By: Sean Moylan
Chelsey Morgan has a special unspoken deal with all of her fielders. She’ll supply the grounders and pop ups and they’ll make all of the plays.
That deal formed the foundation for the Northern Burlington County Regional High School girls’ varsity softball squad’s 2-0 victory over Hamilton West in the Central Jersey Group III Championship game played before a huge crowd at Northern last Thursday.
The contest pitted Group III’s best hurlers against one another.
Yet while Melissa Mehrer is a sensational pitcher on a very good team, Morgan and her fielders are an inseparable unit bonded by more hours of practice and more tough games than any team in New Jersey Rancocas Valley included.
She pitches like the ultimate quarterback and point guard all rolled into one, using all the weapons at her disposal. She was "Montana and Magic" last Thursday.
Coming off the field with a 1-0 lead after the top of the sixth, Morgan let it be known that she needed another run with a softly spoken request.
"It’s an insurance run so that I feel a little better in case something happens," said Morgan, who struck out five batters, allowed three hits and ended up retiring the final 10 batters of the contest in order to win the championship.
Stefani Poedubicky, last year’s All-State all-star center fielder, had been hit by a pitch in the first inning and in the third inning she fouled a ball off her face, which drew blood and forced her to leave until the top of the sixth.
Therefore no one knew what the tough center fielder had left in her when she stepped to the plate with one out and no one on in the bottom of the sixth. That is no one except for Poedubicky, her teammates and Coach Brian Wolverton.
"I was real excited. I was really psyched. I had the mask on so I felt like I was invisible and I could do anything. I just laid off anything high and took my hacks," said Poedubicky, who ripped a hard single down the third base line to get NBC going. Suddenly, Hodge looked a little vulnerable.
"Stef’s (Poedubicky) a warrior. They all are. These kids go hard. Three years ago Stef got hurt in the beginning of the playoffs and didn’t come back until the state championship game. I know that was going through her mind and I also knew there would be no way to keep her off the field," said Wolverton.
Morgan followed Poedubicky’s at bat with her second walk of the contest. Then Kelly Lukacs slapped an infield single to load the bases.
"We only had one out so all I needed to do was put the ball in play and we’d score a run," said Lukacs, who is always thinking on the field.
Jaimie Walton followed with a long sacrifice fly to left. And the game was all but over at 2-0. For Walton it was a return to the heroics which made her a Bordentown Little League star by the time she was 10.
For the first two frames, NBC tried in vain to break through against the great Hodge. But when Kelly Miller was hit by a pitch to start the third, NBC saw an opening. Miller’s super-speedy courtesy runner Shannon Pennock moved to second on a Michelle Reed sacrifice and then took third on a Hodge wild pitch. Next up was Jess Mouse, who some call the best position player in New Jersey, who bravely bunted a two-strike ball back to Hodge on the third base side. With no chance to get Mouse at first, Hodge threw home to cut off a potential run at the plate. Only Pennock wasn’t running because the safety squeeze was on. However, when Hodge’s throw dipped under the Hamilton catcher’s mitt, Pennock raced home with the all-important first run of the contest.
"I had two strikes and "Wolve" (Wolverton) told me to bunt. We worked on that all practice yesterday (last Wednesday), so I felt confident. When she threw the pitch I got it (the bunt) down all I saw was her (Hodge) lying on the ground and I figured the girl had scored," said J. Mouse. "This is big because last year they (the Hornets) knocked us out and we’ve been waiting for this all season to come back and beat them now. We love playing against Hodge and we wish her the best of luck at Hofstra because she’s an excellent pitcher."
Hamilton threatened to score with two outs in the top of the third when Ashley Williams walked and Sam Mulvihill reached on an infield single. However, NBC shortstop Sammy Garofalo alertly held her tag, checking the runner at second. And when the Hornet baserunner came off the second base bag NBC had the third out.
Ever since Kristi Stefanoni stepped on an NBC field over a half a decade ago, the key position at NBC has always been second base. And NBC’s Kelly Lukacs did "Shorty" (who now plays for UMASS) proud when she made a high-flying diving catch on a one-out screaming line drive by Hodge in the fourth. The play grew in importance when the next batter Kate Elliott singled up the middle but was left stranded at first.
"The first thing I’m thinking is ‘Can I let Melissa Hodge on base?’ She’s one of the best athletes and base runner out there. Besides she’s one of their biggest threats," said Lukacs.
"I never thought I’d get that high (on the catch)…but I did."
The Greyhounds’ infield made several great plays during the contest. And their 6-3, 4-3, 1-3 top of the seventh fielding was a blueprint for fielding excellence.
In the end though, Morgan (25-3) stood as the difference maker.
"We prayed for this game. After the (playoff) loss last year, we knew we were going to see them again. We were fired up. We were ready!" said Morgan.
