Jun 11, 2015 5 min read

Softball players and coaches are creatures of habit. They want to keep everything the same. To them, normal is good.

They like the same practice time and the same pregame routine. They like to keep wearing the same uniforms, using the same batting gloves and doing the same things in the same order when they walk into the batter’s or coach’s box.

There is, however, nothing normal about the scene the Trinity High School finds itself in today. The Hillers will walk onto the field at Penn State’s Nittany Lion Softball Park with a chance to do what no other Trinity athletic team has done – win an outright PIAA championship.

All it will take is the same result – a victory – that the Hillers have produced six times this postseason.

Trinity (20-5) will play District 11 champion Bethlehem Catholic (18-7) for the Class AAA championship. The game is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. and will be the last of the four title games today.

“If we get our minds together and play the way we know we can, then we can do it,” Trinity junior pitcher Paige Galentine said. “We’re talented enough.”

Trinity, which is making its first appearance in the state finals, will be attempting to win the school’s second PIAA title in a team sport, but that one was a co-championship. The Hillers shared the 1983 boys soccer title with Bethlehem-Freedom when the championship game ended because of darkness and with the score tied 1-1 after 16 overtimes. That’s right, 16 overtimes.

Bethlehem Catholic is in the finals for the second consecutive year and third time in seven seasons, but is seeking its first title. The Golden Hawks lost to Springfield Delco 3-0 in last year’s Class AAA final and lost a nine-inning final to Greencastle-Antrim in 2009.

Both teams have taken a difficult route to the finals. Trinity had to win a consolation game against Southmoreland to qualify for the PIAA tournament, then defeated three consecutive district champions: Warren (3-0), Belle Vernon (8-4) and Bellwood-Antis (3-2). Bethlehem Catholic also beat three district champions: Jersey Shore (8-5), Villa Maria Academy (1-0) and Nanticoke (5-0).

The Hillers have been winning in a variety of ways, but the one constant has been their stellar defense, which figures to again be a key facet of the game. In the semifinals Tuesday against Bellwood-Antis, Trinity threw out two runners at home plate, second baseman Madison Hornack made a diving stop and got an out on a ball hit up the middle with the bases loaded in the first inning and Hali Justice ran down and caught a fly ball in deep right field.

“I keep telling people that we have the best defense in the WPIAL,” Trinity coach Shawn Gray said. “I really believe that. People overlook our defense, but there have been a lot of times we’ve been in bases-loaded no-outs situations and we’ve gotten out of them.”

Bethlehem Catholic received a boost in the semifinals when pitcher Elyse Cuttic returned to the lineup. Cuttic pitched the Golden Hawks to the finals last year but missed much of this season. The left-hander had an asthma issue that kept her sidelined and had her appendix removed May 1. She pitched in relief in the first round of the PIAA tournament and then returned to the circle in the semifinals, throwing a three-shutout with 11 strikeouts.

A hard-thrower, Cuttic and is similar in velocity to another lefty, Belle Vernon’s Bailey Parshall, whom the Hillers have beaten twice.

“We’re a better hitting team than we showed against Bellwood-Antis,” Gray said. “One thing we have to do is put up more runs than we did a few of the playoff games. I’d like for us to score a few runs and put them behind the 8-ball early and make them play that way.”

Bethlehem Catholic has five starters back from last year’s team. The Golden Hawks played three freshmen in the semifinals at key positions and each delivered. Shortstop and leadoff hitter Jeff Indelicato was 2-for-3 with two runs, left fielder Tash Minor was on base three times and first baseman Julia Sledz had two hits.

Trinity defeated Bellwood-Antis on the strength of a two-run double in the sixth inning by senior third baseman Shelby Clemens, some stellar defense and a three-hitter by Galentine, who overcame a rocky first inning.

“To be honest, our main goal was just to get past the second round of the (WPIAL) playoffs,” Galentine said. “That had been our trouble spot. Everything since that round has been a bonus.”

And the biggest bonus could be PIAA gold.

“Our girls want to be here. They’re excited to be playing in this game and want to bring back the title,” Gray said.

The game will not be televised live on cable in Washington. That means you must subscribe to PCN Select – one-day subscriptions are available – for video streaming if you want to watch a live feed. The Pennsylvania Cable Network will show the game on a tape-delay basis Saturday with the start time scheduled for 8 p.m. … PCN will air live telecasts of all four PIAA baseball championship games today. … Trinity is trying to become the first WPIAL team to win the Class AAA title since Valley in 2011. Valley was the third-place finisher in the WPIAL that year.