Softball
By: Jim Green
The Lawrence High School softball team could not have picked a better time to rediscover its game.
The ninth-seeded Cardinals defeated eighth-seeded North Brunswick 3-2 Tuesday in the first round of the Central Jersey Group III section of the state tournament. Lawrence, which dropped four in a row earlier this month, returned to the form it displayed during its 7-2 start.
It was just the second win in eight games for the Cardinals, who improved to 10-9-1 overall.
"Maybe the pressure of a state tournament game brought them together as a team," Lawrence coach Pete Cino said of his squad.
The formula Cino wanted his team to rely on this season consisted of strong pitching and timely hitting. During the Cardinals’ recent cold stretch, they had difficulty putting that combination together. Their win over North Brunswick, though, went just as Cino might have scripted it.
"I don’t think the attitude has been missing," Cino said. "The team has been into every game. We just haven’t been able to get clutch hits, and we’ve had some lapses in the field.
"Today we were able to put all that behind us."
Junior pitcher Emily Panasowich and senior first baseman Michele Van Arsdale notched RBIs as Lawrence took a 2-0 lead with single tallies in the third and fourth innings. Panasowich, starting in place of the injured Kelly Hanlon, shut out North Brunswick through the first four innings. In the bottom of the fifth, though, she ran into trouble.
Panasowich surrendered a walk and a single to open the inning, and the Raiders’ Leigh Elko ripped a two-run triple that tied the game. Cino then went to senior left-hander Jess Goodstein, who escaped the frame without any further damage being done.
"Jess Goodstein shut the door," Cino said.
The Cardinal offense earned a win for Goodstein with a run in the top of the sixth. Junior shortstop Rachael Smith singled to start the rally and came home on an RBI single by junior second baseman Liz Casale.
"They (the Cardinals) were very focused and very energetic and totally into the game," Cino said.
The Cardinals were coming off a 4-0 loss to Mercer County Tournament champion Steinert on Monday at LHS. On Friday, Goodstein tripled and knocked in two runs as the Cardinals tied West Windsor-Plainsboro South 8-8 in a rain-shortened affair at LHS.
Lawrence will face another familiar foe in the second round of the state tournament. The Cardinals will battle top-seeded Hamilton at 3 p.m. today for a trip to the sectional semifinals.
The Hornets topped the Cardinals 2-0 April 28, as Hamilton pitcher Melissa Hodge hurled a no-hitter. Cino is confident his team can produce a different result this time around.
"I don’t think it matters much either way," Cino said of facing a familiar opponent in the sectional quarterfinals. "We know them, and they know us. I don’t think either team has an advantage. I give us a good chance to win."

