Gabriela Terracino threw a six-hit shutout and Hazleton Area earned a trip back to the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association softball tournament Tuesday when it defeated Williamsport, 5-0, in the District 2-4 Class 6A Subregional championship game.
Hazleton Area (15-7) played for the PIAA state title in 2019 before settling for a second-place finish in 6A. There was no softball competition for Pennsylvania high schools in 2020 because of the pandemic.
Terracino quieted the bats of a Williamsport team that entered the final with a 19-1 record, averaging 7.9 runs per game.
The Lady Cougars have won four straight and seven of their last eight.
Lauren Daniels drove in three runs and Makenna Balay drove in the other two.
Hazleton Area scored three times in the third inning and two more in the fifth to knock off the tournament’s top seed.
Balay went 3-for-3.
Julia Mrochko doubled and scored twice.
Aubriana Blair had two hits for Williamsport.
