Aichele drives in Snell with game-winner
By: Rudy Brandl
NORTH PLAINFIELD Manville High softball coach Ed Knapp wasn’t sure how his team would perform in a close game.
Friday’s thrilling 5-4 victory over North Plainfield in the first round of the Somerset County Tournament proves the Manville girls are for real.
The Lady Mustangs had pummeled their first four opponents by a 57-0 margin with senior pitcher Christine Bradley firing two perfect games in the process. Only one game had been mildly competitive in the first three weeks of the season.
Despite all their dominance, the MHS girls couldn’t claim to be battle-tested entering their first tournament game of the season. Now they are.
Manville (5-0) fought back from an early 3-0 deficit and overcame the disappointment of allowing North Plainfield to score the tying run with a two-out rally in the seventh inning to win this county contest in dramatic fashion.
Sophomore right fielder Samantha Aichele delivered the game-ending hit on a line drive single to left field with two outs in the bottom of the eighth. Senior catcher Karyssa Snell never stopped running from second base and slid safely into home plate producing a cloud of dust and fabulous finish.
"Wow," Snell said after she was mobbed by her victorious teammates. "This is really great. We haven’t won a game like this in a while. We don’t get a lot of respect. This feels really great."
"More than talent, this showed me character," Knapp said. "They never wavered. They knew they were going to win this game. They showed real determination today."
Snell, who drove in three of her team’s first four runs, started the winning rally with a one-out single to right field. Bradley reached on an infield single to put runners on first and second. After the second out, Aichele stepped up and laced the first pitch from Catherine Phillips into left field for an RBI single.
"When I hit it, I felt relieved," Aichele said. "I was just hoping Karyssa would make it home. I just wanted to win."
Knapp never considered removing Snell for a faster pinch runner. Snell never considered stopping at third base.
"I was going all the way," Snell said.
"She told me before the inning that this was it," Knapp said. "She was so determined. I had to leave her in there."
Snell’s determination and leadership helped the Lady Mustangs get back in this game. They were somewhat shocked by giving up runs for the first time all season in an ugly third inning that saw North Plainfield take a 3-0 lead on three unearned runs.
The Manville girls chipped away with two runs in the bottom of the fourth to make it a contest. Robyn Barb got it started with a hard single to right field. After Barb moved to second on a wild pitch, Amanda Bron reached on an infield single to put runners at the corners. Snell plated Barb with the team’s first run on a ground ball out to second and Bron scored when Phillips made a throwing error after fielding a Bradley grounder.
Bradley started to gain some rhythm in the circle and shut down North Plainfield without a base runner in the fifth and sixth. Her teammates continued their rally with the tying and go-ahead runs in the bottom of the sixth.
Bron reached on an error and Rhianna Lebedz walked. After both players stole bases to move up to second and third, Snell brought them home with a two-run single to left field.
"I’m not used to doing well offensively," Snell said. "This is my best game in the last three seasons. It’s exciting."
Bradley continued sailing along in the top of the seventh, retiring the first two North Plainfield hitters to run her streak to 11 straight. Then, in somewhat stunning fashion, the Canucks tied the game. Jamie Miller singled, stole second and scored on a base hit by Sarah Grundman.
Manville had a chance to win it in the bottom of the seventh by getting the first two batters on base but could not push across the winning run. That happened in the very next inning.
"I’m very impressed by the way we came back," said Bradley, who walked three and struck out seven in the victory. "We’re so young, but we did amazing. We proved that we’re serious about this year."
The MHS girls remained upbeat on the bench despite spending most of the afternoon trailing. Eventually, once they got used to the faster pace of the pitching, they began to make things happen.
"They kept hanging in there despite everything that was thrown at them," Knapp said. "They could have folded. This shows championship character. I would have said the same thing if we lost 5-4."
"We were all nervous, but we played our hardest and we won," Aichele said.

