Raiders hold on for 15-inning win
By: Justin Feil
For a team that had lost twice before to the Lawrenceville School, the Hun School softball team sure had a lot of confidence going into a third meeting in the Prep A semifinals Tuesday.
Confidence was rewarded after nearly three hours when Ashley Forman’s triple to right field drove home Jill Fonseca and Carly Evans for a 5-3 win in the 15th inning. With the win, third-seeded Hun was scheduled to face top-seeded Peddie on Thursday with a second straight state title on the line.
"It’s hard to beat a team three times," said Fonseca, a Hun senior. "We faced (Lawrenceville pitcher Jenna Forte) two times so we knew what she had. We knew eventually we’d score. She had to break sometime."
Forte at times single-handedly kept Lawrenceville in it. Hun had plenty of base runners, but couldn’t bring any of them around until the 11th inning. Morgan Cawley, who extinguished a Lawrenceville opportunity with a double play at shortstop in the bottom of the 10th, led off with a double and scored when the Big Red misplayed Kait Kirby’s sacrifice bunt. Fonseca drove home another run and Georgie Papacostas singled home another for a 3-0 lead. Hun needed all the runs when Lawrenceville answered with three runs including a two-out, two-run home run by Forte to continue the game.
"When they tied it, I didn’t know if we’d be able to come back," said Hun head coach Kathy Quirk. "We told the seniors this could be it for them. I’m really proud of them. They all did their jobs."
It helped that Hun never trailed, though there were certainly enough situations about which to be nervous. The Raiders never blinked.
"We never lost our composure," Fonseca said. "Even when they came back, we still stayed the same."
The Raider seniors were not about to lose Tuesday, not to archrival Lawrenceville, and not without a shot at another state final. Forgotten is a 3-4 start that included two losses to the Big Red. All they wanted was another state championship before graduating.
"It’s really motivating," Fonseca said. "We did it last year and we only lost two seniors. We have a lot of seniors and all of our seniors have been here since freshman year. It’s such a big thing."
Even Quirk noticed a new presence about them going into the game. There was a resolve from the senior-led Raiders not to lose, the same resolve Hun will take into the Mid-Atlantic Prep League tournament this weekend.
"They’ve just stepped it up even more," Quirk said. "Their leadership has been great."
Hun got to Forte again in the 15th when Hun had one runner thrown out at the plate, but Fonseca who had walked and Evans who reached on the fielder’s choice, scored easily on Forman’s fourth hit of the day.
"Ashley, she hasn’t been getting much time," said Fonseca, who has been working with Forman on her hitting. "But she’s been doing well. Mrs. Quirk knew she could hit and she had a huge game.
"I knew she was up and she’d been on all game," she added. "I knew we’d score."
Still there was the matter of a potential comeback. But Fonseca made like Atlanta Braves Gold Glover Andruw Jones in center field to fully extend for a low liner for the first out in the bottom of the 15th. That kept the pressure off when the Big Red’s second batter reached on a rare Raider error. Otherwise, the defense was there all game, including a pair of double plays.
"We’ve always been a defensive team," said Fonseca, who snuffed another Lawrenceville threat when she threw out their eighth-inning leadoff as she was trying for a double on a ball to the right centerfield gap. "We’ve had two bad defensive games all year. We always build out offense off that. Defense has always been my favorite."
"This was one of the best games we’ve played defensively," Quirk said. "We had a couple of nice double plays that helped us."
Hun did not play well in any facet of its last meeting with Lawrenceville, a 4-0 loss that marked the second time that Forte had shut out the Raiders. But the third meeting was different, at least after 10 more scoreless innings.
"This time we were playing for the state finals," Fonseca said. "We wanted to repeat from last year. It’s my senior year. We have a lot of seniors. Everyone really wanted it."
Fonseca grew more confident as the game wore on that the Raiders would emerge victorious. Even after Lawrenceville’s 11th-inning two-out comeback, that confidence didn’t waver.
"I definitely felt we still had it," Fonseca said. "We had runners on all game. They hadn’t been on Emily (Rosenthal)."
Rosenthal worked the entire game to improve to 6-5 in her senior season in the circle. She proved that the Raiders didn’t need much offense to make her a winner. Rosenthal scattered just six hits and had solid defense behind her to make for a confident combination.
"We were determined," Quirk said. "Lawrenceville was not going to beat us three times this season. Our bats have come around. They weren’t as good as they have been today and we left a lot of people on base. But I’ve told them that defense will win championships."
It just took a little longer than anyone anticipated.
"When it was the fifth inning and it was 0-0, I knew it was going to be a close game," Quirk said. "I never knew it would go 15 innings and end up 5-3. It’s a game they’ll never forget."

