Errors costly at Brearley
By: Rudy Brandl
The Manville High softball team certainly wasn’t satisfied after last week’s 5-0 loss to Valley Division rival David Brearley. However, the five-run margin of defeat reflected a major improvement over last spring when Brearley routed Manville by double digits in both meetings, the second of which eliminated the Lady Mustangs from state playoff contention for the first time in a decade.
Manville made the trip to Kenilworth looking to avenge the lopsided loss that ended the team’s state playoff dreams last May. The game might have gone scoreless for a very long time if not for two costly MHS errors that allowed the Bears to score five unearned runs, three in third and two more in the fifth inning.
"The errors killed us," Manville senior shortstop Dana Delesky said. "Then they hit a home run and get three runs. That really sets you back."
Daria Glynos belted a two-run homer in the bottom of the third when the Bears broke a scoreless tie and fine pitching duel between Manville senior Sarah Ortman and Brearley sophomore Jenna Vitale. Ortman, coming off a dominant 16-strikeout performance in a victory over Jonathan Dayton, had it going again at Brearley. She struck out seven batters and allowed six hits but was victimized by the two errors that led to five unearned runs.
Jesyka Marco turned a manageable three-run deficit into a five-run bulge with a two-run double in the fifth. That also came after the Lady Mustangs gave Brearley one out too many.
Manville put runners on base against Vitale but couldn’t push across any runs. Four different MHS girls collected singles and Vitale walked four more batters, but she worked her way out of trouble with 11 strikeouts. Delesky was particularly frustrated after her team was blanked.
"I kept popping up," said Delesky, the No. 3 hitter in the MHS lineup. "I was so aggravated."
Delesky reluctantly gave credit to her team’s rival, the same athlete they clamped down on defensively during basketball season. Vitale and the Bears defeated Manville in the first meeting, but the Lady Mustangs played their best defensive game of the season and romped all over Brearley in the rematch.
"She pitched well," said Delesky, a first-team All-Valley basketball player along with Vitale. "I can’t say she didn’t because she beat us."
Delesky, Ortman and the rest of the Lady Mustangs will get another shot at the Bears when they come to Manville in May. MHS head coach Ed Knapp has said many times this season that he believes his team will fare much better against most opponents the second time around. That includes Mount St. Mary’s, the team that rolled over Manville by an 11-0 score in the season opener.
"We just weren’t prepared for Mount St. Mary’s," Delesky said. "We didn’t have any live pitching. The batting cages just aren’t the same thing. I’ve seen so much improvement since that game."
Manville only played one game last week since the Hillside game was postponed. MHS athletic director Pat LaMastro said that the Lady Mustangs would be awarded a forfeit victory since Hillside twice tried to change the date and only had six players available on the rescheduled day. That would leave Manville’s record at 3-2 entering this week’s action, which includes road games at Roselle and Newark Central.
Knapp expects his team will win both of those divisional games to set the stage for a showdown against Bound Brook in Manville next Tuesday. Bound Brook has improved tremendously over the last two seasons and already owns a victory over Brearley.
"Bound Brook is definitely better," Delesky said. "They all started on varsity since they were freshmen and I’m a little worried. I hope to give them a good fight and come out ahead in the end."
Manville firmly believes it will return to the state playoffs this spring. If last week’s game in Kenilworth is any indication, the team should win enough games before the state qualifying deadline to make the cut.

