One for ‘Hoppy’

Taylor Karpac’s walk-off single in the bottom of the 8th gave TJ a 2-1 win in the Class 5A title game.

The Thomas Jefferson softball team has been through a lot over the past 13 months.

Days after ending its season with a loss to Armstrong in the WPIAL playoffs, the entire TJ community was devastated by the loss of former coach John “Hoppy” Mitruski.

TJ head coach Heidi Karcher said that things weren’t the same without him to start the season, and senior Taylor Karpac said that the Jaguars were overcome with emotion during a shaky 7-6 start to the campaign.

As the squad entered the bottom of the eighth inning in the PIAA Class 5A championship Thursday, a seemingly impossible feat given its start and its No. 10 seed in the WPIAL playoffs, everyone was mostly composed given the adversity they had overcome.

All those struggles culminated in one swing of the bat from Karpac, who singled to score Morgan Alisesky and capture the state championship in a 2-1 win over Pittston Area.

“It was very exciting,” the walk-off hero said. “I didn’t do too well before, but I knew that I had to take advantage of this opportunity, and I did.”

The state title was not only the first for the softball program, but also the first for Thomas Jefferson from a girls team, which added to the moment.

“This is very very memorable,” Karcher said. “I’m a hard coach on them. I expect the best. I want them to work and be passionate about everything they do, whether it’s sports or school or anything. Knowing that we got this, and we made history at the district, it’s incredible. There’s no other word. It’s absolutely freaking incredible. To come from a 10-seed and keep chipping away; it’s just incredible. The support we have in our community is amazing.”

Among those community members that made the trek to Penn State’s Nittany Lion Softball Park was Megan Reynolds, Hoppy’s daughter, and she shared an emotional moment with the team as they showed her the championship trophy. Her sons, Colt, Cason and Crew, were also cheering the Jaguars on.

“My dad dedicated his life to TJ,” Reynolds said. “Black and gold was his favorite. He started the TJ program, he was the first coach by himself, and he built it up. He retired after 33 years as head coach after his third heart attack. He went back as the assistant two years later, and after that he passed away unexpectedly.

“Those girls miss him. They’ve done so much this year. They weren’t expected to get here, and they kept saying, ‘Do it for Hoppy.’” Freshman pitcher Aubrey Shaffer was a huge reason why Thomas Jefferson (16-8) was able to get the job done. She capped off her phenomenal rookie campaign by outdueling Carnegie Mellon commit Gianna Adams, who is viewed as one of the best arms in the state.

“I knew going against a senior that there would be strong competition, and I just wanted to beat her out,” Shaffer said. “I knew that I wasn’t the better pitcher in this, but I wanted to throw my game, and I ended up getting the win. Being able to pitch (even with) a senior feels great because it shows that I’m not scared of another team.”

Shaffer had runners on second and third in the top of the eighth, bases loaded in the seventh and two more runners on in the sixth but managed to hold the Patriots (212) scoreless over that span.

“She is a stud,” Karcher said about her ace. “She is an absolute stud. She is not going to blow the pitches by you; that’s not her mantra. She’s a spin pitcher, location pitcher, she works hard and is always at supplemental lessons even when we’re done, and she absolutely deserves this honor.”

After the Jaguars scored in the bottom of the first, it took seven more innings for the offense to come through, but it did in a big way.

Alisesky started things off with a single and stole second to put a runner in scoring position with no outs. That prompted the Patriots to walk Alayna Grese, and they both advanced after a wild pitch during Ali Chalovich’s atbat. With no outs and runners now on second and third, Adams added another intentional walk to her line to load the bases.

After a lengthy plate appearance with three fouls, Karpac earned her second hit of the day to end the game at 2-1.

In the beginning of the contest, Shaffer mowed through the Patriots, putting their first three batters down in order to bring the Jaguars to the plate.

Liv Stock started TJ off

CHAMPS • B2

Christopher Horner / Trib Total Media about as well as they could have hoped, battling with Adams until she crushed a triple that bounced off of the wall at center. After one out, Krizan hit a long fly out to right field that allowed Stock to tag up and open the scoring in favor of TJ.

“This whole season we played for Hoppy, and I believe that he was looking down on us,” Krizan said. “That felt amazing (to earn an RBI), and to come do this this year, it’s like a Cinderella story.”

