Patriots, Eagles headed for A North softball showdown
First meeting is Tuesday
in Freehold Township
One week into a season may be too soon to jump to conclusions, but based on the way Freehold Township and Middletown South played, the Shore Conference A North Division will run through them.
Middletown South, the defending and perennial division champion, made a big statement last Thursday when the Eagles flew by the Manalapan Braves, 13-0, in a six-inning game in Manalapan.
The Braves were the No. 1 team in the Shore last year, and although they lost catcher Christy Kwiatkowski and other veterans like Allison Bartley, the Braves still returned a solid nucleus including 20-game winner Cherise Maltais, to be a contender in the division.
However, Middletown South, returning a veteran unit minus starting pitcher Heather Litzbauer, looked every bit like the Eagles who have dominated A North. They took advantage of every Manalapan miscue, rapped out 12 hits off one of the Shore’s best pitchers, and hurler Megan Kiefer tossed a one-hitter.
Left fielder Chrissy Plunkett and third baseman Allison Unterstein were South’s hitting standouts. Plunkett was 3-4 with a bases-clearing triple and three RBIs. She scored twice. Unterstein was 2-4 with a double and three RBIs.
Kiefer, who did go 5-0 behind Litzbauer last year, was sharp in limiting the Braves to a single hit, Laura Lamboy’s single to right in the fourth inning. The lefty struck out five. In her two starts, Kiefer has yet to give up a run and has allowed just three hits.
Tom Erbig’s Eagles are now 2-0 on the young season with both victories in the division (they beat Howell 2-0 in the opener). Manalapan, which had wins over Monroe (7-3) and Neptune (10-0), slipped to 2-1 overall and 1-1 in the division.
South won two highly competitive, close games with Freehold Township last year, which enabled the Eagles to win the division again. However, the Pats struck back at the Lady Buc Tournament winning the Monmouth County title with a 3-0 victory over the Eagles.
It will be interesting this spring to see if the Lady Buc win removed the hex that the Eagles had had over the Pats for a decade.
John DeVincenzo’s Patriots lost only one starter from that 2001 team and many picked them as the team to beat in A North. It would be hard to dispute that with pitcher Meagan Hennessy baffling hitters once again.
In Township’s first A North game of the season last Thursday, Hennessy authored a five-inning no-hitter against Marlboro. She struck out 11 and walked just one as the Pats had everything working for them in a 13-0 win in Freehold. It was her fourth career no-hitter.
First baseman Kristen Tozzi started it all off for Freehold Township, smashing a two-run home run in the last of the first as the Pats jumped out to a 3-0 lead. She was 2-2 on the day with a double to go along with her boundary blast and two RBIs. Shortstop Missy Elsbree was 3-3 with two doubles and three runs scored. Lisa D’Amore (2-3) and Danielle Verderosa (1-1) each had two RBIs as the Pats went to 2-0 on the season.
Freehold Township won a nonconference game with Kearny, 5-0, in its opener. Hennessy threw a one-hitter in that one.
A spotty offense was the Pats’ one drawback last year, but they appear to have overcome that this year. They are scoring early (two in the first against Kearny and three against Marlboro) and often this spring.
The first meeting between Middletown South and Freehold Township will take place in Freehold Township on Tuesday. The winner of that game will take a giant step toward the championship. The rematch in Middletown is May 9.
The Pats’ first game with Manalapan is April 23 in Freehold and the second game is May 16.