LHS rallies in seventh

SOFTBALL

By Tim Falls, Sports Editor
   The Lawrence High School softball went into the top of the seventh inning against Hightstown rather determined.
   The Cardinals scored six runs in their final at bat to upset the Rams, 12-7, in the first round of the Mercer County Tournament on Friday.
   ”That was awesome,” said winning pitcher Lindsey Mills. “We were are really intense. We wanted that win so bad.”
   Lawrence, the 10th seeded team in the county tournament, led 3-2 after three innings of play, but the seventh seeded Rams came back to lead 5-3 after the fifth inning.
   Trailing going into the last inning, Lawrence made sure to score as much as they could.
   ”We all thought ‘we’re not getting out, we’re not getting out,’ and when there were two outs we still didn’t let up,” said Mills. “We just kept rallying.”
   Amanda Sawasky doubled and had four RBIs in the win, Mills doubled and sent home a run, while Angela Parascando and Danielle DeFillippo each had an RBI.
   ”We kept the energy up and had great hitting,” said Mills. “We just stayed confident in our game.”
   Lawrence had 14 hits in the impressive win.
   After taking the lead in the top of the seventh, Lawrence closed out the game and held Hightstown scoreless in the bottom of the inning.
   ”We just wanted to win,” said Mills. “We had to hold them back. We couldn’t let any runs in. Even though we had a pretty substantial lead, we did our best and we won.”
   Lawrence lost to West Windsor-Plainsboro South, 7-0, on Monday.
   ”I think we just weren’t into that game as much as we were against Hightstown,” said Mills. “We just need to keep the energy up.”
   The loss to the Pirates mathematically eliminated Lawrence from the NJSIAA postseason. Teams need to have a .500 record by tomorrow to qualify.
   Had Lawrence defeated WW-P South, a win over Hightstown in a rematch yesterday and a victory over WW-P North tomorrow could have sent the Cardinals to the playoffs.
   The big win over Hightstown in the county tournament followed a tough shutout loss to Steinert on Wed. April 30. The Spartans posted a no-hitter with 10 strikeouts to beat Lawrence, 12-0.
   Lawrence defeated Hamilton, 7-4, on April 24 as the Cardinals contended to improve their record in hopes of qualifying for the state tournament.
   Parascando homered and tripled for the Cardinals, while Mills threw a five-hitter with six strikeouts. Allie Price, DeFillipo, Nicole Sebastian and Jennifer Albertson each had an RBI in the win.
   A 5-2 loss to Robbinsville on April 23 hurt Lawrence’s playoff chances.
   Lawrence also defeated Trenton, 13-9, on April 21.
   Parascando tripled and doubled for three RBIs against Trenton, while Mills doubled twice. DeFillipo had three RBIs, while Sawasky had two RBIs.