WPIAL Class 5A softball championship preview: Shaler vs. North Hills

By: Jonathan Bombulie
Tuesday, May 26, 2026 | 12:00 PM

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WPIAL Class 5A softball final

No. 1 Shaler vs. No. 11 North Hills

2:15 p.m. Wednesday at Lilley Field, Cal (Pa.)

On the air: Audio: TribHSSN; Video: NFHS

WPIAL titles: Shaler 4 (1982, 2005, 2014, 2025), North Hills 6 (1976, 1980, 1981, 1983, 2000, 2021)

Shaler (20-1)

Coach: Tom Sorce

Semifinal lineup

8, Haley Machajewski, RF, sr.

12, Jayla Antomachi, SS, sr.

21, Addison Aleski, CF, so.

45, Alyssa Schaffold, C, sr.

33, Bria Bosiljevac, P, sr.

35, Giada Colamarino, 3B, fr.

4, Peyton Nichols, 1B, fr.

10, Olivia Gieraltowski, LF, jr.

27, Ellie Nickel, 2B, jr.

3, Leah Eich, 3B, so.

How they got here: No. 1 Shaler defeated No. 17 Moon, 10-0 in five innings; No. 8 Armstrong, 11-0 in five innings; and No. 5 Baldwin, 10-0 in five innings.

Notable: Bria Bosiljevac, an Indiana recruit, might be the WPIAL’s most dominant pitcher. She’s 15-0 with a 0.43 ERA. She’s allowed 29 hits and struck out 206 in 98 innings. She allowed an earned run in only one of 17 appearances, a 10-8 win over Seneca Valley on May 7. Bosiljevac has four no-hitters this season, including one in a 2-1 win over Class 6A top seed Hempfield on March 21. … The Titans have also scored double-digit runs in five straight games. In the three playoff games, Addison Aleski is 5 for 10 with eight RBIs and a homer in each game and Jayla Antomachi is 5 for 7 with six RBIs, a double and a homer. … Shaler’s one loss, 6-1 on March 25, came in a game where Bosiljevac didn’t pitch.

North Hills (12-7)

Coach: Libby Gasior

Semifinal lineup

21, Lily Adamski, RF, sr.

22, Brianna Zwick, CF, sr.

13, Natalie Anzaldi, 3B, sr.

28, Abigail Sutton, P, sr.

29, Emma Culver, SS, sr.

9, Audrianna Baumgardner, 1B, jr.

14, McKenna Cote, LF, so.

24, Emma Sutton, C, fr.

20, Makenzie Roskwitalski, 2B, sr.

How they got here: No. 11 North Hills defeated No. 6 Montour, 5-1, No. 3 Penn-Trafford, 8-1, and No. 2 Thomas Jefferson, 5-3

Notable: North Hills is a Cinderella story, reaching the WPIAL finals as a No. 11 seed, but not exactly an overnight success. After getting off to a slow 2-4 start, North Hills turned it around and has been 11-3 since. … North Hills also played Shaler tougher than most Section 1-5A opponents, losing 3-0 and 7-1 in the regular season. … In the playoffs, Abby Sutton has a 1.00 ERA with 14 strikeouts in 21 innings pitched. Emma Culver is 6 for 10 with two doubles, a home run and five RBIs. Freshman Emma Sutton is 5 for 11.

Jonathan Bombulie is the TribLive assistant sports editor. A Greensburg native, he was a hockey reporter for two decades, covering the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins for 17 seasons before joining the Trib in 2015 and covering the Penguins for four seasons, including Stanley Cup championships in 2016-17. He can be reached at jbombulie@triblive.com.

Tags: North Hills, Shaler