After winning six straight East Penn Conference titles and five of the last six District 11 championships, the Parkland softball team fell short in both endeavors this season, bowing out in the semifinals of the conference and district tournaments.

As it turned all out, regular season losses to Freedom and Northampton foretold the future of the Parkland season. It would be the Lady Patriots who caused Parkland to fall short in conference playoffs, while Northampton downed the Trojans in districts to not only prevent them from winning a championship, but also from competing in states as well.

The two regular season losses were the only ones for Parkland and were played as nonconference games, leaving Parkland with a perfect 16-0 record in the EPC and a 20-4 overall record.

Losing to Freedom in the opener sent a bit of a message to the Trojans. They ran into good pitching, and it focused them on working to develop their offensive skills, which they did well throughout the season.

As a team, Parkland hit .320 with a pair of juniors leading the way. Shana Gugliandolo hit .508 to lead the team while Jenna Piatkiewicz hit a team-high three home runs. Seniors Katie Zaun and Maddie Konapelsky each had two home runs for the Lady Trojans.

On the mound, Zaun was nothing short of great, as she threw her first no-hitter and finished the year with a 0.72 ERA.

With Zaun graduating, rising senior Ashlyn Hillanbrand seems poised to step into the number-one pitcher role for the team in 2022 after throwing in five games, one of which was a start, and posting a 0.78 ERA.

Hillanbrand will be helped by having Gugliandolo, who established herself as one of the better catchers in the league, return behind the plate.

The 2022 roster will have eight graduating players missing as Gianna Bigley, Madison Houser, Megan Sotack, Morgan Stay, Sydney Stewart and Emily Unger along with Konapelsky and Zaun all graduated this year. Konapelsky, Sotack, Stay and Zaun were all primary starters for coach Barry Search while the others played strong supporting roles for the team.

The good news is that there are plenty of players returning who also saw a good amount of action for the team in 2021. In addition to Gugliandolo and Piatkiewicz returning for their senior seasons and Hillanbrand set to take over in the pitcher’s circle, Search will also have Katelynn Gontkosky, Ellyana Kromer and Cassidy Sweeney back, who all played in 20 or more games as juniors.

Search, who won his 200th game as Parkland’s coach in 2021 and boasts an overall record of 228-37 as Parkland’s coach tends to classify his teams as “a work in progress” early in the season.

While that may be true early in the season as younger players step into larger roles, it is likely that Parkland will be right back in the mix to start new streaks in both the EPC and District 11.