Middletown High School South’s unbeaten softball team earned a berth in the Monmouth County Tournament championship game against St. John Vianney High School, while its baseball team advanced to the semifinals by knocking off No. 1 seed Ocean Township High School, 5-4, in eight innings, in games on Saturday, May 8.
Middletown South’s softball team advanced with an 8-0 victory over Wall Township High School, its sixth shutout in a 19-0 season, and will play in the title game on Saturday, May 15, at Wall at 2 p.m.
Middletown South’s baseball team next plays in the tournament against Manalapan High School on May 18 at FirstEnergy Park in Lakewood. Nick Mariniello, in only his fourth varsity at-bat, got his first hit when his single delivered pinch runner Greg Tognan with two out in the top of the eighth inning in the victory over Ocean to assure its furthest advance in the county tournament in seven years. Tognan ran for Rob Marcickiewicz, who walked, and stole second before scoring the big run in only the second extrainning game for Middletown South this season, the other an 11-7 victory over Howell.
“They showed a lot of heart and resilience overcoming adversity,” said Middletown South coach Ryan Spillane, whose 11-8 team overcame a 4-2 deficit. “When we fell behind, we saw the momentum change and we challenged the kids to rise to the occasion, and they did.”
Scott Bruno squeezed in the game-tying run in the fifth inning shortly after a run was balked in.
It eased the frustration of a pair of onerun losses last week to Marlboro, 6-5, and Freehold Township, 4-3, that dropped Middletown South from a first-place tie in Shore Conference A North with Manalapan and Christian Brothers Academy to fourth place.
As for the softball team, before taking the field on Saturday against St. John Vianney, it plays its toughest week of the season this week when it plays on Monday against the same St. John Vianney team it takes on for the title this weekend, on Tuesday against Wall, on Wednesday against Raritan and on Thursday against a Toms River East team with only two losses. After Saturday’s title game comes a Monday showdown against Red Bank Catholic.
“This will get us ready for the states,” said coach Tom Erbig.
It’s a good measuring stick for a young team coming off an NJSIAA Group III state championship season, but which last week clinched a third straight Shore Conference A North title and a 12-0 final conference record.
“In the beginning we had some people getting into different positions and getting comfortable and then knowing what they have to do,” said junior shortstop and pitcher Julia Kuhn. “We have a big week and need to take it one game at a time. We have to stay focused.”
“We just play one game at a time,” agreed senior co-captain Sam Penk. “It’s everybody hitting and fielding, everybody trying their best.”
That was evident against Wall when sophomore Erica Falvey, batting seventh in the order, belted a two-run homer.
Erbig marvels at his team hitting a collective .403 that is “even bigger at this time of the season” behind Kuhn’s blistering .662 average and Penk’s .453 and a .404 norm by clutch hitting sophomore Alex Jacinto. There’s also a .963 fielding percentage with 19 errors in 19 games and a combined 1.27 ERA by pitchers Allison Nolan, who has 11 of the victories, and Kuhn, who has the other eight. Kuhn has seen less duty on the mound of late to play more at shortstop, which Erbig said makes his infield stronger defensively. Most players in the lineup play at least one other position.
“Our pitching is very solid, although it’s not dominant, and we have 121 strikeouts between the two pitchers, which is less than last season, but we’ve only struck out 53 times, which is so much different from the past,” said Erbig. “We’re not making young mistakes.”
Kuhn and cleanup hitter Jackie Bates lead the team with 26 RBIs each, and Jill Troiano in the next spot in the order has 22 RBIs. Amanda Gallanti at catcher and hitting No. 2 in the order and third baseman Allie Muratore, batting eighth, move runners as the best bunters on the team.
Erbig said if his team “makes mistakes, they bounce back on the next play. They don’t make many mistakes back to back.”
That resilience showed in a recent 6-5 victory over Howell in which Middletown South trailed 5-1 entering the fifth inning. Earlier in the season, Middletown South pulled out a 7-6 nine-inning victory over Howell, scoring three runs in the seventh inning to send that game into extra innings.
Penk said those wins are “so important. It proves to us what we can do.”
But is the team playing its best?
“I think we’re playing well,” said Kuhn.
“Throughout, we have played well,” said Penk. “We have to focus game by game now. If we do that, we’ll achieve what we want.”