Softball
By: Mike Molaro
The Hopewell Valley Central High School softball squad knows the challenge lying ahead to earn a berth in the NJSIAA Central Jersey Group III Tournament.
With a record of 6-7, the Lady Bulldogs must win three of their next five games against Trenton, Hun, Hamilton, Princeton and Hightstown to have the necessary .500 record by the May 10 cutoff date.
Throw in some unpredictable weather that could cause postponements, and HoVal has a tall order.
"The girls know what they have to do," third-year head coach Jack Kelly said. "Making the state tournament was one of our preseason goals. It won’t be easy, but I’m confident we can get the job done.
"We had a home game (Friday) that McCorristin canceled. They said they didn’t know the game was on the schedule and they can’t play because a lot of their girls will be on a school trip. I’m not too happy with that, especially with the state tournament deadline approaching."
After losing to Allentown, 2-0, on April 24 to Nottingham, 5-1, last Friday, the Lady Bulldogs put together back-to-back victories by defeating Ewing, 7-6, in eight innings in the Mercer County Tournament last Saturday, and downing Montgomery, 1-0, in 10 innings Monday.
Tuesday’s game at Ewing was stopped because of rain with HoVal leading, 2-1, in the fourth inning.
Against the Red Birds, losing pitcher senior right hander Casey Hansen was out-dueled by senior Abby Cotrell, who allowed just two hits.
HoVal committed six errors against the Northstars while junior catcher Maggie Perrine belted a double.
"We made a lot of errors and you can’t do that against a team the caliber of Nottingham," added Kelly. "Casey (Hansen) is pitching very well for us. There’s no defense against an error. We’re working hard on that."
Perrine’s single in the bottom of the eighth inning last Saturday scored junior Marita Kosek and carried the eighth-seeded Lady Bulldogs past the ninth-seeded Blue Devils in the MCT. HoVal faces top-seeded Hun at 2 p.m. on Saturday at Armstrong Park in Ewing.
Ewing held a 6-2 lead before the Lady Bulldogs scored twice in the fifth and sixth innings. Winning pitcher Hansen drove in two runs, while freshman Lindsay Sorg, senior Jen Salyga, and Kosek each had a run batted in.
"This is my first time coaching in the county tournament," Kelly said. "It’s a pretty neat atmosphere. There was quite a bit of frustration with these girls. They need to make the plays on defense and put the ball in play offensively. We scored seven runs against a pretty good team.
"The girls showed me a lot by fighting back and winning this game."
In winning their second straight, HoVal rode the right arm of Hansen against Montgomery. She allowed only three hits and struck out six Cougars while Perrine doubled home sophomore Megan Lanouette with the game’s only run in the bottom of the 10th inning. Junior Marie Goyden smacked a triple.
"Casey was very good," added Kelly. "This was one of our best all-around games this year. We made the plays. We got excellent pitching, played solid defense, and got the clutch hit when we needed it."
A big part of HoVal’s mini winning streak has been the ability of Kosek to get things going and the fine play of sophomore Stephanie Miller.
"Marita is the key to our success," Kelly said. "If she gets on base, we can do a lot of things. When she gets on, she usually scores. Meg (Perrine) bats second and can bunt her over. Then we have Casey (Hansen) and (senior) Jen (Travagline) coming up. We have problems when she doesn’t get on base.
"Stephanie is hitting the ball real well and is playing good defense at second base. That’s allowed us to do some other things defensively."
As Kelly said, the Lady Bulldogs know what they have to do to earn a berth in the state tournament. It won’t be easy, but nothing worth going after rarely is.