Softball team hits first snag of season
By: Steve Feitl
All season long, Cardinal coach Keith Fithen has talked about how his team has adjusted to being a contender, rather than an underdog.
But for the first time this season, the Cardinals this week had to adjust to losing.
The Lawrence High School softball team (5-2) hit its first snag of the season April 13, dropping a 3-1 decision to Colonial Valley Conference-rival Steinert.
The Cardinals followed up the loss with a first-round victory over Toms River South, 10-0, Saturday in the Hamilton East Invitational. But the host team survived the Cardinals’ effort in the finals, and defeated Lawrence, 2-1.
Fithen said the match-ups against Steinert and Hamilton were beneficial experiences for his team, but also showed what areas need improvement.
“Right there, we have two teams that we need to beat in order to get more accolades coming our way,” he said. “These are the teams we need to beat to get to the next level. We’re close but we’re not there yet.”
It was mental mistakes that plagued the Cardinals in their losses, and those errors started in the fourth inning of the Steinert game.
Prior to that point, the game was scoreless and played close to the vest by both teams, according to Fithen.
But junior pitcher Ashley Kenyon couldn’t handle a hot shot up the middle and Steinert collected it first run.
Then in the seventh, another mishap allowed a second Steinert score via a home run, according to the Lawrence coach.
“It should’ve been a triple,” he said. “Everyone on the team knew it. We were just slow with the relay.”
Then with one on and one out that same inning, Steinert knocked the ball down the first base line. Thinking there were two outs, Julia Ham grabbed the grounder and stepped on the bag — meanwhile, the Steinert runner was crossing home for the 3-0 lead.
“As soon as she stepped on the bag, she knew it,” Fithen said.
Despite handing Steinert the commanding lead, the Cardinals did not go quietly.
Ham came up in the bottom of the inning and singled. She eventually was brought home for the lone Lawrence run, but that was all the Cardinals could muster and their first defeat went into the books.
The two teams are now deadlocked at the top of the CVC standings with matching 4-1 conference records. The Cardinals will play Steinert again May 22.
“The game was very close, but eventually we just made some crucial errors in the later part of the game,” Fithen said. “Against a good team like Steinert, you can’t make mental mistakes. It caused us to lose the contest.”
Eager to redeem themselves after the season’s first setback, Lawrence took out its frustrations on an over-matched Toms River South squad in the first round of the Hamilton tournament Saturday.
The first four batters walked and by the time the first inning was over, the Cardinals had posted a 8-0 lead.
After that, Kenyon and the defense took over to shut down their opponents. The pitcher allowed just one hit and the rest of the team put up 10 runs by the fifth inning and the game was called.
On a muggy Saturday afternoon, Fithen thought the shortened game would be advantageous to his squad — especially since Hamilton (5-3) had gone seven innings with its first-round opponent, Florence.
The Cardinals took the 1-0 lead in the third inning, but couldn’t get any other base runners home. Hamilton notched a run in the fourth inning to tie the game and then won it in the seventh. Two Cardinal errors allowed the Hamilton base runner to advance to third base and a single brought home the winning run.
“My girls played really hard in that second game,” Fithen said. “We got up early and put a lot of people on base, but couldn’t finish the job. Even though we made some mental errors again, we hung in there. We just left too many people on base.”
What impressed the coach more than his team’s effort was its attitude after the loss.
While Hamilton was receiving the tournament trophy, the Cardinals were asking their coach when they would get another shot at their rival.
As fate would have it, that next opportunity comes Monday when Lawrence will host the Hamilton squad. Fithen thinks his team will be ready this time.
“The girls want the rematch now,” he said. “When a team says that to the coach, it gives him the satisfaction that they played hard, but want to do better. I think my team will be focused and ready for that next challenge.
“Hopefully it will be a situation where we rectify that last game.”
Notes: Tuesday’s game against Trenton was postponed due to inclement weather. It has not yet been rescheduled.
Prior to round two with Hamilton, the Cardinals travel to Princeton today (Thursday) for an 11 a.m. game. With Mercer County Tournament seedings being announced Tuesday, the Cardinals have high hopes over the next week.
“Hopefully we can get two wins and pull out a good seed in the MCT,” Fithen said.