Team takes charge of Sky Division
By: Rudy Brandl
The Manville High softball team needed a break almost as much as a win. Last Tuesday’s doubleheader sweep of Sky Division rival Hillside provided a little extra bonus for the Lady Mustangs, who earned a full week off from games after winning twice to improve to 8-0 in division play.
Manville (10-5) was coming off three straight losses to non-division foes within a five-day span and had dropped five of its last six after starting the season with seven consecutive wins. Hillside came to town with two losses in the division and trailed second-place Dayton by one game, so the visitors could have tightened the Sky standings with a win or two.
The Manville girls were determined to remain atop the Sky. After rolling to an 11-0 mercy rule victory in the opener, Manville had to work much harder in the nightcap to complete the sweep, coming from behind to post a 4-1 win.
"It occurred at exactly the right time of the season," MHS head coach Ed Knapp said. "You start to get physically tired and emotionally tired. Any doubt that they weren’t as good of a team was erased."
The Lady Mustangs were starting to get a little shaky with their confidence after a tough 4-3 loss at Bound Brook the previous day continued a recent slide. Knapp was hoping to fuel the team’s fire after five errors literally gave the game to Bound Brook.
"They should be angry because they gave their chief rivals a game," Knapp said. "We talked about that before the games and they came back with fire and put a hurting on Hillside."
All the MHS girls got involved in the fun in the 11-1 mercy rule victory in the opener. Senior catcher Karyssa Snell had the biggest offensive game, going 3-for-3 with a double, triple, two runs and three RBI. Michelina Aichele, Rhianna Lebedz and Katrina DeSantis had two hits apiece and Robyn Barb, Amanda Furka and Christine Bradley each added one hit.
Snell got things started with a two-run double in the bottom of the first. Bradley followed with an RBI double to give Manville a 3-0 lead.
Barb and Aichele set the table with singles in the second. Lebedz and Snell later came through with clutch two-out RBI hits.
DeSantis and Barb collected run-scoring double in the third and Snell blasted an RBI triple in the fourth. Aichele and Katie Lukacs also contributed RBI in the first game.
Bradley finished off Hillside by striking out the side in order in the top of the fifth. The senior pitcher allowed only one hit and two walks and fanned 11 for the game.
She needed to go a full seven in the nightcap and her teammates had to work a little harder to complete the sweep. Hillside scored first and held a 1-0 lead for a while before Manville finally scored. After leaving the bases loaded in the first inning and two on in the third, the MHS girls finally got on the board in the fourth.
Singles by Lukacs, Jen Janovsky and Lisa Daniel loaded the bases. Barb and Aichele plated runs with ground outs and Lebedz stroked a two-run single to make it 3-1.
Manville added an insurance run in the fifth. Bradley doubled, moved to third on a Janovsky single and scored when Daniel grounded out.
Bradley (10-4) struck out 12 and walked two while allowing two hits. She and her teammates were feeling a bit tired after playing 20 innings in two days. Knapp felt that contributed to the sluggish second game vs. Hillside.
"Fatigue was a factor," he said. "We got a lot of people on base in the first game but then we started to get tired. Hillside couldn’t pitch but they could field and they could hit. Hillside was swinging the bats but we made the plays. Right now, we’re playing on a higher level than Hillside."
Manville hasn’t clinched the Sky title just yet. Knapp doesn’t expect his team to have any trouble in this week’s games vs. Newark Technology and St. Mary’s but the Lady Mustangs may still need to win the regular season finale at Dayton May 25.
"Dayton is going to want to get some revenge in their last game of the year," Knapp said. "We’ll have to match their intensity."