MHS softball will play top seed in quarterfinals
By Justin Feil, Assistant Sports Editor
Emily Case has been able to contribute plenty to the Montgomery High School softball team this season, and her biggest hit of the year may have come Saturday in the Somerset County Tournament.
Her fourth-inning single delivered a pair of runs that ultimately amounted to the winning runs in a 6-2 victory over Gill St. Bernards.
”I just went up and tried to make contact,” said the Cougars sophomore. “It was nice to get a nice gapper. It was right between the shortstop and third baseman.”
It was only a mild upset, but ninth-seeded Montgomery got a lift from topping eighth-seeded Gill in their SCT opener. Gillian O’Connor allowed only two hits and delivered a two-run double to give the Cougars the lead for good in the third inning. Case’s two-run single followed in the fourth inning. Amanda Bolt went 3-for-4 with a double, and she and Case scored one run apiece.
”We were kind of low,” Case said. “We had lost a lot of games. We wanted to prove to our coaches and ourselves we could come back and win an important game.”
The win pushes the Cougars into the SCT quarterfinals against top-seeded Hillsborough, who beat MHS 8-2 after the Cougars held a 1-0 lead early.
”I would say we are absolutely looked at as the underdog,” said MHS head coach Heather Pino. “We’re going to go out there and take whatever we can get. If we can look to force errors on their part or look to steal bases, we’re going to do whatever we can to win. Anytime you get to play your rival three times in a season, that’s a pretty good season.”
The Cougars had won four of their last six games before falling to Bridgewater-Raritan, 4-0, Tuesday. There have been flashes of promise, even in losses for the Cougars, who are 5-11 overall. They held a 1-0 lead on defending SCT champion Watchung Hills before a two-run sixth inning handed them a 2-1 loss.
”It was a great game,” Pino said. “We were in that game every single inning. To come out and play these teams that are unbelievable powerhouses and hang with them, it helps. We’ve improved dramatically from last year.
”More importantly, we have such a group of coachable kids, they want to grow, they want to learn. There’s never a complaint when we’re doing a sprint, or redoing a play. They’re willing to do whatever they can to improve. Not to mention, I have a really nice group of girls. I enjoy going to practice.”
The ups and downs in the results can be expected of a Montgomery team that does not have a single senior on the roster.
”We’re younger than everyone we play,” Pino said. “Seniors bring a little different energy to the field. They know it’s their last season and they’ve seen people that come before them and seen what they’ve done in their four years.
”We have a lot of leadership with our juniors, Not even just our captains, all of our juniors have stepped it up. It’s just not the same as seniors.”
Budding stars like Case have helped raise hopes. She is in her second year on the varsity, and has been a consistent contributor. She bats second in the lineup, shares pitching duties with O’Connor, who is just a freshman, and plays the outfield when she isn’t pitching. She is more relaxed after going through a varsity season.
”I had some good experiences last year,” Case said. “I looked up to the seniors to help me and they were really supportive. We don’t have any seniors this year, so we’re trying to look to the juniors instead for their support and help.”
The Cougars looked more like a veteran team when they played Gill. They put together a solid game in all aspects.
”We came out ready to play,” Pino said. “We did well with our bats. We didn’t make errors. Errors have plagued us at times. We’ve made errors that have been crucial. We had good pitching. We were able to capitalize on key hits and make some things happen in the field.
”That’s huge (to win), especially when knocking off someone ranked higher than you,” she added. “We don’t have common opponents so we don’t have any way to compare ourselves. Our division is brutal to play in. We’ve lost some close ones. Going into that game, the most important thing as coaches we can do is to keep our girls as pumped up as we can and make sure they know we can win every game we go into.”
The Cougars are mostly juniors and sophomores, though O’Connor and fellow freshman Berna McCormick have been solid additions. O’Connor was faced with the bases loaded in the first inning against Gill, but escaped with just one run allowed.
”Luckily Gillian could tighten up and we could all work together to make sure they only scored one,” Case said. “It was really good to be in a situation where they could have scored a lot of runs and to hold them to one. That motivated us to come back and fight a little harder than they did.”
The Cougars have used both O’Connor and Case in the circle. For Case, it’s significantly more time pitching than a year ago when MHS had older pitchers.
”They’ve both done well together,” Pino said. “They do a good job hitting their spots. They’re both young which is great for the program. Both have unbelievable presence and stamina.
”Emily is unique. She’s also an outfielder. When she’s not pitching, she’s in the outfield, always coming up with key plays. Both are unbelievable hitters. They’re solid all-around hitters. They’re both hungry. They love the sport. Emily is also a great base runner which you don’t typically see with pitchers. Usually you get someone to run for your pitcher.”
Case has good game sense from playing the game for so long. She has been playing softball since she was in first grade. She played volleyball last fall, but softball is her favorite sport. She plays travel for Top Gun, and also mixes her time between pitching and outfield with them. She is happy to be in a bigger role with MHS.
”I was excited to pitch more,” Case said, “and I’m excited to share my time with someone as talented as Gillian is.”
The Cougars are trying to be supportive of each other. It’s especially important that they bond together with such a young group. When they have done so, they have been most successful.
”We need to believe in ourselves and each other,” Case said. “When we communicate with each other, that’s when we can all pull together and work together as a team.”
They saw it pay off with a win in their county opener, and they would like nothing more than to play another solid all-around game and try to keep their SCT run going this Saturday.
”We had lost quite a few games in a row and it’s hard to get that confidence back,” Case said. “Once you get a little momentum, it can take you a long way.”
It’s good to win a county game,” she added. “We’re going to hopefully keep our momentum going and keep up the positive things from that game.”