Washington softball 12’s finish third in state

By: Kyle Moylan
   The Washington 12-year-old softball squad fell two wins short of winning a state championship.
   Of course, there is another way to look at it.
   "Yeah, you definitely go, wow, we were only two wins away from a state championship," Washington Manager Ron Ailey noted.
   For a team that started pool play 1-2, it was a heck of a run. Counting a win in its first game in the state tournament at Pequannock, Washington won nine out of 10 tournament games over one stretch. It finished up with an overall record of 10-5 and as the District 12 and Section 3 champions. And third place in the state is also pretty sweet.
   "I’ve been coaching all-stars since my daughter (Nicole) was eight," Ailey said. "This run was every bit as sweet as I imagined. In the past years when we lost, I was devastated. This year was great. There was nothing bad about this run (of games). The run was unbelievable. I’m so proud of all the girls."
   The run continued into state play on Friday, hosted by Pequannock. Washington opened with a 5-1 win over Little Ferry. Nicole Ailey pitched a two-hitter and also struck out eight batters. Ailey also had two hits. Erin Wojton was 4-for-4 with a run and RBI. Taylor Ponti had two RBI. Christine Levering had a hit, two runs scored and a RBI.
   "We were really excited after that win," Ailey said. "We were on a roll. The girls were all really playing well and confident."
   Washington carried that good play into Saturday’s winners’ bracket final. Wojton allowed two runs in the first, but shut down Swedesboro after that.
   "Erin had them off balanced and was really doing well," Ailey noted. "She held them down until the bottom of the fifth and then we made three errors and allowed eight runs."
   The game ended in the bottom of the fifth by the blowout rule, 10-0.
   "The umpire told me it was the closest 10-0 game he has ever seen," Ailey said.
   The next day Washington’s tournament ended in a 13-3 loss to Pequannock.
   "The competition in states was really tough," Ailey said. "We knew these were travel teams put together. Pequannock hit the ball a ton. Swedesboro catches everything and has really good pitching. These are two very good teams."
   Just like Washington. The Washington girls wanted to go farther, but all they had to do was turn around to see they were miles away from where they started.
   "This was just great," Ailey said. "Everything about the tournament was great."