Apr 19, 2026 By Jerin Steele 4 min read

Taryne Drilak is well aware of the long list of successful pitchers for the Chartiers-Houston softball team.

In fact, one of them is in her household.

Her mother, Kerry Novak-Drilak, pitched for the Bucs in the 1990’s and went on to be an outfielder that had the go-ahead hit in the 1997 NCAA Division II National Championship for California.

Drilak also has Bucs coach Tricia Alderson, who had an excellent pitching career at Chartiers-Houston, to lean on and had a good view from third base last season to watch Meadow Ferri pitch.

Ferri graduated and is now at Kent State, so it’s Drilak’s turn in the circle and she’s proving that she’s more than ready to be the Bucs’ next ace.

Drilak, a junior, has allowed only seven runs, five earned, and has 89 strikeouts, spearheading Chartiers-Houston to a 12-0 start and a 6-0 record in Class 2A Section 3.

“I do take pride in it, especially since my mom and my aunt (Erin) played at Chartiers-Houston,” Drilak said about being the Bucs’ pitcher. “The family part makes me want to take pride in myself and how I’m doing.

“It’s definitely been a challenge that I was ready to take on, and I knew I was going to have to take on. I was excited to do it, and it makes me happy that I finally have my chance to be the starting pitcher.”

The Bucs will look to keep their undefeated season going when they play Carlynton.

In Drilak’s latest outing, she struck out 16 batters in a 14-2 win against Seton LaSalle. She also had three hits, including a three-run homer in the fifth inning, and drove in four runs.

Her success this spring comes after she gutted through the back half of last season with a knee injury. She battled through pain, while playing third base during Chartiers-Houston’s run to the state semifinals.

“I started to notice I wasn’t able to do all the stuff I could normally do,” Drilak said. “That kind of put me into a mental state that I didn’t want to be in. I wasn’t beating myself over it, but I was mad at times, because I was hurting. It was hard pushing through it.”

Drilak ended up having surgery in October and spent the winter recovering.

Now she’s pain free and thriving in the circle.

“She’s doing a great job and she’s coming back from a knee injury, so we’re really proud of her,” Alderson said. “We’re happy to see her progress and that she’s not in pain anymore like she was last year.”

Drilak’s move to pitcher has coincided with good friend Sydney English moving to catcher after Ella Richey graduated.

English has caught Drilak all the way through from youth ranks, so they are pleased to be working together in high school.

“It’s kind of a full circle moment,” Drilak said. “We have pictures of us from 8u when we first started playing together. Seeing us grow that much and becoming the starters on varsity is very cool.”

Another added bonus this season is that Drilak’s younger sister Kiera, a freshman, is on the team.

Kiera has made an instant impact as the starting third baseman. She has three home runs, which is tied with Seanna Riggle for the team lead, and is part of a prolific offense that’s scored 10 or more runs in all but one game.

Drilak is happy to see her younger sister get off to a strong start.

“We get along very well,” Drilak said of her relationship with her younger sister. “So far as a team we’ve been very successful, so I’m happy that she’s had a great experience so far. It’s been very awesome getting to play with her.”

Drilak has been successful off the field as well. This week she traveled to the Future Business Leaders of America conference in Hershey and placed fourth in the state in Computer Applications. Her performance was strong enough to earn a trip to the FBLA Nationals, which are in San Antonio in June.

“I joined FBLA my freshman year and made it to states, but didn’t do very well,” Drilak said. “Last year I took a Computer Application class, which was very close to my (FBLA) test. My advisor Mrs. (Lonni) Potts told me that (Computer Applications) was the test I should do this year, and I did well enough to qualify for Nationals.”