Tough calls help Bernards advance
By: Rudy Brandl
Saturday’s Somerset County softball tournament contest between Manville and Bernards figured to be anybody’s game. That’s the general feeling when teams ranked No. 12 and 13 square off in a preliminary round battle.
The Manville girls even believed they had a slight edge playing at the friendly confines of their home field. MHS also had the harder thrower in senior pitcher Sarah Ortman. So, it wasn’t unrealistic for the Lady Mustangs to expect a win and a trip to fifth-seeded Somerville for next weekend’s second round.
Bernards brought the bats and gloves and turned out to be a better hitting and defensive team than Manville expected. The Lady Mountaineers certainly played well enough to deserve their 6-3 victory.
However, the game still could have turned in Manville’s favor if two somewhat questionable calls by the umpires had gone the home team’s way.
The first controversy came in the bottom of the fourth with Manville rallying back from a 2-0 deficit. Junior catcher Karyssa Snell reached on an infield single with two outs and was replaced by speedy courtesy runner Mick Aichele. Christine Bradley ripped a single to left field that was misplayed by Terry Vaughn. Aichele motored all the way home to make it 2-1 and Bradley hustled to third base.
That brought Amanda Bron to the plate with two outs and Bradley representing the tying run. Bron smacked a grounder in the hole between short and third and appeared to beat the play to first. Base umpire John Tierney, out of position all the way on the other side of the diamond, made the out call to end the inning and prevent the tying run from scoring.
Bernards came to the plate and added two runs to turn what should have been a tie game into a 4-1 lead. Manville kept fighting back but never fully recovered.
"It’s upsetting," Manville senior pitcher Sarah Ortman said. "Usually, the tie goes to the runner."
"Momentum is a funny thing," MHS head coach Ed Knapp added. "He missed that play big-time. We could’ve had another run."
Knapp was even more upset by a no-call that allowed Bernards to score twice in the top of the fifth. Lisa Scheer grounded out to second baseman Melody Leach with two runners in scoring position and prevented first baseman Robyn Barb from firing home in time to cut off the run. Knapp felt interference should have been called on the base runner.
"That girl interfered with Barb," he said. "The runner at home should have been out. There’s another run right there."
Manville continued chipping away, scoring another run in the sixth when Ortman roped a solo homer to the left-center field gap. Ortman’s shot made it 4-2.
"I was a little mad after getting hit with a pitch," said Ortman, who was drilled with a Katie McMahon fastball in the bottom of the first. "I was going to lean back and whale it. It was a good hit."
Bernards added two very important insurance runs in the top of the seventh on RBI singles by Scheer and McMahon. The visitors collected 12 hits and didn’t go down in order once the entire game.
"It wasn’t a pitcher’s game today," Knapp said. "It was a hitter’s game and a fielder’s game and they beat us."
The MHS girls had one more rally in them in the home half of the seventh. Knapp went to his bench and the reserves generated enough excitement to get the tying run to the plate. Jolene Hoffman singled with one out and Katie Lukacs was hit by a pitch with two outs. Leach smacked an RBI single to left and runners moved up to second and third when the left fielder bobbled the hit.
That brought senior shortstop Dana Delesky to the plate as the tying run. Delesky hit the ball hard all day but didn’t have a hit to show for it and the game ended with a sharp groundout to Bernards shortstop Megan Becker.
"We hit the ball hard, but their shortstop made all the plays," Knapp said. "They’re not considerably better than we are, but they deserved to win today. We’re happy with the way we played, but not with the result."
"Their outfield was amazing," Ortman added. "We were hitting, but they were always there."
Manville only struck out twice the entire day and put pressure on Bernards in just about every inning. Ortman struck out seven and walked only two in one of her better control outings but the visitors slugged a dozen hits. Both teams made three errors, but a couple of MHS misplays led to three unearned runs.
The Lady Mustangs (5-3) will try to get back on the winning track this week with a home game vs. a much-improved Bound Brook team and then a road date at Newark Technology. At worst, the team should end April with a 6-4 record, which is a good start toward qualifying for the state playoffs.

