By: Carolyn M. Hartko
If the Monroe Township High School varsity softball team doesn’t qualify for the state tournament this spring, it will not be for lack of trying.
The Lady Falcons added a game to their schedule this past Tuesday in hopes of pushing their record closer to the necessary .500 mark, where teams have to be by Friday of this week.
The 10-0, five-inning victory over Marlboro did help the Falcons, though their hopes were severely crippled with a 4-1 loss to Carteret on Wednesday.
That left Monroe at 7-9 with a game scheduled for Thursday with Spotswood, although the weather was iffy at press time. And even a win would not help unless coach Keith Hudak was able to schedule another game for today (Friday).
"We’re trying to keep playing and we put in a couple of games there to give us more of an opportunity," Hudak said. "We usually play Marlboro every year, just as a pick-up. We gave them a call last week, and they agreed."
Junior center fielder Laura Gibbons led the offense, going 3-for-3 with three runs scored. Danielle Payne had a good day at the plate, too, going 2-for-3 with three RBI and two runs scored. Sophomore pitcher Brittany Salvatore threw a two-hitter with no walks.
"She actually gave up the two hits in the first inning," Hudak said. "And then she retired the next 13 in a row, until she unfortunately hit a girl with a pitch. But then she struck out the last girl to end the game."
Before the Marlboro game, the Falcons lost a close one to White Division foe South Plainfield on Monday.
"We gave them two runs in the first inning, came back and made it 2-1," Hudak said. "But we then ended up turning around and giving them a run on an error in the sixth inning for the 3-1 final."
Last Friday’s 5-3 victory at Sayreville spotlighted a problem that can occur when a scorekeeper makes a judgment call.
"We were losing 3-1 in the top of the seventh inning with two outs, and Jillian Chen hit a grand slam," Hudak said. "Their scorekeeper had it down as a double and three errors, but I just can’t agree with that whatsoever. It went through the right center field gap, and split the center fielder and the right fielder. It was a beautiful line drive that just kept rolling on a hard field, and around she came as the storm was rolling in. We were trying to get out of there and get the game in."
Whatever happens this week, the Falcons have put together a better season than could have been predicted.
"We’ve improved from the 0-4 start," Hudak said. "Defensively, we’ve been pretty consistent, and we’re starting to hit the ball a little bit better. Now we’ve just got to play error-free ball, and get the ball in play."

