Gianna Adams’ Softball Team Number Retired

PITTSTON – Pittston Area Board of Education recently honored the 2024 varsity softball team for their outstanding season as PIAA 5A State Champion runner up, prior to the Board’s July meeting. In a surprise move, the Board decided to retire graduate pitcher Gianna Adams’ number.

Superintendent Kevin Booth made the announcement at the beginning of the meeting the Board decided to honor Adams for her outstanding pitching career where she guided the team twice to the State Championship game taking the title in 2022 when the team was undefeated.

“Being that we have so many school that this individual accomplished, we feel as though no would should wear number 16 again,” Booth said, on retiring Adams number during the meeting. “This jersey will be in the display case (at the High School) next to the two trophies you helped to earn.”

Over Adams’ four-years as the team’s starting pitcher, she helped amass a 65-10 record, with a career ERA of 0.75, striking out 824 batters, averaging 206 strike outs per year.

Adams was no slouch at the plate either. She finished with a .364 career batting average and 58 RBIs, including seven home runs.

In her senior season alone, she struck out nearly 300 batters, which is an astonishing accomplishment.

Pittston Area softball head coach Frank Parente was Adams’ varsity coach for all four-years where he got to see a young freshman gain strength and confidence each and every year through senior year when she became the league’s most dominant pitcher.

Parente admits he was not prepared to speak at the board meeting, but said during the whole ceremony, he began to think about Adams, for the first time, not in a softball way but for all quality time he spent with a remarkable individual she turned out to be.

“At the school board meeting, all I was thinking about was our one-on-one conversations,” Parente said. “From when she was in 8th grade, you know how you try to mold this sweetheart to be an assassin to want to just destroy everybody – those were my plans and I just reflected back to when we met when she was in 8th grade.”

He continued to say, “I just thought back to not just one game with Gianna, but I was reflecting back on who she was when we met for the first time and I was thinking back to the years like 9th grade and 10th grade. It was so much about the conversations Gianna and I had over the years.”

Parente is thrilled Adams received all the accolades she deserved for her career, but he’s not sure if she fully grasps the whole concept of having her number retired.

“This kid is not going to understand what she did or what she accomplished until she’s older and she has kids,” Parente said chuckling. “One day she will say, ‘Oh my God, I did this?’ Her parents get it, but she doesn’t get it. What Gianna gets is, she knows that it wasn’t as easy as everybody thinks it was. She worked and she worked hard and it wasn’t as easy as she made it look.”

Adams received many accolades over her career but her biggest two have been statewide acknowledgements.

She was named three-time PIAA Class 5A PA State Pitcher of the Year and three-time PA 5A First All-State Team.

Adams, herself, would admit, she’s never been into statistics as much as she was a team player and winning games, “Winning the game is the ultimate goal.”

After winning the PIAA 5A State Championship in 2022, it didn’t dawn on her for an entire year of what she and her teammates accomplished by winning a state title.

“My sophomore year, it took a while to realize what it meant,” Adams said. “I wouldn’t say I took it for granted, but I didn’t realize how big of an accomplishment it was and it took over a year, but I do appreciate it now and will appreciate it more as I get older.”

Adams said during the season she’s all about being focused and prepared for each game, not letting her guard down until season’s end and never wanted to hear her stats.

“I definitely don’t realize things in the game and I really just focus and zone in,” Adams admits. “At least after the season I really take it all in and I really get to appreciate it.”

After Adams’ number was retired by the Board of Education she had a chanced to reflect.

“I know my parents always tell me that I don’t understand how big a deal it really is and they tell me I will some day,” Adams admitted. “I think they are right and I definitely appreciate it and it means so much to me and at the end of the day I don’t I will really understand how amazing it is until I get older and maybe in college or after college I’ll look back and I’ll such great memories looking back and then maybe I think that will be when I’ll truly understand.”

Adams will enter freshman year at Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, this fall and will play softball beginning in September.