Trib HSSN softball team of the week for May 30, 2025

By: Don Rebel
Friday, May 30, 2025 | 8:58 PM

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Trib HSSN softball team of the week: Mohawk

Coach: Hank Pezzuolo (fifth year)

Record: Mohawk captured the Section 2-3A crown with a record of 9-1, finishing two games in front of Avonworth and Ellwood City. The Warriors have an overall record of 16-5 and have won their past four games after earlier this season building a nine-game winning streak.

#Earned: The 2024 Class 3A softball champions earned their spot back in the district championship game with a first-round bye, a quarterfinals victory over Southmoreland, 8-6, and a semifinals rout of section rival Ellwood City, 12-2. Of the 12 WPIAL softball and baseball championship games this past week, the Class 3A softball matchup was the only rematch for gold from last spring. A year ago, Mohawk blew open a tight game with seven runs in the fifth inning to pull away from South Park, 9-2. This season, the Eagles were the No. 1 seed as they entered the finals with a 20-0 record. The defending champion Warriors were the No. 2-seed. This year, the path to victory was not one big inning but death by a thousand papercuts. Mohawk hammered out 15 hits in the rematch against South Park junior Sydney Sekely, 14 of which were singles. Following three scoreless innings, the Warriors broke through with three runs in the fourth inning, another in the fifth and two more in the sixth inning. The Eagles scored their only run in the bottom of the sixth inning, but it was too little, too late as Mohawk earned its second district softball crown, 6-1. It marked the third straight season Mohawk had eliminated South Park in the WPIAL playoffs after the Warriors beat the Eagles in the 2024 finals and the 2023 first round, 14-6.

Standout performers: What makes this title run so impressive is that Alivia Hare is the only senior in the Mohawk starting lineup. The Robert Morris commit was 2 for 4 with a stolen base. Her younger sister, freshman Kaitlyn Hare, was one of the standouts for the Warriors. As the No. 9 hitter, she was 2 for 3 with three RBIs and a run scored. Juniors Addison Moskal and Lydia Cole led the hit parade with three hits and one run scored each. Moskal had the only extra-base hit with a run-scoring double in the sixth inning. Juniors Mylie Pistorius and Reagan Magno had two singles, a run scored and an RBI each. In the circle, Magno was magnificent. She pitched a five-hitter, allowing one earned run with seven strikeouts. She said afterward this might have been her best game ever in large part because she did not walk a batter against a South Park offense that was averaging nearly 10 runs a game.

Last year: The 2024 softball campaign for Mohawk will be remembered for the program’s first WPIAL championship run. The regular season was similar to this spring in that it included a long winning streak (eight games), three consecutive losses late — two of which were against the other Lawrence County powers, Neshannock and Union, and a section crown. The Warriors won the Section 2-3A title with a 9-1 record, one game ahead of Central Valley. In the district playoffs, No. 4-seed Mohawk defeated Waynesburg Central in the first round, 8-5, edged Freeport in the quarterfinals, 2-1, and knocked out top-seed and two-time defending champion Avonworth in the semifinals, 5-3. In the title game, Addy Moskal went 3 for 4 with two runs scored and an RBI, and Magno and Gionnee Cowher had two hits and an RBI each, plus Magno went the distance in the circle for the win, allowing six hits and striking out three as Mohawk rolled past South Park, 9-2. The golden season ended, though, in the opening round of the PIAA playoffs when the Warriors lost to District 10 runner-up Harbor Creek, 7-1, to finish the season at 18-6.

Remember when: Before last season, one of the most successful Mohawk teams in program history was one win from gold 10 years ago. The Warriors were 13-0 in the regular season, which included a 12-0 mark to win the Section 5-2A title by two games over Ellwood City. Mohawk was the No. 2 seed in the Class 2A district playoffs and cruised past Bentworth in the opening round, 15-5, knocked off Carmichaels in the quarterfinals, 5-1, and eliminated Seton LaSalle in the semifinals, 6-1. In the 2015 WPIAL Class 2A title game at Lilley Field at Cal (Pa.), Mohawk could not handle Maria Taliani and top-seed Deer Lakes. The junior Taliani hit three home runs, including a grand slam, and had seven RBIs in a championship game for the ages as the Lancers won, 13-5. Tristan Voss suffered the loss for the Warriors, and teammate Madison Shiderly smacked a two-run homer. After winning its first 16 games, Mohawk ended the season with two straight losses after falling in the first round of the PIAA playoffs to District 10 champion Cambria Springs, 5-0.

2025 Trib HSSN Softball Teams of the Week

Week 7: Penn-Trafford

Week 6: Blackhawk

Week 5: Elizabeth Forward

Week 4: West Allegheny

Week 3: Jeannette Jayhawks

Week 2: Pine-Richland

Week 1: West Mifflin

Tags: Mohawk