One of the WPIAL’s top flamethrowers was running on fumes in the later stages of Thursday’s WPIAL Class 5A championship.
Shaler junior pitcher Bria Bosiljevac had been dominant throughout the postseason, but that dominance was tested when fatigue set in as the game stretched into the eighth, ninth, 10th and eventually the 11th inning.
“She never pitched 11 innings before. She was out of gas,” Shaler coach Tom Sorce said.
Added Bosiljevac, “That was so hard. I kept telling my team, ‘Guys, I need a run. I don’t know how much longer I’m going to last.’ But as always, my team comes through for me.”
They absolutely did, and it was a freshman who provided the big hit.
Addison Aleski delivered an RBI single in the top of the 11th and Bosiljevac struck out 17 to lead No. 2 Shaler to its first WPIAL title since 2014 courtesy of a 2-1 win against No. 1 Penn-Trafford in the Class 5A title game at North Allegheny.
It was the fourth WPIAL championship for Shaler (18-4), which was playing in its first final since winning its last title in 2014. The Titans joined the school’s baseball and boys volleyball teams as WPIAL champions this spring. Penn-Trafford (20-3) fell short of winning its first title. The Warriors also lost by one run in their only other championship appearance in 2022.
Thursday’s matchup between the top two seeds in Class 5A featured a pitchers’ duel between Bosiljevac and Penn-Trafford sophomore Allyson Paulone. After Penn-Trafford scored a run in the first and Shaler in the second, both pitchers put zeros on the scoreboard from the third through 10th innings.
Shaler finally broke through in the 11th. Jayla Antomachi began the inning at second base due to the international tiebreaker rule, which went into effect an inning earlier. Ellie Nickel moved Antomachi to third via a sacrifice bunt and Alyssa Schaffold then struck out swinging. That brought up Aleski, a freshman first baseman and the team’s cleanup hitter who singled and then scored Shaler’s first run in the second.
“I was being patient looking for my pitch, my strike. And I was just trusting that the Lord would help me hit our runner in,” Aleski said.
Aleski then drilled a single up the middle that brought home Antomachi, an outstanding athlete who medaled twice at last week’s PIAA track and field championships.
“Rookie of the freaking year, man,” Bosiljevac said of Aleski.
Despite running low on gas, Bosiljevac dug deep and sealed the win for Shaler in the bottom of the inning. Brooke Boss began the inning on second base, but Bosiljevac showed that she was the boss, striking out the next three batters — the last two swinging — to end the game. Bosiljevac gave up four hits and walked three to go along with her 17 strikeouts.
“That’s a gutsy performance by that kid,” Sorce said.
One that capped what was an exceptional WPIAL playoff run. In four games, Bosiljevac gave up just one run and six hits while striking out 59 in 32 innings. She had shut out Shaler’s first three playoff opponents, throwing no-hitters against both Connellsville and Trinity. It’s been quite the bounce back for Bosiljevac, who was shut down prior to last year’s postseason due to a hand injury. She did not play in Shaler’s 13-4 loss to Penn-Trafford in last year’s semifinals.
“To give up one run in four playoff games against this competition. Two no-hitters. I don’t single out any one player, but it’s pretty obvious you can’t take away from her what she did,” Socre said.
It had been more than three weeks since Bosiljevac had last given up a run, but Penn-Trafford’s Cam Ponko greeted her with a solo home run to left in the first inning to quickly give the Warriors a 1-0 advantage. Ponko, an IUP recruit, is the only Penn-Trafford player to have also started in the 2022 championship loss.
“I needed that. I needed that run off me,” Bosiljevac said. “I should have known better than to pitch against her. She’s an amazing hitter, but I still did anyway and as you can see, I stayed away from her the rest of the game, which was I think an asset because she’s the biggest power hitter on that team.”
But just as quickly as Penn-Trafford jumped to a lead, Shaler tied it up in the top of the second. Aleski singled to lead off the inning and moved to third when Emily Spears reached on an error, and Haley Machajewski followed with a sacrifice fly.
Paulone was also very good on the mound in this game, giving up only four hits and one walk. She’s not the strikeout artist like Bosiljevac is. Instead, Paulone kept her infielders busy as she induced many groundball outs. After surrendering the sacrifice fly in the second, Paulone retired the next 12 hitters before Antomachi’s double in the sixth.
“She pitched a great game,” Penn-Trafford coach Denny Little said. “If we win the game, she’s the MVP.”
But on this day, that title was reserved for Bosiljevac.
“She’s incredible,” Aleski said. “I’ve never seen anyone better and I’m so blessed to play on the field with her.”
Brad is a sports writer at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, but he's currently on strike. Email him at beverett@unionprogress.com.