In the East Penn Conference playoff game against Pocono Mountain East, catcher Shana Gugliandolo showed just how tough you must be to be a catcher.

She took a couple foul balls off her mask before a third one really rocked her and left her bent over behind the plate with a trainer talking to her.

Eventually, she convinced everyone that she was fine and simply squatted down behind the plate and went on with her job. She led off the next inning and hit a hard fly ball to center field as if to prove that she really was OK.

All in all, it was just another game behind the plate for the junior catcher who has played 19 games this season, driving in 22 runs and batting .519 for the Lady Trojans. A big part of the task that Gugliandolo has undertaken is serving as the catcher for Katie Zaun, one of the better pitchers in the Lehigh Valley.

The two have known each other for years and Gugliandolo and Zaun have been battery mates for a number of years as well.

“She’s a great pitcher,” Gugliandolo said of Zaun, who is a senior. “She works hard at practices and her pitches are amazing. I just love catching her and it helps that we know each other because I can help her with her pitches. I’m kind of hard on her sometimes but we laugh about that, too.”

For her part, Zaun credits her catcher with helping her to develop and also appreciates the camaraderie that the two have developed by working together.

“She’s great,” said Zaun earlier this season about Gugliandolo’s work behind the plate. “We’re close and we give each other some pointers and we work together really well and cheer each other on.”

One of the offensive highlights of the season for Gugliandolo came against Northampton a couple of weeks ago. The two teams had met earlier in the season with the Konkrete Kids beating Parkland 2-1.

The Lady Trojans were looking for a little revenge but had battled through eight innings only to see the game tied 1-1 going to the ninth. Zaun had set Northampton down in order in the top of the ninth and Gugliandolo was set to lead off the bottom of the inning.

Northampton’s Kaitlyn Renson had retired 15 in a row and the only thought for Gugliandolo was to make contact. Gugliandolo took a 1-0 pitch and drove it out to left field to quickly end the game, giving Parkland a 2-1 win in extra innings.

“It felt amazing,” said Gugliandolo of the game-winner, which was her first home run of the season. “I was just looking to make contact and get on base so we could get something going but I felt right when I hit it that it was going to go a long way.”

While Zaun will be moving on to college, Gugliandolo will return next year for her senior season giving Parkland a known quantity behind the plate capable of breaking in the next in an impressive line of pitchers for Parkland. Having a trusted player behind the plate has served the Lady Trojans well and coach Barry Search is glad to have Gugliandolo written into that spot.

“She works so well with Katie, really, she works well with all of our pitchers out there,” said Search. “It’s so important to have a good catcher and we’ve got that with Shana. She showed today (against Pocono Mountain East) just how tough she is, and she’s been a workhorse for us.”