After Shaffer earned her second and third strikeouts of the game, Gabby Gorzkowski got the first hit of the game for the Patriots. She was ultimately stranded after another strikeout from Shaffer to retire the side.

That brought Ali Chalovich to the plate to open the bottom of the second, and she turned a long at-bat into a single past Sam Herbert at short. She took a seat for courtesy runner Kahlen Barringer, who reached second on the next plate appearance as Taylor Karpac ripped a single down the third-base line.

With no one out and runners on first and second, Adams turned it on and struck out Sophia Janosko, Hannah Alonso and Stock to strand two Jaguars.

Both pitchers entered the third with four strikeouts, but Shaffer wasted no time making it five with the first out of the inning. Julia Long gave the Patriots some momentum, however, as she crushed a double to the wall to put herself in scoring position. Lili Hintze moved Long over to third with a groundout, bringing Adams to the plate with two outs.

In the pitcher’s duel, Shaffer threw four straight balls to walk her counterpart and prevent her from putting anything in play. That put runners on the corners as Sam Herbert was given a chance to provide some offense for the Patriots.

And she did just that, hitting a hard line drive off the glove of Alisesky at second that rattled into the outfield to tie things at one.

Adams remained dialed in as action moved to the bottom of the third, striking out TJ’s two, three and four hitters in Addy Bracco, Krizan and Alisesky. After three frames, she sat at seven strikeouts having tallied six straight.

Shaffer continued to do her part for Thomas Jefferson, forcing another 1-2-3 inning from the Patriots in the top of the fourth.

Turning things over to the Jaguars’ offense, Grese roped a single to right center to open the frame up.

However, Adams settled right back in with three more strikeouts to sit the Jaguars down once again with the score still at 1-1.

It was a full-fledged pitcher’s duel between Shaffer and Adams, as Shaffer retired the Patriots with two strikeouts of her own to bring her total to eight through five frames. However, the Jaguars opened the home half of the fifth with two strong at-bats.

Alonso singled to center field and Stock drew a walk, only the 19th of the year for Adams, but Bracco was unable to lay down a bunt and swung for strike three.

With one out and runners on first and second, Krizan stepped up to the plate and delayed the game for a few minutes after fouling a pitch off of the mask of catcher Julianna Cocco, snapping her throat protector right off. Returning to the plate with a 1-1 count, Krizan popped directly up in the air for the second out of the inning.

Alisesky stepped up for TJ with runners on first and second, but they pulled off a double steal as she took ball two. She successfully drew a walk, loading the bases for Grese with two outs.

In the battle between Adams and Grese, it was the pitcher that once again came on top. She forced Grese to fly out to right field, managing to keep the score at 1-1 after five stanzas.

Adams flashed her muscles offensively to open the sixth, giving the Patriots their first leadoff hit of the day with a single to put the pressure on Shaffer. The freshman pitcher responded by forcing a groundout and notching another strikeout before Julia Mehal managed a single, putting runners on first and second.

Just as Grese had done, Gorzkowski popped out to end the frame as Shaffer again stepped up and got out of a bind.

Again, the Jaguars reached with their leadoff hitter as Chalovich got to first on an error, but they were unable to bring courtesy runner Barringer home.

Entering the final frame of regulation all squared up at 1-1, the Patriots scraped their way to putting runners on the corners with two outs with Adams stepping up. Karcher made the decision to walk her and load the bases, bringing Herbert to the plate with an RBI already on the day.

Shaffer rewarded her coach’s faith with a pop out to third that retired the side and gave Thomas Jefferson one last chance at a regulation win.

However, they went down 1-23 to force extra innings.

Pittston Area again put pressure on the Jaguars as Tori Stephenson managed her first hit of the day to put runners on the corners with two outs. Shaffer again stepped up to the call for TJ, putting up her 10th strikeout of the contest to bring up the home half of the eighth.

Alisesky led her squad off with its first hit since the fifth inning, becoming the first batter to manage two hits in the entire contest. Eventually, Karpac won the game for the Jaguars and made history for the program, and for Hoppy.

“We were on the bus all the time, we would go out after games, we would have long conversations after games; he was like my right-hand man,” Karcher said. “Playing for him, that’s just what we’ve been doing. I talk to him when I’m (coaching at) third base; I look up to him for guidance. We are playing for him, and we will continue to play for him.

“We’ll make sure that, as the years go on and there’s new kids that might not know him, that his memory is passed on and that everyone continues to play for him.”