Pennsville senior softball moves to within one win of another state title after another run-rule win and Bretz no-hitter
By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News
PARSIPPANY – One of these days Jess Bretz is going to throw a no-hitter that actually feels like a no-hitter. She has done it once before – on a level that seems a lifetime ago – and she admitted it felt “a lot better” than the ones she’s spun most recently in the Little League Senior Softball Tournament.
But, you know what, an ugly game or not, everybody on the Pennsville side of things will take the ultimate outcome from what Bretz has been bringing. After all, if you don’t hit, you can’t score. And if you can’t score, you can’t win.
Bretz spun her third no-hitter of the State Little League Tournament program Saturday, helping Pennsville turn back District One (Morris County) 12-2 in a six-inning walk-off at the Par-Troy East Little League complex. Now they play the Morris County-Roberto Clemente LL winner potentially for the state title across town Sunday at 12:30 p.m., a time moved up from the original in hopes of beating bad weather.
A win in that game will send Pennsville back to the East Regional July 22-26 in Worcester, Mass. A loss would force a winner-take-all game currently scheduled for Monday night. State champions from Maryland (Havre de Grace), Pennsylvania (Stroudsburg) and New York (Warwick), pool opponents for the New Jersey winner at the regional, already have been crowned. Delaware will be crowned Sunday.
Bretz most recent no-hitter followed the same pattern as the one she spun against Middle Twp. in the section tournament July 3. In this latest one, she walked six, hit two and gave up two runs in throwing 108 pitches. No balls made it to the outfield off the bat and she struck out 13.
In the one against Middle, she walked three, hit two and was charged with four runs in 74 pitches over four innings. She also threw a four-inning no-hitter with four walks and two hit batsmen against Elmer-Alloway in the district tournament.
“I like to keep it interesting,” the rising Pitman junior said after her sixth win in the tournament.
In the three games of the district tournament, Bretz’ command was sharp. She gave up four runs, seven hits, walked nine and fanned 29. In the three sectional and state games, she has given up nine runs, three hits, walked 16 and fanned 32.
She doesn’t blame the loss of sharpness on the games getting bigger – “I thrive on pressure,” she said – but rather limited prep. She threw five bullpens in the run up to the district tournament, but only one prior to each the sectional and state tournaments.
“I just haven’t prepared as well as I should,” she admitted.
Pennsville manager Chris Watson said his ace shouldn’t try to do it all herself.
“We talk a lot about command with her,” Watson said. “I don’t ever want her to feel like she needs to strike everybody out. We were talking about that a lot during the game; you don’t have to strike everybody out, be a little more democratic, get the players in the field involved. Use your defense, they’re a great defense and they want to be part of the game.
“It’s great to have a dominant pitcher, but I don’t want her to feel like she’s got to do it all. She should never feel like that. She should never feel like she’s got to gas every pitch. I think she wants to pop the glove and it’s like addictive and she wants to pop it every time and she gets a little wild. Kylie’s glove pops really nice when she hits it.”
The no-hitter didn’t feel like one to catcher Kylie Harris, either, but belonged as much to her as it did Bretz. Harris called all the pitches and positioned all the defense as the team’s self-described puppet master behind the plate.
“I can’t do it without my catcher calling all my pitches because if she calls the wrong pitches, it’s over,” Bretz said. “We go and scout every team so we know what they can’t hit and if she doesn’t remember that and she doesn’t know what to call or doesn’t check the swing, then it’s over.”
“How I describe it to a lot of people is basically they’re my puppets,” Harris said. “I’m the puppet-master. I’m doing all this, I’m calling everything. I’m working behind the scenes. They make me look good and I make her look good because I’m doing everything behind the scenes.”
Pennsville’s bats were popping just like Bretz’ fastball. They collected 15 hits, four for extra bases, and walked it off on Savannah Palverento’s double in a four-run sixth inning. They broke a 1-1 tie with five runs in the third, highlighted by back-to-back Bella blasts – RBI doubles by Bella Rappa and Bella Farina.
Each of the first seven hitters in the lineup had at least one hit; Farina and Leadoff Lily Edwards both had three. Bretz, Palverento and Rappa had two apiece. Harris, Bretz and Rappa each had two RBIs and Rappa scored the run that sealed it.
Four of Pennsville’s six tournament wins have come by the run rule. They have never trailed.
Pennsville was playing its first game since the passing of Rappa’s father Nick last weekend. The team honored his memory by wearing black “Nick 00” armbands, hanging his “00” silver chain in the dugout and displaying his photo on the bench. Tournament officials paused during player introductions to observe a moment of silence.
Bella had two hits and two pop ups and said her RBI double in the third inning “made me feel better about the whole game.”
“The whole week coming up it was very emotional because last year my dad was there (at the state tournament) and when we won he was the first person I ran over to,” she said. “He won’t be here this year so it’s kind of a shell shocker and when they did the moment of silence I didn’t know about it but it made me feel very good and really meant a lot. I had a little breakdown, but it was fine.
“In the beginning (of the game) it was on my mind, but like (Watson) said we’re a family and they’ll pick up you in a heartbeat, and that’s what they did. They made everything easier and took my mind off it a little bit.”
There were a lot of usual elements to the game. Among them –
Harris put Pennsville ahead in the first inning with a sacrifice fly to shortstop. Edwards led off with a bunt single and raced all the way to third when the throw to get her was wild.
Morris County tied the game in the second when a special pinch runner Watson challenged (and was overruled) scored from third on a ball-four wild pitch. Middle Twp. was denied the same type runner in the sectionals when the plate umpire at the time told its manager the rule had been changed to disallow it in June.
The game went into a 30-minute weather delay in the top of the sixth inning with two on, one out and the count full on the Morris County batter. During the delay, the original batter had to leave for work. A new batter was in the box when play resumed and she struck out swinging at the first pitch.
“It definitely was not the oddest (game she’s been involved in), but it was definitely one that stuck out,” Harris said. “Me and Jess communicate on the mound all the time; we just look at each other and we know. I was giving her looks all game that were like, are you serious? We kept looking at each other, like, what’s going on?”
Pennsville 12, District One 2
District One 010 010 – 2 0 1
Pennsville 105 024 – 12 15 1
WP: Jess Bretz (6-0) . LP: Leah Scalzo. 2B: Jess Bretz (P), Bella Farina (P), Bella Rappa (P), Savannah Palverento (P).
NJ LITTLE LEAGUE SENIOR SOFTBALL
State Tournament
at Parsippany
Saturday’s games
District One 10, Roberto Clemente LL 2
Pennsville 12, District One 2
Sunday’s games
at Par-Troy West LL
District One vs. Roberto Clemente LL, 10 a.m.
District One-Roberto Clemente winner vs. Pennsville, 12:30 p.m.
Monday’s game
at Par-Troy West LL
If necessary, 5:30 p.m.
Riverview Sports News 