Senior right-handed pitcher Ashlyn Hillanbrand, just like her Parkland softball teammates, wanted to get to the Eastern Pennsylvania Conference championship game more than anything this year. She did her best to make that a reality.

Hillanbrand pitched a near-perfect game inside the circle, throwing a two-hit shutout while striking out six and walking none in leading the second-seeded Trojans (16-5 overall) to a 3-0 victory over rival and third seed Emmaus (17-5) last Tuesday afternoon in an EPC semifinal game at Parkland High School.

She was perfect through the first four innings, recording outs to the first 12 batters she faced in the Green Hornets lineup, including five strikeouts.

“I think everybody wants it,” Hillanbrand said. “I think everybody wants to get to the championship. And we did. We have to have a lot of energy like we did this game. I think a lot of us lost our voices. We yelled the whole time.”

Emmaus’ first hit came in the fifth inning in the first at-bat, but nothing came of it as Hillanbrand then sat down six straight batters.

Parkland scored all of its runs in the third inning. Senior Jenna Piatkiewicz had a one-out triple to right field. After freshman Allison Hunsberger walked, senior Cassidy Sweeney followed with a run-scoring single to left field. Then, senior Shana Gugliandolo ripped a pitch into left field for a two-run double to increase the advantage to 3-0.

“That was obviously a big inning for us,” said Parkland head coach Barry Search. “We were able to put a rally together and help out Ashlyn, who threw a great game. This was a big win for us because Emmaus has had a great season. We’re excited to get back to the championship game.”

Senior Lucia Ruimy went 2-for-3. Sweeney also had two hits for the Trojans. Gugliandolo finished with two RBIs, while Sweeney added one.

Parkland will now take on top-seeded Northampton in the EPC championship game Thursday evening at 5 p.m., at Patriots Park. The Trojans will look to get back on another streak of winning conference titles after last year’s defeat to Freedom in the game. They had won the previous six EPC crowns before last year.