Borowski tosses perfect game in section opener

By: Kyle Moylan
Thanks to a little luck and a lot of talent, the Washington 10-year-old softball team went into action this past Tuesday night needing to win only one of its next two games in order to clinch a Section 3 championship.
   The luck came in the seedings. With only three district championship teams in the Section 3 Tournament (Washington won District 12), one of the three teams got a bye in the first round. Washington manager Peter Borowski wasn’t sure if his team got a bye because of prior success (it won the state title last year) or just got a lucky draw out of a hat. Regardless, Washington was off as Manasquan and Middletown played on Friday.
   "I’m not sure how they determined it, but we were lucky," Borowski noted.
   Middletown defeated Manasquan on Friday, setting up a Saturday contest with Washington. The game that followed had very little to do with luck.
   Julia Borowski struck out all 12 batters she faced and Washington’s offense did the rest in a 13-0 win over Middletown that was stopped after four innings because of the blowout rule.
   Julia was too shy to talk about her win. Her father was impressed and a little awed by how well his girl pitched, but at the time was too wrapped up in the contest to follow along with the perfect game.
   "I didn’t even think about it," Borowski said. "We’re just doing the best we can to try and win the game. I’m there trying to help Julia out by calling the pitches. So when the game ended, someone had to tell me it was a perfect game."
   This was the second perfect game in tournament play by a Washington player in the last two years. Lauren Fischer tossed one last year on the way to helping Washington win the state title.
   As the only team without a loss in the Section 3 Tournament going into Tuesday’s action, Washington needed a win that night or the next in order to reach the state championship round and go after its second New Jersey title in a row. The state finals are being held in Winslow from August 6-10.
   "We have a good team, but it’s quite a different one than won last year," Borowski noted. "Even people that are back (Julia Borowski, Leanna Gearhart, Paige Motusesky, Jessica Samel and Emily Risoldi all have a chance to be on back-to-back state champions) are playing different positions."
   Julia Borowski has moved from the third pitcher on last year’s team to the ace. Last year she was more of a first baseman. Leanna Gearhart has shifted from an infielder to a catcher. They have made a dynamic pitching duo.
   "Leanna is an outstanding catcher," noted her manager. "She doesn’t allow anything to get by her. She has a good arm and the pitchers are very comfortable when she’s back there. It’s important to have someone that can take control back there."
   And, if need be, Washington has several outstanding fielders on its team. They move around some, but Julia Kardos plays first, Megan Hevey second, Paige Motusesky short and Jessica Samel third. Courtney Stahlbrand, Kellie Hodson, Kaitlin Stahlbrand, Jamie Lazzaro, Olivia Armstrong and Emily Risoldi play the outfield.
   "We didn’t really need the fielding on Saturday (no balls were put in play), but they are excellent fielders," Borowski said. "And against Middletown, all the girls were hitting well and running the bases aggressively. When our pitching and fielding struggles, we can rely on the hitting."
   Gearhart hit an inside-the-park homer to highlight the offensive output.
   "It was a line shot that was well over all the outfielders heads and rolled to the fence," Borowski said. "It was a liner in the air that no one was near."
   Megan Hevey was 3-for-3 with a triple, double and single. Paige Motusesky had a run-scoring double.
   "We also had hits from a lot of the other batters," Borowski noted. "Ten of the twelve batters had at least one hit yesterday."
   It was an impressive showing from a team that was toughened up to play at this level by getting out of a very difficult district.
   "All of the teams in our district were superb," Borowski said. "I never made any predictions about how far we’d go this year. I knew it would be tough to even get out of our district."
   But Julia Borowski pitched a beauty in the District 12 title game. Then, in the Section 3 opener for Washington, she was even better.
   "To be honest, it’s kind of nervewracking (watching her pitch)," Borowski said. "She enjoys it, but it makes me nervous watching her pitch. I’m sure I’m a lot more nervous than she is."
   That’s because on Saturday Julia Borowski was a "perfect" little girl.