Pittston Area’s Samantha Herbert rounds second base during a softball matchup on Wednesday, April 15, 2026. (JASON ARDAN / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
Pittston Area’s Isabella Kroski slides into home during a softball matchup on Wednesday, April 15, 2026. (JASON ARDAN / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
Crestwood’s Araceli Martinez runs to third base during a softball matchup on Wednesday, April 15, 2026. (JASON ARDAN / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
Pittston Area’s Samantha Herbert pitches during a softball matchup on Wednesday, April 15, 2026. (JASON ARDAN / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
Crestwood’s Emmersyn Seltzer tracks a fly ball during a softball matchup on Wednesday, April 15, 2026. (JASON ARDAN / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
Pittston Area’s Jillian Haas takes a cut during a softball matchup on Wednesday, April 15, 2026. (JASON ARDAN / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
Crestwood’s Brooke Lenahan pitches during a softball matchup on Wednesday, April 15, 2026. (JASON ARDAN / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
Pittston Area’s Julia Long takes a swing during a softball matchup on Wednesday, April 15, 2026. (JASON ARDAN / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
Crestwood’s Kayla Sinavage makes a throw to first during a softball matchup on Wednesday, April 15, 2026. (JASON ARDAN / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
Pittston Area’s Kelcey Podwika (10) rounds second base during a softball matchup on Wednesday, April 15, 2026. (JASON ARDAN / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
Pittston Area’s Julia Long celebrates after hitting a double during a softball matchup on Wednesday, April 15, 2026. (JASON ARDAN / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
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Pittston Area’s Samantha Herbert rounds second base during a softball matchup on Wednesday, April 15, 2026. (JASON ARDAN / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
HUGHESTOWN — The ball jumped off Gabby Roman’s bat and soared through the humid air.
It kept traveling, flying over the glove of the right fielder, who was charging hard toward the fence.
These days, Roman is proving to be a pretty tough out any time she gets to the plate.
The Pittston Area center fielder extended her hitting streak to four games Wednesday as the Patriots racked up 14 hits in four innings against a trio of Crestwood pitchers to win, 15-0, in Wyoming Valley Conference Division 1 softball.
The win keeps the Patriots (6-4, 4-1 WVC) one game behind Tunkhannock in the division standings. It was also an important win for Pittston in the Districts 2-4 Class 5A subregional standings as Crestwood entered the day as the No. 3 seed, while the Patriots were sitting at No. 4.
“Over the past few days and months, we’ve really been focusing on hitting. We want to make sure that we are hitting the ball hard every game,” Pittston Area third baseman Julia Long said. “Honestly, it’s about our confidence level. Coming into this one, I knew that we had to be ready because they have a good team. We have to be ready every game, and just have that energy.”
Roman has been on a heater here to start the season.
She’s hit safely in every game but two, and has been on fire during her four-game hitting streak — going 8 for 14, scoring seven times and driving in eight runs.
That included a three-run homer in Monday’s win over Wilkes-Barre Area.
“I think that I started off the season a little rocky, but I have been trying to stay back on the ball, keep my weight back and keep my heads above the ball. I just want to focus on hitting ground balls and line drives, and it’s been paying off,” Roman said.
Coming into Wednesday’s game, it looked like offensive fireworks were going to pop up at the Primary Center.
Pittston Area has scored at least 10 runs in all but two games. Crestwood (5-3, 2-2 WVC), riding a three-game winning streak entering the day, also has some pop throughout its lineup.
As it has done all season, Pittston Area hit.
Crestwood, though, couldn’t get it going against Samantha Herbert as the senior twirled a one-hitter with two strikeouts.
Brooke Lenahan had the Comets’ lone hit, a Texas Leaguer to short center field, while Kayla Sinavage was the only other Crestwood player to reach base, drawing a one-out walk in the first.
“Sam is just fantastic. She hits her spots and hits the ball. She does it all,” Pittston Area head coach Frank Parente said. “I’m proud of all the girls. I think that we swung great today. Minus the Mid Valley game on opening day, we’ve represented ourselves well. We still have room to improve, but today was our best at doing that. I hope we can keep ascending.”
That’s the thing with Pittston Area.
If the Patriots do the little things right, and limit the opponent’s opportunities with the errors, they are an extremely tough out each night.
Wednesday, they were clean in the field — including a 6-4-3 double play started by Liliana Hintze, and a nice grab in center by Roman to steal a hit away from Celia Stahlnecker.
“The last two years, it’s been more about getting innings back than games,” Parente said. “There is just an inning or two where we are giving teams five outs, and you just can’t do that. That’s something that we will keep working on.”
The bats weren’t a problem for Parente’s club.
Herbert ripped the first of her four hits on the day, Jillian Haas followed with a single to center, and Roman drew a walk to get the rally started in the first. Courtesy runner Isabella Kroski scored on a wild pitch, and Long drilled a two-run ground-rule double to straightaway center as Pittston Area had a 3-0 lead after one.
“The beauty about playing games is you see the things that you have to work on,” Parente said. “We made a mistake on the bases today, and in practice yesterday, our focus was baserunning because we’ve made some mistakes there in previous games. We did better on the bases today, but we still have room to grow there. You have to dot the I’s and cross all the T’s. That’s what we are trying to do.”
The Patriots increased it to 5-0 in the second on RBIs by Herbert and Haas, and busted the game open in the third, sending 14 batters to the plate and scoring nine of them.
Isabella Roman’s single past second base in the fourth inning scored Kroski to put the game into the mercy rule.
“We just have to keep doing our thing, hit the ball hard like we’ve done all year, and keep making plays on defense,” Gabby Roman said.