By: Carolyn M. Hartko
SOUTH PLAINFIELD Two different days, two different tournaments, same outcome.
The 2003 season ended for the South Brunswick High School softball team this week as it was knocked out of both the state and county tournaments. The Lady Vikings lost to Middletown North 3-0 on Tuesday in NJSIAA Central Jersey Group IV action, then fell 1-0 to Old Bridge on Wednesday. That completed their record at 11-11-1.
Wednesday night’s loss at the softball complex at South Plainfield High School was the harder to take, as it was helped along as the result of a technicality.
In the bottom of the seventh inning, with the game a scoreless tie, sophomore pitcher Sam Littlejohn was pulled when an umpire realized that SB’s coach had come out onto the field for her fourth conference of the game. At the time, the Lady Knights had one out, Amanda Meatto had walked, and Nicole Riggio reached on an infield single.
"The rule is, four conferences, and the pitcher has to come out," Viking head coach Danielle Matlack said. "But I did it last game, and nobody said anything."
So, in a Greater Middlesex Conference Tournament game that appeared to be headed for extra innings if Littlejohn could maintain her mastery, Matlack had to turn to freshman back-up hurler Amanda Ryan. Although talented, as witnessed by a no-hitter earlier this season, Ryan was thrown into the game without a proper warm-up and the weight of all the hopes of her teammates and coaches on her shoulders.
Ryan walked the first batter, loading the bases, but struck out the next girl for the crucial second out. The next batter hit a soft grounder to the infield, but it was mishandled and never thrown to a bag. Meatto scored on the error, ending the game, and South Brunswick’s 2003 GMCT run.
Both teams had chances to get on the scoreboard earlier in the game. There were plenty of singles, but no big hits, and neither side was able to string the hits together at the right time. Old Bridge had the bases loaded with two outs in the bottom of the fourth, but third baseman Nicole Monfasani scooped up an infield grounder and made the out at third.
And that wasn’t the only time the Vikings averted disaster.
With one out in the sixth inning, senior catcher Kim Ryan put out a runner trying to slide home on a fielder’s choice, and Littlejohn made a nice back handed catch on an infield fly to end that inning.
"There were a lot of instances in the game where we got behind on defense," Matlack said. "But we didn’t execute the way we should have when we were on offense. We did the same thing (Tuesday). We left a lot of people on base, and we did the same thing again today."
Monfasani and K. Ryan each had a single for South Brunswick, and sophomore Danielle Blair was 2-for-2. Littlejohn fanned four, walked one, hit one batter, and scattered eight hits.

