Knights look to recover in Group III tourney
By: Bob Nuse
EWING The West Windsor-Plainsboro North softball team has been on quite a roll this season.
The Knights have qualified for the state tournament for the first time in school history, and on Tuesday night played in the Mercer County Tournament semifinals for the second straight year.
But even though North had won seven of its previous nine games coming into Tuesday’s game with Allentown, the Knights picked a bad night to play an uncharacteristically sloppy game.
North committed four errors, including three in the first inning, and fell to Allentown, 8-2 at Armstrong Field in Ewing.
"It was a hard night," North coach Jason Petrone said. "I don’t want to take anything away from Allentown. Their pitcher did a great job, they had a lot of spirit and they jumped out on top of us early and they kept us down. They’re on a roll and they’re rolling into the championship. But my team wasn’t the team I have been coaching for the past couple of weeks. We made three errors in the first inning and they scored four runs. We could never climb out of that hole. We haven’t been down like that all year."
The Knights bats came alive in the fifth inning as they finally got to Allentown pitcher Alyssa Ellerson, scoring twice to cut the deficit to 5-2. Brianna Taft drove home Lindsay Gargano with a hit, then scored when Christie Jensen tripled. But Allentown scored three more times and North couldn’t mount a comeback.
"It was tough from the very beginning," Petrone said. "We had wild pitches and passed balls and errors, that’s not like us. We made some mental mistakes. It wasn’t our night. They were the better team tonight and they earned the victory when it counted."
But even with the loss, the Knights continue to make progress as a program. They’ve now made two straight semifinal appearances in the MCT. And this time, they get to follow it up with a trip to the Central Jersey Group III state tournament.
"We were right here last year," Petrone said. "We lost to Steinert, 5-1. Last year we were a Cinderella. This year we’re having a good year and we were right where we needed to be. I would have just liked to have seen us play our game. We beat this team, 2-1, earlier. If we’re going to lose to them I don’t mind losing by a couple of runs. But this wasn’t the same team I’ve seen the last few weeks.
"We have a chance to bounce back and do something in the states. It’s not the end of our season. It’s great to get this far, but it is hard to lose. But we have tomorrow to look forward to and the games beyond that. We still have a lot of softball ahead of us."
And the way the Knights have played this year, the softball ahead of them figures to be successful softball. They’ve already set a school record with their 13 wins.
"They’re all down right now," Petrone said of his team. "But we still have a lot to look forward to. We play South next week at Ward Field and I don’t think we’ve ever beaten them."
The teams played a long 1-0 game earlier this year and the rematch should be exciting. Petrone is hoping Tuesday’s game was just a blip in an otherwise great season.
"I have to give Ellerson credit," Petrone said. "She threw harder than what we have seen since the last time we faced her. And they got up on us, 4-0. So we had to come from behind. This was really just the second time all year we’ve been out of a game like that at the beginning. The Montgomery game was the only other time it happened.
"But I think we’ll bounce back. These girls are tough."