Bria Bosiljevac gets plenty of run support as Shaler rolls past Plum

By: Michael Love
Tuesday, April 22, 2025 | 9:14 PM

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The Shaler softball team had allowed just two runs over its first six Section 1-5A games.

Plum got one of those runs in a loss to the Titans on April 4.

The Mustangs tried to solve Shaler starter Bria Bosiljevac and gain a measure of revenge for the setback at the start of the month.

But Bosiljevac was on her game from the start, and the Titans offense provided early support that grew from there.

Shaler collected 12 hits — led by two apiece from Alyssa Schaffold, Addison Aleski, Haley Machajewski and Olivia Gieraltowski — and cruised to a 10-0, six-inning victory Tuesday afternoon at Shaler’s sun-splashed Hilltop Field.

“Plum is a solid team,” Shaler coach Tom Source said. “The difference now is our bats are alive. We have a lot of kids who are coming around. Today we got the bottom of the lineup involved. If we can keep doing that, it makes us that much more dangerous. With the pitching we have, to give up just one run (in the first game to Plum), that is a good hitting lineup.”

Shaler (9-3, 7-0) visits Penn Hills on Wednesday and hosts North Hills on Friday. If the Titans win both, they clinch the outright section title.”

Plum (10-4, 6-3) is back in action Friday at home against Penn Hills before the rematch Monday with North Hills. The Mustangs beat North Hills, 12-10, in the first meeting April 11.

“Shaler is a solid all-around team. If they’re not the No. 1 team in 5A, I don’t know who is,” Plum coach Phil DiLonardo said. “You give (Bosiljevac) a couple of runs, and she is hard to beat. She is a talent. We only managed two hits, once again. You’re not going to win too many games with two hits.

“But we have a lot left and a lot in front of us to play for. We’re going to get back at it and get ready for Penn Hills and North Hills right in front of us.”

Plum’s two hits were a double from catcher Dani Pici with two outs in the first and a two-out single from center fielder Bella Tavella with in the fifth.

Bosiljevac finished with 12 strikeouts. She retired 12 in a row between the two hits.

Bosiljevac walked her first two batters of the game in the top of the sixth, but Plum was not able to take advantage. She struck out Mustangs cleanup hitter and pitcher Riley Stephans with two outs and runners on first and second to end the threat.

“It was all about trusting my coach, the players behind me and my catcher (Schaffold),” Bosiljevac said. “I pitched with a lot of confidence, and I knew (the offense) would get us the runs we needed.”

The Titans finished off the game in the bottom of the sixth on an RBI single from Schaffold and a sacrifice fly to right from Aleski, which put the mercy rule into effect.

Shaler got on the board in the bottom of the first.

Jayla Antomachi and Ellie Nickel led off the inning with singles. Schaffold hit into a 4-6-3 double play, but Antomachi advanced to third. She then came home on a single from Aleski for a 1-0 advantage.

The Titans extended their advantage with a pair of runs in the bottom of the second on RBIs from Olivia Sachs and Ella Nash.

Stephans retired seven in a row from the second to fourth innings. But Shaler then struck with some two-out lightning in the fourth.

Sachs walked, Gieraltowski singled and Nash singled to score Sachs to make it 4-0.

The Titans added on in the bottom of the fifth with four runs. The big hit of the inning was a one-out, two-run double by Machajewski. Aleski plated the first run of the frame with a single, and Gieraltowski capped the scoring with a two-out double.

Stephans, in addition to the 12 hits surrendered, walked two while striking out three.

Michael Love is a TribLive reporter covering sports in the Alle-Kiski Valley and the eastern suburbs of Pittsburgh. A Clearfield native and a graduate of Westminster (Pa.), he joined the Trib in 2002 after spending five years at the Clearfield Progress. He can be reached at mlove@triblive.com.

Tags: Plum, Shaler