UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — As the first girls team to represent Thomas Jefferson in a PIAA championship game in any sport, the Jaguars made sure to leave a lasting impression.
After a well-documented journey traveling more than 1,000 miles all over the state during the first three rounds of the PIAA tournament, the “Road Warriors” from Thomas Jefferson punctuated one of the most improbable postseason runs in WPIAL history with a 2-1 extra-innings win against District 2 champion Pittston (21-2) in the PIAA Class 5A championship game at Penn State’s Beard Field.
Playing as a massive underdog against one of the top pitchers in the state in Pittston senior Gianna Adams — fresh off a no-hitter against previously unbeaten District 3 champ South Western in the PIAA semifinals — the Jaguars (16-8) got to Adams early and often while racking up eight hits in the heart-pounding victory. Senior first baseman Taylor Karpac played the hero, singling home Morgan Alisesky for the game-winning run in the bottom of the eighth inning to kickstart a wild celebration in the infield.
Talk about writing a storybook ending.
“I had very bad at-bats in the previous game,” Karpac said. “I was struggling a little bit in the box, but I just took a deep breath and looked at my coaches and smiled. … I just blocked that all out and cleared my mind.”
Freshman pitcher Aubrey Shaffer delivered a performance for the ages for Thomas Jefferson while announcing her arrival as one of the WPIAL’s next big stars, going toe-to-toe with Adams over eight stellar innings without budging an inch. Shaffer allowed one run on seven hits and four walks while striking out a career-high 10 batters to lift the Jaguars to a truly improbable championship triumph.
The two-time Pennsylvania Class 5A Pitcher of the Year, Adams punched out 14 while allowing two runs on eight hits and four walks in seven innings of work. The Carnegie Mellon recruit finished her senior season with 287 strikeouts in 135 innings pitched.
“It’s my freshman season, so I didn’t even know what to expect,” Shaffer said. “I didn’t even really know there were [state playoffs]. … I just kept an open mind and blocked everything out, and was like, ‘I’m going to go attack these hitters. This is my game.’
“Being able to pitch how I did tonight, it was just amazing.”
Remember, this is a Thomas Jefferson team that finished in third place in its section while posting an overall record of 9-7 in the regular season. The Jaguars received a No. 10 seed for the WPIAL playoffs, then made it all the way to the championship game before coughing up a late lead in a 9-3 loss against top-seeded Armstrong.
Thomas Jefferson then hit the road and brought home three consecutive upset wins in the state playoffs to clinch its first state championship appearance — and if you didn’t believe the Jaguars were a “Team of Destiny” before, what is there to say now?
“It’s an amazing journey,” said Thomas Jefferson coach Heidi Karcher. “The girls had it in them. They always have. … I think those road trips really made us even closer, if that’s even possible.
“This team deserves it, 100%.”
The Jaguars wasted little time letting Adams and the Patriots know they would be in for a fight. After Shaffer pitched a scoreless top of the first inning, Olivia Stock led off the bottom of the first with a triple to the wall in left-center. Two batters later, Zoe Krizan brought her home with a sacrifice fly to give Thomas Jefferson an early 1-0 lead.
“[Stock] hitting that triple for the first hit of the game, that was huge. I’m really proud of her for doing that,” Krizan said. “Scoring that run, that really gave us confidence and made us feel like, ‘OK, we’re in this game. We’ve got this.'”
Pittston then struck back in the top of the third, when Sam Herbert roped a two-out RBI single that glanced off the glove of second baseman Morgan Alisesky. That brought Julia Long home to score the tying run, but Shaffer induced an inning-ending popout to strand runners on first and third and limit the damage.
Thomas Jefferson threatened to retake the lead in the bottom of the fifth, using a walk and single to put a pair of runners on base with nobody out. But after loading the bases with two outs, Adams got Alayna Grese to fly out to right to escape the inning unscathed.
In the top of the seventh, Shaffer returned the favor after Pittston loaded the bases with two outs, as shortstop Addi Bracco made a great running catch in foul territory to end the threat and keep the score tied. The score remained knotted at 1-1 going into extra innings, when Pittston attempted to muster some two-out lightning in the top of the eighth. Then, with runners on second and third and two outs, Shaffer punched out Gabby Roman on a full-count pitch to wiggle out of yet another jam.
“I’ve never seen a freshman pitch like that,” Karcher said. “She’s ridiculous. She is an incredibly hard worker. … She has been our rock this year.”
Shaffer’s strikeout set the stage for the bottom of the eighth inning, which Alisesky led off with a single to right field before stealing second base. That prompted an intentional walk of Grese, then another intentional walk of Ali Chalovich after a wild pitch put runners on second and third.
With the bases loaded and nobody out, Karpac then stepped to the plate and ripped a single to left field on a 2-2 pitch, bringing home Alisesky to clinch the victory for the Jaguars.
“I just know ‘Hoppy,’ our [former] coach, he’s looking down on us,” said Alisesky, referencing longtime Thomas Jefferson coach John “Hoppy” Mitruski, who died two days after the end of the 2023 season. “No one expected us to win in the first round of the [state] playoffs, second round or third round. … They all looked down on us.”
The team’s unquestioned senior leader, Krizan pointed to Mitruski’s tried-and-true slogan as the foundation for the Jaguars’ championship run — a slogan the girls live by to this day.
“He always said, ‘You can’t coach effort and you can’t coach heart,'” Krizan said. “I think every single girl on this team portrays that. We give all of our heart and all of the effort we can each and every game.
“We know no one person has to do it all. We’re here for each other, and we can win if we just work all together.”
Steve is a sports writer at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, but he's currently on strike. Email him at srotstein@unionprogress.com.
