Softball
By: Jim Green
This is not how Lawrence High School softball coach Pete Cino hoped his team would be playing during the season’s stretch run.
The Cardinals dropped their second straight game and fourth out of five Monday, falling to Pennington 4-3 at LHS. The defeat came on the heels of a 9-7 loss to Allentown on Saturday that knocked Lawrence (8-6 overall, 6-4 in the Colonial Valley Conference) out of the Mercer County Tournament quarterfinals.
"I think we should have won," a disconcerted Cino said after Monday’s loss to the Red Raiders.
The problem for the Cardinals against Pennington was the same as it has been all season. Lawrence generally has received strong enough pitching to win. Unfortunately for the Cardinals, their bats sometimes are not as productive.
The Cardinals, who were shut out in losses to Hamilton and West Windsor-Plainsboro South last week, felt they were victimized by an inconsistent strike zone Monday.
"When she (the home-plate umpire) starts calling the ball a foot off the plate, they (the Cardinals) are going to have to start swinging at it," Cino said.
One bright spot for the Cardinals was the performance of junior shortstop Rachael Smith, who went 2-for-3 with an inside-the-park home run and two runs scored.
"I was happy that Rachael (Smith) really made contact with a few swings," Cino said. "She was able to stay back and really make contact."
Junior right-hander Kelly Hanlon fell to 3-4 despite pitching a solid game. Hanlon went seven innings, giving up four runs on eight hits while striking out five.
"Kelly Hanlon’s a good pitcher," Pennington coach Dean Waters said.
Pennington, though, was able to get to Hanlon early. Center fielder Hope Nemeth led off the top of the first with a single and moved to second on a stolen base. Two batters later, shortstop Cat Wojciechowski smacked a two-run inside-the-park homer to left center.
The Red Raiders added a single tally in the second. Right fielder Kristin Reiter led off with a single and scored after two Lawrence fielding errors moved her around the bases.
The Cardinals answered with a run in the bottom of the frame. Smith and junior second baseman Liz Casale notched singles, and a Pennington error brought Smith home, cutting the Red Raiders’ lead to 3-1.
The score remained 3-1 until the top of the sixth, when Pennington first baseman Robyn Jones smacked the Red Raiders’ second home run of the game to deep left center. Smith responded by hitting her homer in the bottom of the sixth, slashing the deficit to 4-2.
The Cardinals managed to put together a seventh-inning rally, started by a single from junior Jamie Searing. Senior first baseman Michele Van Arsdale reached on an error with two outs, scoring Searing. Junior catcher Erin Gomez then singled sharply to center, putting the tying and winning runs on base for junior center fielder Emily Panasowich. But Panasowich popped out to first, and Pennington pitcher Lisa Pachence escaped with the win.
"Lisa (Pachence) pitched a nice game," Waters said. "She’s a battler. It’s a nice win. That’s why I wanted to play Lawrence."
The Cardinals lost despite having their complete regular lineup in the game for the first time in quite a while. Panasowich missed several games during spring break, and Gomez was at a wedding California during Lawrence’s loss to Allentown in the county tournament quarterfinals.
Cino, who was at a wedding in Florida, also missed the county-tournament loss, although he tried desperately to have the game moved. Lawrence junior varsity softball coach Sue Bunn took over the reigns for the game and received some assistance from Lawrence athletic director Ken Mason.
The Cardinals led 7-5 after five innings, but the Redbirds won the game with four in the bottom of the sixth.
"I was frustrated that I couldn’t be there (against Allentown)," Cino said. "But I don’t think that won or lost the game. I think missing Erin (Gomez) was more important than missing me. But the girls responded well."
With the state tournament scheduled to begin on May 16, the Cardinals have little time to get back on track. They hoped to do so yesterday at Steinert, which entered the day 15-1.
"It’s nice to have everyone (on the team) around," Cino said Monday. "Steinert’s going to be a big game for us."

