MONROEVILLE — Defending a WPIAL championship must add a certain stubbornness to a team's psyche.

And the Mars softball team is playing the role to perfection.

The Planets entered Monday's WPIAL Class AAA quarterfinal against undefeated Greensburg Salem as the underdog.

But Mars received a three-hit shutout from Monica Glomb and the Planets scratched out two runs in the bottom of the second inning on their way to a 2-0 victory at Gateway High School.

Mars (12-8) will face Belle Vernon, a 2-0 winner over Ellwood City, in the district semifinals at a date, site and time to be determined.

Facing a Golden Lions team averaging more than eight runs per game, it was the Planets' offense that came out with the hot bats.

After tallying two hits in the first inning but failing to score a run, Mars received a bit of two-out lightning from the bottom of its batting order in the second.

With the bases empty, Kayla Durkin walked and scored when Jaclyn Skurko doubled down the right-field line.

Skurko made it 2-0, scoring on a fielding error on a ball hit by Glomb.

"Our bats finally came alive," said Mars coach Michele Goodworth. "We've been hitting the ball well, just not consistently. Early in the game today, the girls built off of each other."

Mars didn't record another hit in the final five innings, but with Glomb in the circle, it didn't need to.

Glomb recorded 15 strikeouts and no walks. She did hit two batters, but when she needed the big out, she got it.

With Greensburg Salem runners at first and third with two outs in the top of the third inning, Glomb forced a weak swing from Lions second baseman Amanda Weightman, resulting in a strikeout that ended the threat.

The only other Lions threat came in the top of the sixth inning, when Weightman and Jillian Croce managed consecutive one-out singles.

But Glomb fanned Rachel Roddy and Andrea Thompson to close out the inning.

The senior pitcher then set the Lions (15-1-1) down in order in the seventh.

"If she's not the fastest pitcher we've seen this year, she's the second fastest," said Greensburg Salem coach Jody Morgan. "We just didn't hit the ball today. They score just two runs and we still lose ... that tells me we just didn't hit the ball."

"(Glomb) doesn't want her high school career to end," Goodworth said. "We just had our team banquet and instead of treating it like an end to our season, we treated it as a celebration of our season."

Despite shouldering the loss, Lions pitcher Carrie Maier performed well, striking out nine and walking two.

The freshman struck out the side in the first and third innings and retired 10 straight batters at one point, a streak that ended with a Greensburg fielding error in the bottom of the sixth.

Greensburg Salem 000 000 0—0 3 2Mars 020 000 0—2 5 0Carrie Maier and Nina Marino; Monica Glomb and Brittany Berkopec.

W: Glomb (15 K, 0 BB).

L: Maier (9 K, 2 BB).

Greensburg Salem (15-1-1): Nina Marino 1B, Amanda Weightman 1B, Jillian Croce 1B

Mars (12-8): Monica Glomb 2B, Saber Horner 1B, Kelsey Ferguson 1B, Emma Wharrey 1B, Kayla Durkin R, Jaclyn Skurko 2B R RBI

Next: Mars vs. Belle Vernon, WPIAL Class AAA semifinal, TBA