ADAMS TWP — Rachel Pastorek had a decision to make.

And it wasn’t one the Mars High graduate took lightly.

Her choice was to attend Duquesne University to become a physician’s assistant and not play softball, a game she has played since she was 8, or attend another college and have a chance to continue pitching.

“Duquesne was my No. 1 school,” Pastorek said. “I always thought if I got accepted, that’s where I will go.”

Pastorek, who overcame shoulder problems at Mars before turning in a stellar senior season, also had opportunities to attend Saint Francis University, Seton Hill University and Gannon University to pitch, but turned them down.

“It’s definitely sad it’s going to be over,” Pastorek said.

Well, it’s not quite over.

Pastorek is pitching for the Pittsburgh Power 18-under softball team that recently won the Father’s Day Classic Tournament in Pittsburgh.

Pastorek was dominant in that tournament, winning four of the eight games with an ERA of 0.91.

Her performance didn’t surprise her former softball coach at Mars.

“At the end of the year, she really turned it on,” said Mars softball coach Michele Goodworth. “She was pitching like we knew she could pitch all along. She finally started believing in herself.”

It was tough for Pastorek to feel confident throughout her high school career because of her achy right shoulder.

The injury wiped out most of her sophomore year.

Pastorek said she finally felt normal this season.

“It was very frustrating,” Pastorek said. “I had a partially torn rotator cuff. That’s not what you want in the middle of your high school career.”

In her senior season, Pastorek wanted nothing more than to taste the playoffs for the first time.

The Planets had struggled during her time at Mars, in part because she couldn’t pitch they way she knew she could.

Mars came one game short of making the playoffs this season, but Pastorek was masterful most of the season. She finished her final campaign with 105 strikeouts in 77 2-3 innings and a 2.32 ERA.

“That was my only goal — to make it to the playoffs,” Pastorek said. “I definitely wanted to pitch as well as I could. Unfortunately, we just missed.”

Despite her shoulder woes, Pastorek finished with more than 300 strikeouts in her career.

But now that career is rapidly coming to an end.

Pastorek’s Pittsburgh Power season runs until the end of July.

“I hope we win a couple more tournaments,” she said.

Then, Pastorek said, she will be ready for the next phase of her life.

“I’ll get a team together with some girls and play a little,” Pastorek said. “Maybe if that injury didn’t happen, things would have been different. It’s time for it to end, I guess.”