Manville No. 1 knocked out in quarterfinals
By: Rudy Brandl
HILLSBOROUGH Thanks to a clutch game-winning hit by Heather Wall, there was only one Manville team in action when the Hillsborough Senior League softball playoffs began last Thursday night.
Wall’s big rope down the left field line sent Manville No. 2 to a 4-3 victory over Hillsborough No. 1 in a battle for first place and opening round bye for the post-season tournament. Top-seeded Manville No. 2 completed an undefeated regular season and got a chance to rest up for this week’s semifinals and championship.
"It put us in first place, but it also gave us an edge," said Manville No. 2 head coach Ron Klementovicz, who scouted the three quarterfinal games at Ann Van Middlesworth Park on Thursday. "More than likely, we’re going to have to beat them again in the playoffs, so this gives us the edge in confidence."
Klementovicz’s girls trailed by a run entering the bottom half of the seventh inning. The game was a continuation of a previous rain-shortened contest, which resumed with Hillsborough holding a 3-2 lead. Neither team scored again until the bottom of the seventh.
Kim Kaminski started the rally with a beautiful bunt single. Kaminski promptly stole second and moved around the bases on hits by Lauren Kohler and Lisa Lavenia. Hillsborough elected to walk Becky Borawski to load the bases and keep a force play in order, but the strategy back-fired when Wall smacked the ball down the left field line.
Amy Ortman went the distance to improve her summer record to 8-0. Ortman scattered nine hits and four walks while striking out five. She also contributed a two-run double for Manville’s first two runs.
Both pitchers settled in and the defenses played well during the entire contest, which had a playoff atmosphere because of the stakes.
"It was a good defensive game," Klementovicz said. "They’re a good team and we have to play well to beat them."
One of the games Klementovicz watched Thursday night involved Manville No. 1, which dropped a disappointing 12-5 result to Immaculata in the nightcap. Manville No. 1 had defeated Immaculata with a dramatic seventh inning rally during the regular season but Butch Jones’ team was playing short-handed and never really got into this game.
"I thought we could have moved on, but I don’t think it was our night," Jones said. "We hit some hard balls, but their girls were right there."
Manville No. 1 started the game with eight players but survived and actually took a 3-2 lead in the bottom of the first. That rally, like all of Manville’s offense on the night, was ignited by aggressive base running. Jones’ team managed only three hits and two of them were bunt singles by Heather Mathieu.
Jenna Breslow opened with a walk and hustled her way to two stolen bases. After an out, Amanda Palitchka had a great at-bat with many foul balls before working a walk. She stole second to put two runners in scoring position.
Renee Giraldi followed with a scorching line drive right at the Immaculata first baseman for the second out, but Mathieu executed a nice bunt to score Breslow. Palitchka and Mathieu eventually scored with aggressive base running plays when pitches got away from the catcher.
Immaculata scored two runs in the top of the second and one in the third for a 5-3 lead, but Manville tied the game with two runs in the bottom of the third. Palitchka singled to left but was erased on a fielder’s choice by Giraldi, who stole second and third before Mathieu bunted her home. Mathieu stole second and third and came home on an errant throw by the catcher.
That was the last run Manville No. 1 scored on the night. Immaculata right-hander Nicole Dudzinski completely shut down Manville No. 1, allowing just one more base runner the rest of the night.
"We didn’t hit the ball the last couple of innings," Jones said. "When we did hit it, we hit it right at people. We didn’t get any luck."
Manville wasted great chances to score in the second and fourth innings when the game was still very close. In both cases, Alicia Blair walked to lead off an inning and made her way to third base before an out was recorded. Blair did not score in either inning.
"That’s not too good," Jones said. "We had the same girl at third base with no outs twice and couldn’t get her home."
Blair stole second and moved to third on an error but Diana Weaver grounded out and Breslow fanned for the second out. Kristin Jones smacked the first pitch to deep left but was robbed on a great catch to end the second inning.
The game was still tied at 5-5 when Blair reached third base in the bottom of the fourth. Dudzinski struck out the next three batters to strand Blair again.
Dudzinski retired the final 12 batters and stuck out a total of 10 in the game. She walked five, but none after the fourth inning.
Palitchka struggled with her control and Immaculata took advantage. Palitchka walked 12 batters and seven of them came home to score.
Manville No. 1, which also lost a head-to-head matchup against in-town rival Manville No. 2 earlier in the week, finished its season at 3-6. That much-anticipated battle turned into a real snoozer after No. 2 scored five runs in the fourth inning and rolled to a 13-1 romp.
Several players got into the act for Klementovicz’s team. Kohler set the tempo with a walk and a run in the first. Kaminski had two hits and two runs. Borawski reached base three times with a hit and two walks. Lavenia went 2-for-3 with two runs. Stefanie Bocchino had two hits and scored once. Wall and Dana Shaute each got on base and scored.
Hits by Katy Walinchus, Lavenia and Bocchino combined with walks to Kaminski, Borawski and Ortman produced five runs in the fourth. Meanwhile, Giraldi and Breslow managed the only hits for Jones’ squad.