It has been a memorable and historic month of June for Emily Bausher and the New Egypt High School softball team.
New Egypt High School pitcher Emily Bausher prepares to deliver a pitch to a Wood-Ridge High School batter during the NJSIAA Group I state championship softball game on June 5 in Toms River. Bausher struck out 17 batters and allowed only one hit as the Warriors won the state crown, 3-0. With the victory, New Egypt concluded a 29-2 softball campaign this spring. For more photos, visit gmnews.com. ERIC SUCAR staff Fresh off becoming only the third softball pitcher in state history to strike out 400 batters in a single season, Bausher, a junior right-hander, held the Wood-Ridge High School squad to one hit and struck out 17 as New Egypt won its second New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association Group I state championship in five years, 3-0, on June 5 at Toms River East High School in Toms River.
Add to that a second straight Ocean County Tournament championship, being the first Group I school in 29 years to win the Hammonton Tournament, and claiming the Burlington County Scholastic League’s inaugural tournament over Rancocas Valley on a game-winning home run in the ninth inning by Kayla Soles that avenged an earlier loss, all with no seniors in the starting lineup, and more glory could be in store for New Egypt in the future.
“Emily pitched as consistently as she always has,” said Kevin English, whose team won its last 21 games in a 29-2 season during his first year as head coach. “She had a great warmup [before the state championship game]. Early in the game, she had command of the strike zone and she mixed it up, and later she used a breaking ball to keep the hitters off-balance.”
Only a bloop single over the right side of the infield by Wood-Ridge’s lead-off hitter in the fourth inning disrupted an otherwise superb performance for Bausher, who struck out the first nine batters and six of the last seven she faced before the New Egypt players piled on one another in right field for a post-game victory celebration.
Bausher’s 17 strikeouts was one shy of the season-high 18 she threw twice this spring. She finished the 2010 campaign with 422 strikeouts, after the national federation moved the pitcher’s circle from 40 to 43 feet from home plate in an attempt to put more offense into the sport.
“For her, it [moving the pitching circle back] made her more effective,” said English. “She has a lot of movement [on her pitches]. The ball breaks earlier.”
Wood-Ridge, making its first trip to the state finals since 1983, ended the season with a record of 20-12.
No runner reached second base against Bausher, although she got some defensive help in the fifth inning. Bausher walked a batter, struck out the next hitter and then got the lead runner when a bunt was fielded cleanly down the third base line and the play was made at second base.
The other three outs that were recorded by the New Egypt defense came on a popout and two ground-outs.
Bausher helped herself with two hits, including a single in the sixth inning that drove in the final run, and she scored the first run of the game after getting her first hit in the fifth inning. Both New Egypt rallies started with two out.
After reaching base in the fifth inning, Bausher stole second before scoring on Erika Tucker’s single to center field. Soles, who has made a college commitment to Louisville, drove in Tucker with a double.
An inning later, Sam Bendick reached on an error and Krysta Plummer was hit by a pitch. Alexa Magnotta beat out a bouncer for an infield hit before Bausher singled to left field to score the Warriors’ final run.
It took off some of the tension of the earlier innings when the Warriors had base runners and came up empty, especially in the second inning when Sam Beckett was thrown out at the plate trying to score on a fly ball hit to left field by Plummer. Beckett had lined a double and was bunted to third by Bendick.
In the bottom of the first inning, New Egypt had runners on second and third base when Haley Anderson was coaxed into an inning-ending line-out. Tucker walked and was forced by Soles, and Morgan Knigge lined a double to put runners in scoring position for Anderson.
The season was a maturing experience for the young lineup and a learning experience for the coach.
“As the season went along, I learned more about the team and we got more creative,” said English. “As a group, they did a good job of meshing together and enjoying each other’s company. They are a group of great kids.”
This group of players is expecting to enjoy one another’s company again next season when the Warriors will be in pursuit of another state championship.