MUSTANG ROUNDUP
By: Rudy Brandl
The Manville High softball team took a few lumps last week, but neither one of them was costly in the quest for the Sky Division title.
Manville (8-4) dropped lopsided games to Mount St. Mary and North Plainfield, the two teams it faced in the Somerset County Tournament. North Plainfield avenged its 5-4 county loss to the Lady Mustangs with an 11-1 triumph, while The Mount duplicated its second round SCT win with an identical 9-0 margin of victory.
Mount St. Mary (13-1) went on to defeat Immaculata in the county quarterfinals, so this is a legitimate ball club. Manville was no-hit in the county game but managed two base hits in last week’s regular season contest.
Manville’s bats also struggled against North Plainfield, which scored six times in the third inning to break open a close game. Rhianna Lebedz singled and scored on an error for the team’s only run of the day in the top of the fourth inning.
The MHS girls remained undefeated in division play with a 10-0 rout of Newark Central in Manville. Christine Bradley struck out 13 batters in a five-inning one-hitter.
Senior catcher Karyssa Snell had a big day at the plate, going 3-for-3 with a home run, triple and three runs. Lebedz roped a double and Samantha Aichle ripped a triple for the winners, who scored four times in each of the first two innings to take control.
Manville was scheduled to face Hillside in a big doubleheader Tuesday. Hillside is the main team challenging Manville for Sky Division supremacy.
Baseball team
still in Sky hunt
The MHS baseball team avenged its only Sky Division loss with a 6-3 victory over St. Mary in Elizabeth last week. The Mustangs came home and posted an 8-4 win over Technology the next day to stay alive in the division title chase.
Manville scored three runs in the top of the first at St. Mary. Jeff Opachinski singled and scored on a double by Dennis Petrone. Kyle Sopko belted a two-run double to score Petrone and Anthony Palovick, who had walked.
Opachinski, who went 3-for-4 with three RBI, drove in a run with a single in the second to make it 4-2. The senior catcher ripped a two-run single to score Pat Horner and Tommy Rock in the fourth.
Rock went the distance with eight strikeouts to pick up the victory. He allowed just three hits and two walks.
The very next day, Rock did some immediate damage with his bat by leading off the game with a home run. The Mustangs added four runs in the second and rolled to victory over Technology. Robert Wood and Angel Ortiz hit RBI singles and Sopko laced a two-run double in the frame. Opachinski added a run-scoring single and Chris Weber smacked an RBI triple in the fourth.
Rock went 3-for-4 with two runs and Ortiz went 2-for-3. Wood (4-1) picked up the win with six strikeouts and four walks.
The Mustangs still have two big divisional games remaining vs. Bound Brook and Oratory Prep. They’ll host Bound Brook today (Thursday) and play at Oratory Prep May 23. The other two games, at Bound Brook and home vs. Oratory, still have to be rescheduled for sometime this month.

