MUSTANG ROUNDUP
By: Rudy Brandl
Christine Bradley only pitches occasionally, but she’s made it count in both appearances so far this spring.
Manville High’s junior right-hander, who spends most of her time playing third base while Sarah Ortman pitches, fired a brilliant no-hitter at Newark Central last Thursday afternoon to improve her record to 2-0. Bradley nearly pitched a perfect game in the 13-0 triumph, allowing only two runners to reach base. She hit one batter, while another reached on an error.
Bradley struck out nine Central batters without a walk. She previously fired a two-hit shutout in a 15-0 rout at St. Mary’s of Elizabeth.
The Lady Mustangs scored early and often before putting on the brakes in the mercy rule victory. Bradley helped herself at the plate, ripping a solo home run in the first inning when Manville took a 4-0 lead. Dana Delesky ripped a two-run single and Karyssa Snell provided an RBI triple earlier in the frame.
Manville scored seven times in the second. Freshman Rhianna Lebedz, who went 2-for-2 with two runs scored, smacked an RBI double in the surge. Ortman belted a home run and finished the game with two hits, two runs and two RBI.
Other offensive heroes included Melody Leach, who went 2-for-2 with two runs and one RBI, and Katrina DeSantis, who provided two hits, a run and one RBI. Delesky drove in three runs for the winners.
The MHS girls took all the drama out of their road game at Hillside with a seven-run first inning. That was half the offense in the team’s 14-1 romp in five innings.
Ortman allowed only three hits and no earned runs, while striking out nine and walking three to pick up the victory. She also went 2-for-4 with three RBI and two runs scored.
Leach walked and Delesky reached on an error with one out in the top of the first. Ortman followed with a two-run double and scored when Jolene Hoffman reached on an error. Amy Walinchus, who went 2-for-4 with two RBI and a run, delivered a run-scoring double. Robyn Barb capped the spurt with a two-run single.
Manville finished the game with 11 hits and did some more damage in the fourth inning. Leach, Delesky, Ortman and Mick Aichele provided RBI singles to help the team end the game after five innings.
Track athletes
compete at relays
A handful of MHS track and field athletes battled against some big-time competition at the Somerset County Relays at Franklin High on April 16. The Mustangs posted some decent marks but didn’t score any points at the meet.
The discus team of Armand Fodorean (102-4), Mark Manderski (74-4) and Matt Kita (66-0) combined for a distance of 242-6. The triple jump tandem of Leo Rodriguez (32-6½) and Matt Golen (30-7) performed well. Mike Andreyko hit 125-5 in the javelin.
Ashley Shields and Nicole DeFalco each reached 12-2 in the long jump. The sprint medley team of Rodriguez (25.5), Golen (25.5), Roland Yakobchuk (64.0) and Andreyko (2:23) posted some good splits.
First-year head coach Michelle Mongillo wasn’t disappointed at being shut out. She simply wanted to give her athletes another chance to compete.
"I was getting them experience," Mongillo said. "It was a big meet and the kids were nervous. I like the meet. There’s no reason we shouldn’t be competing there."
The county competition should help prepare the Mustangs for some of the bigger meets in May. That stretch of championship competition begins with the Mountain Valley Conference Championships at Ridge on May 4-5.

