Penn-Trafford makes lasting memories with state title win

By: Bill Beckner Jr.
Saturday, June 14, 2025 | 3:17 PM

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UNIVERSITY PARK — Giuliana Youngo might have played her last softball game Friday night.

The Penn-Trafford senior right fielder, though, probably will be back at Penn State’s Beard Field, the site of the Warriors’ 2-0 win over Greencastle-Antrim in the PIAA Class 5A championship. She has enrolled at Penn State.

“I’ll be back here again soon,” said Youngo, who jump-started a seventh-inning rally with a double as Penn-Trafford won its second state title in six years. “I still want to help out with the team here. I have applied to be a student manager. I felt comfortable here. It helped me calm my nerves.”

Coach Denny Little, who pointed out how important Youngo’s game-saving catch was in the WPIAL quarterfinals, said his outfielder made highlights and lasting memories with the Warriors (24-3).

“She can be on third base or wherever and say, ‘I stood right here when we won a state title,’ ” Little said. “That is pretty special.”

Sophomore pitcher Allyson Paulone still has two years before she heads off to college, but she put a stamp on an impressive second season in the circle. With a sturdy defense as her guardrails, she allowed just three hits, blanking Greencastle-Antrim (22-4), a team that had scored 13 runs in the state semifinals.

Little said Paulone also is a talented singer. His ace became a 20-game winner Friday as she found her voice early and challenged hitters with a combination of drop-curves and changeups.

The state win conjured memories for Paulone of a wide-eyed, smaller version of herself, full of hope and dreams.

“I remember seeing a picture of the 2019 team’s send-off (to the PIAA championship),” Paulone said. “I was in fifth grade and was there to watch. I remember wishing that was me one day. Now it’s like a full-circle moment. It was like a dream come true for all of us.”

Youngo and juniors Liz Welsh and Ella Mains doubled in the seventh — a resurgent bottom third of the order — with Welsh and Mains driving in runs to break up a pitchers’ duel.

Both runs came with two outs.

The Warriors point to the 14-6 win over Chartiers Valley in the quarterfinals and the 6-5 walk-off win over Red Land in the PIAA quarterfinals as key moments in their title run.

And don’t forget the 2-1 loss to Shaler in 11 innings in the WPIAL championship that lit a fire nobody could put out. The team gathered the next day, and Little put on a video of the 2019 team’s state title win.

The girls watched with wonder and anticipation — and maybe a hint of envy — and walked out of the AV room inspired.

“The Shaler loss hurt them,” Little said. “After they lost, they continued to trust each other. They regrouped and committed to (winning a state title).”

For the seven seniors who will move on from the program, the state win erased misfires, such as the WPIAL championship game in 2022.

“There were a lot of ups and downs,” senior third baseman Cam Ponko said. “We have talked all year about making adjustments. It all worked out. It’s so surreal.”

Little made sure his players greeted their fans after Friday’s win.

“They are heroes to a lot of young girls,” Little said. “That’s why I wanted them to take pictures with those girls after we won. Let’s make it a tradition and come back here again.”

The Warriors made swing adjustments during the state playoffs, some using the sighting technique, others swinging more traditionally.

Mains used a split-grip to dig out from an 0-for-2 hole and deliver a key two-base hit in the final.

“We did whatever felt best,” Mains said.

Mains also held the PIAA trophy with a split-grip, which felt pretty good, too.

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

Tags: Penn-Trafford