By: Kyle Moylan
The members of the Washington softball team may have opened action in the state Final Four with a game they’d like to forget, but they finished it with one they’ll always remember.
After losing its first game in the state tournament, the Washington 10-year-olds won the next four in a row to win the state title. It is the second year in a row Washington has finished as the New Jersey champs.
"Give all the credit to the girls," noted Washington Manager Peter Borowski. "After they lost that first game, they came back and played better than ever. It was a rewarding way to win. We got down and then the girls accelerated to the finish."
While the Washington girls had several difficult games in the state tournament, the championship game wasn’t one of them. Washington defeated Pequannock, 9-0, on Friday night to clinch the title.
Julia Borowski won the game, striking out 13 batters.
"She was spectacular and the defense was flawless," noted the Washington manager. "We really hit the ball as well."
The big hit in the game came off the bat of Megan Hevey, who gave Washington the lead it would never surrender with a three-run homer in the fourth.
"She roped the ball clear over the outfielder’s head," Manager Borowski noted. "You don’t see that too much at this level. She crushed the ball. She really got it going for us."
Borowski added two hits and two RBI. Leanna Gearhart had a double and triple.
"Once we got those first runs in, you could sense the attitude on the whole team change," Manager Borowski noted. "The girls were all pumped up. Julia was just out there throwing strikes. She was in complete control and the girls in the field were playing with total confidence."
Washington then added five runs in the top of the sixth and Borowski finished off Pequannock by striking out the side in the bottom of the inning.
The Washington manager was taking care of some official business, so the water bucket salute ended up going over the head of coach Keith Motusesky.
"He deserved it," Manager Borowski said. "He’s done so much for the girls on this team."
The same, obviously, can be said of Peter Borowski. It wasn’t easy taking over a defending state championship team, with such high expectations and, for the most part, a new roster.
"It’s been seven weeks of a lot of work and pressure," Borowski said. "I’m a little relieved it’s over, but I couldn’t ask for a better result."
That title was certainly in doubt when Washington lost the opener to Harrison, 6-1. A two-run first by Harrison and Borowski’s unfortunate reaction to bug spray settled matters early.
"Julia’s arm turned all red and she couldn’t pitch," Borowski noted of his daughter. "That was one of those games where everything went wrong."
Playing against Roberto Clemente Little League the next night, everything went right for Washington in an 11-0 win.
Paige Motusesky pitched the first inning, but was taken out in case she was needed the next night. Kaitlin Stahlbrand made her first appearance on the mound for Washington in any of the tournament games and she struck out nine batters in four scoreless innings of work to pick up the win.
"She pitched on and off during the regular season," Manager Borowski noted. "We also warm her up all the time because we never knew when we might have needed her. Well, we needed her and she was fantastic. Her pitching really picked up the entire team."
Stahlbrand also had two hits. Borowski was 4-for-4 at the plate. Hevey had a single and a double. Motusesky had two hits. Gearhart and Jessica Samel had hits.
"That game gave the girls a lot of confidence," Manager Borowski said. "After that game we were thinking ‘let’s win this tournament.’ That was a good game for us."
The next night Borowski put away the bug spray and all of the Harrison batters, tossing Washington to a 2-0 win over Harrison.
"It was a good pitcher’s duel and we also got a great defensive game," Manager Borowski noted.
Washington got the only run it would need in the first as Gearhart tripled and scored on a groundout by Borowski.
In the fourth, Kellie Hodson beat out a bunt single and raced all the way to third as the ball was thrown away. She then scored on a passed ball.
"Kellie is very fast," Manager Borowski said. "We use her quite a bit as a pinch runner."
This win put Washington into the championship round against Pequannock. But since Pequannock was undefeated in the double-elimination tournament, Washington needed to win twice.
"Pequannock had yet to lose a game in the districts, sectionals or the state finals and we needed to beat them twice," Borowski noted.
Motusesky was up to the challenge, throwing four scoreless innings of ball.
"It was a scoreless game and a great pitcher’s duel and then it started to rain in the fifth," Manager Borowski recalled. "Both pitchers had to tough it out. The girls were drenched and the balls were all wet. It was crazy out there, but Paige pitched the game of her life."
With the weather playing a direct factor, Pequannock scored twice in the top of the fifth. Also taking advantage of the conditions, Washington scored three runs in the bottom of the inning.
Gearhart singled and was tripled home by Borowski. Motusesky was then hit by a pitch and Courtney Stahlbrand beat out a bunt single to load the bases. A bases-loaded walk by Jessica Samel tied the game. Julia Kardos was then hit by a pitch to force home another run.
Pequannock grabbed the lead back with two runs in the sixth. Washington put a runner on third with two outs in the bottom of the inning with Motusesky up at the plate with a 3-2 count.
"Paige is someone that likes the pressure," Manager Borowski said. "You figure she’ll do something to help us out. She walked."
A very wet softball then went for a wild pitch. Jamie Lazarro, who had reached by getting hit by a pitch, came home with the tying run. Motusesky took advantage of the wildness caused by the conditions to get to third. She was then replaced by pinch runner Hodson. When a passed ball followed, Hodson came home with the winning run.
"That had to be a tough loss for Pequannock," Manager Borowski said. "They were undefeated and leading with one strike to go. Then we come back and win it and force a final game. Absolutely, we felt we could win this. We were swinging the bats well, had good defense and pitching. We had everything you need to win."
The next night Washington defeated Pequannock again and did win the state title for the second year in a row.
"We called up Ed Horowitz, the manager of the 9-year-olds, and told him all the pressure is on you now," Manager Borowski laughed.
Horowitz was a star baseball player in college and ended up playing in the minor leagues in the Baltimore Orioles chain. But this is real pressure.
"If anyone can handle it, Ed can," Manager Borowski said. "He gets Megan Hevey back. He has a good start with her."
Borowski had five players back from last year’s state champions. Those girls were Julia Borowski, Leanna Gearhart, Emily Risoldi, Jessica Samel and Paige Motusesky. What he soon found out, however, was he had state champions up and down his lineup.
"We had hitters and power hitters throughout the order," the manager noted. "You can’t assume after the fifth spot in the order that it’s going to get easier. It doesn’t."
Just like the Washington boys that won the state baseball title for 10-year-olds, it was a complete team effort.
"The only bad thing about this is we weren’t able to go watch each other’s games," Borowski noted. "We were getting updates all the time, though. We passed each other coming and going. We were doing high-fives through open car windows as we passed each other (laughs)."
Just one more great memory in a summer full of them.
