May 12, 2022 2 min read

Name: Sofia Celaschi

School: Charleroi

Class: Sophomore

Sport: Softball

Celaschi’s week: The hard-throwing left-hander has strung together 26 consecutive scoreless innings. She has not allowed a run since the fifth inning of a 2-0 loss to Frazier April 28.

She shut out Carmichaels for seven innings in a 4-0 victory; pitched six innings of scoreless relief in a 5-3 come-from-behind victory over Bentworth in nine innings; was unscored on in five innings of a 22-3 win over Washington; and tossed seven shutout inning in a 9-0 win over California. Add one inning at the end of the Frazier game and you have 26.

So what’s the secret?

“It’s having a good defense behind you,” said Celaschi. “They catch everything.”

Celaschi, who is a 5-9, has a 7-5 record with 129 strikeouts in just 75 innings. She was 5-2 as a freshman.

“I’ve had a lot of pitching coaches in my lifetime,” said Celaschi.

Celaschi has a fastball that hits in the high 50s. She also throws a change-up, curve and rise ball.

“I think my favorite pitch is the curve,” Celaschi said. “My fastball has hit around 57 mph.”

Celaschi comes from good bloodlines: her grandfather Fran was a longtime baseball coach at Charleroi and her father was a good player for the Cougars.

With Celaschi on the team, the Cougars made the playoffs last year, the first time since 2014. The Cougars defeated Carmichaels Wednesday for second place outright in Class 2A, Section 3.

“I never had anyone with a streak like that,” said Charleroi head coach Trey Tilgman. “I would say she is the best pitcher to come through the program. I have her for two more years. Man, that’s going to be incredible.”

Celaschi went 5-for-5 in the second game of a doubleheader against Washington. She had a home run, a triple and three singles. Celaschi was a double away from the rare feat of hitting for the cycle.

Celaschi is a two-sport athlete, playing middle hitter on the Cougars volleyball team.

Compiled by Joe Tuscano

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