Jun 1, 2026 By Jerin Steele 5 min read

CRESSON – As a pitcher it’s good to have a slow heartbeat and that definitely describes Chartiers-Houston junior Taryne Drilak.

In her first start in the circle in the state playoffs, Drilak calmly and methodically mowed through District 6 champion Bellwood-Antis’ lineup.

Drilak pitched a three-hitter with eight strikeouts and Chartiers-Houston defeated Bellwood-Antis, 2-0, in the first round of the PIAA Class 2A softball playoffs Monday afternoon at Mount Aloysius College.

“I feel like I’m always really cool and I don’t really get excited or nervous,” Drilak said. “I always try to stay calm and collected. I trust myself and I trust our defense. I knew we were going to be fine.”

The Bucs, who have made the state semifinals each of the last two years, advanced to play District 2 champ Montrose (19-2) in the state quarterfinals Thursday at a site and time to be announced. Bellwood-Antis was in the state playoffs for the first time since 2015 when they were also eliminated by a team from Washington County. Trinity beat the Devils in the 2015 Class 3A semifinals.

Drilak retired 16 of the last 18 batters she faced.

Karlie Sweigart led off the sixth with a single to right field to give Bellwood-Antis its first hit since the second inning. Drilak responded by setting the next three batters down, two on a strikeout and a popup to shortstop.

She retired the side in the seventh to finish out the win.

“I was just hitting my spots,” Drilak said. “I was really focusing on throwing where I was told, because I knew that (the coaches) were going to position the defense where they were supposed to be.”

Bellwood-Antis freshman pitching sensation Lainey Stinson matched Drilak for most of the way, but the Bucs broke through with some small ball in the top of the fourth.

Seanna Riggle drew a walk and moved to second on a single up the middle by Tayrne Drilak. Brooklyn Hess laid down a sacrifice bunt to move both runners up.

Then, Sydney English laid down a squeeze bunt that rolled toward the pitcher. Riggle raced home and beat the throw to make it 1-0.

“We were just trying to put the ball in play and force them to make a play, because (Stinson) strikes out a lot of hitters and has good speed and movement,” Chartiers-Houston coach Tricia Alderson said. “We just tried to shorten up and put the ball in play. Sydney put down a really good bunt.”

The Bucs tried another squeeze but Mackenzie Schumar popped the bunt up, Bellwood-Antis catcher Hayden Taylor caught it. With the runners already breaking, Taylor was able to throw to first for a double play to end the inning.randolph

Chartiers-Houston added another run in the fifth on three straight singles.

Kiera Drilak and Lauren Rush had the first two. Then Aubree Randolph drove a pitch to right field to score one run. Rush also tried to score on the play but was thrown out by Devils outfielder Izzy Sweet.

“I just shortened up my swing and got my foot down, so when I saw it I just went for it,” Randolph said. “It felt really good.”

That was enough run support for Drilak.

Bellwood-Antis put some pressure on early, but couldn’t produce a run.

London McKee lined a ball to right field that took a wicked hop past Mackenzie Shumar for a two-out double, but Drilak got Abby Clabaugh to ground out to shortstop for the final out of the bottom of the first.

A heads up play by Randolph kept a potential run for Belwood-Antis in the second. Stinson was hit by a pitch with one out and was replaced by a courtesy runner, Peyton McCahan. Sweet lined a single to left field and McCahan tried to go first to third, but Randolph fired to Kiera Drilak at third in plenty of time to tag her for the second out.

“I heard Lauren (Rush) and Seanna (Riggle) yell three and I looked over and saw (McCahan) was going,” Randolph said. “I just said to myself that I had to get it there and just went for it.”

Drilak worked around an error in the bottom of the fourth with the help of her younger sister. Stinson popped a ball up with two outs between second and third and Kiera Drilak ranged over and stretched out her left arm to make a catch for the third out.

“(Taryne) pitched a great game,” Alderson said. “We knew we had to keep it a low scoring game, because Bellwood-Antis’ pitcher is tough to score runs on. Taryne did a great job and we played pretty solid defense behind her.”

After the Bucs scored their two runs, Stinson did not allow a base runner over the final two innings. She allowed six hits and struck out 10.

Stinson had 144 strikeouts on the season entering Monday.

“She pitched well,” Bellwood-Antis coach Heather Quick said. “We just didn’t have her back with our bats today. We had three hits and you’re not going to win too many games with three hits, unless they all go over the fence.”