuesday’s 7-0 quarterfinal win over North Hills.

While she wasn’t overpowering, she forced the Indians to drive the ball to spots where the defense wasn’t. But the Warriors made almost every play, with only a softly hit single to left getting past them.

Sorce is wary of the Warriors’ bats but believes the path to a WPIAL title starts and ends with his group.

“I have no more concerns than I had with every team that we play,” he said of Penn-Trafford. “All the teams in this tournament are good, and we respect every team that we play. My focus is on my team and making sure they are ready to compete.”

Four-year starting third baseman Ponko was a freshman on the Warriors team that made the WPIAL finals in 2022. She understands the importance of senior leadership with so much at stake.

“I remember the connection I had with the girls,” Ponko said. “We had a lot of seniors who were great leaders. I learned from them.”

Ponko, an IUP commit, carries a .474 batting average with seven homers, 33 RBIs and 31 runs.

Rilie Moors, a Seton Hill commit, is hitting .441 with 28 runs and 13 RBIs.

Paulone is 15-2 with a 2.31 ERA.

“It’s going to come down to what adjustments we make,” Little said. “We have to be ready. I have been in games with big-hitting lineups, and we couldn’t hit. It’s going to take (at least) four runs to win this game.”

Jayla Antomachi leads Shaler with a .556 batting average and 28 runs, and Alyssa Schaffold is hitting .455 with a team-high five homers and 28 RBIs.

Addison Aleski is batting .471 with 26 RBIs.

Penn-Trafford expected to be a championship contender from the first pitch of the season.

“We have had a lot of confidence all season,” Ponko said. “We have a lot of strong bats and gloves.”

Bill Beckner Jr. is a TribLive reporter covering local sports in Westmoreland County. He can be reached at bbeckner@triblive.com.

Tags: Penn-Trafford, Shaler