BY MIKE WHITE
Staff Writer
MIGUEL JUAREZ staff Lakewood third baseman Lex Wolfe slaps the tag on Central’s Shane Kriegstein on an attempted steal during the Piners’ 2-1 win on Monday in Lakewood. NEW EGYPT — Pitcher Taryn Pulvermuller scattered a pair of hits and struck out 10 batters last Sunday as the New Egypt High School softball team blanked visiting Toms River South, 5-0, in the opening round of the Ocean County Tournament.
The Lady Warriors squared off against Jackson High School in the quarterfinal round yesterday.
Pulvermuller’s brilliant performance was balanced out by the hot bat of shortstop Shannon Houston, who was 3-for-4 with an RBI.
“It was a pretty all-around effort by the girls,” New Egypt coach Carolyn Eckhardt said. “Our pitching and defense was excellent. That has really been the key to our season. Our defense has been very good.”
Pulvermuller, whose record is 9-3 this year, is not an overpowering hurler. In fact, her 10 strikeouts is a season high.
“She is not going to overpower teams,” Eckhardt said. “But she keeps the ball down and does an excellent job of locating her pitches. She was really hitting her spots today. When she does that, she is very tough.”
Pulvermuller, a senior, rarely issues free passes.
“She is always around the plate,” Eckhardt said. “She realizes her defense will make plays behind her, so she is not afraid to let the other team put the ball in play. She isn’t trying to be perfect with her pitches. Sometimes trying to be too precise can get you in trouble.”
Houston continues to lead the offense. She finished with a pair of doubles and a single.
“She is a tremendous player,” Eckhardt said. “She sees the ball so well.”
New Egypt, which improved to 13-3 overall, scored two runs in the fourth and three more in the sixth to seal the win.
“It was actually a very close game,” Eckhardt said. “Through three innings it was an old-fashioned pitchers’ duel. Then, we finally broke through and gave Taryn a couple of runs to work with.”
In a nonconference win over Westhampton Tech, Sarah Messinger homered as the Lady Warriors rolled to a resounding 11-1 victory.
New Egypt girls lax rolls
The Lady Warriors used a balanced scoring attack to post a resounding 12-0 win over Willingboro Monday.
Jennie Wysong finished with a game-high four goals, while teammate Kelly Mack added three and four assists.
Lisa Malloy contributed two goals and an assist as New Egypt improved to 7-3 overall.
Jax boys lax edges RBC
Matt Bell scored the game-winner to give Jackson a 7-6 triple overtime win over the Red Bank Catholic in a nondivisional game.
With the win Jackson improves to 7-6 overall.
Bell, Steve Mazurek and Frank Fedding finished with two goals apiece.
LHS baseball wins
The Lakewood High School (LHS) baseball team clinched at least a tie for the B South title with a dramatic 2-1 win over Central Regional Monday.
It marks the second year in a row the Piners will finish with at least a share of the league title.
With the score knotted at 1-1 in the eighth, Lakewood got back-to-back doubles by Garrett Macklin and Timmy Jacobs to snap the tie.
The win improves LHS to 10-2 overall.