Ortman fans 16 to stop Dayton
By: Rudy Brandl
The Manville High softball team surged into the victory column in a big way last week, winning two lopsided games by a combined margin of 23-2.
While head coach Ed Knapp didn’t learn much about his team from its 15-0 shutout win at St. Mary’s of Elizabeth, he was pleased with Thursday’s 8-2 home victory over Jonathan Dayton of Springfield. Knapp remains eager to see how his club will perform in a close game, but he was impressed with the improvement and confidence the MHS girls displayed against Dayton.
"They wanted to win so badly," Knapp said. "We had an incredibly spirited practice (Wednesday) and it permeated the desire to win. I could sense the confidence growing."
The Lady Mustangs worked on some of their weaknesses that were exposed in the season opening 11-0 loss to Mount St. Mary’s. Manville didn’t merely sharpen its skills in defending against the bunt. The team worked on its own little ball game.
"We worked on fielding bunts and bunting ourselves," Knapp said. "In the game, we bunted and we ran the bases with reckless abandon. And we struck the ball well."
Manville pounded out 12 hits, including two doubles, a triple and a home run. The big blast of the game came off the bat of senior Amy Walinchus, who drilled a three-run shot to break the game open in the bottom of the third. Walinchus finished the afternoon with a game-high four RBI.
Freshman center fielder Rhianna Lebedz showed she belongs in the lineup by belting a double and a triple. Senior shortstop Dana Delesky pounded a double in the first inning and scored the game’s first run. MHS scored three runs in each of the next two frames and added one more in the fourth before going scoreless in the final two innings.
"Dayton had a good pitcher. She was around the plate but we were aggressive," Knapp said. "They wanted to attack. They wanted to do damage."
Trailing 8-1, Dayton threatened in the top of the seventh. The visitors loaded the bases but settled for just one run against winning pitcher Sarah Ortman, who worked out of the jam and evened her record at 1-1 for the season.
Ortman had a huge turnaround game from the previous week, when she wasn’t sharp in the loss to the Mount Lions. The senior right-hander posted a career-high 16 strikeouts, including 9-of-10 batters at one stretch in the game. Although she gave up six hits, Ortman was overpowering.
"Sarah was as good as she gets," Knapp said. "He ball was moving. She was around the plate and wasn’t high in the zone. She stayed down in the zone and right around the plate."
The Lady Mustangs opened the week with a ho-hum mercy rule victory in Elizabeth. The MHS battery of junior pitcher Christine Bradley and catcher Karyssa Snell were the stars in this game.
Bradley hurled five dominant innings of two-hit ball, striking out 11 batters without a walk.
"Christine was very clever," Knapp said. "St. Mary’s didn’t play defense or run the bases, but they’re not a bad hitting team. She pitched very well."
Snell had a huge day at the plate, going 3-for-3 with a grand slam home run, double and game-high six RBI. Snell blasted the grand slam in the first inning when Manville opened a 12-0 lead. Robyn Barb also smacked a double in the team’s 13-hit attack.
"The girls are really pressing to make this a great season," Knapp said. "We have a tough game vs. Brearley but then we have a bunch of games where we won’t be tested."
Manville (2-1) was scheduled to host Hillside Wednesday and play on the road at Roselle and Newark Central next week.

