Pennsville LL Senior Softball All-Stars rally twice to beat District One for state title, heading back to Massachusetts for regionals
By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News
MORRIS PLAINS – Pennsville’s senior softball all-stars hadn’t faced much – if any – adversity in their first six games of the State Little League Tournament ladder, but they had all of it they could handle Tuesday night.
And handle it they did.
Pennsville came behind twice in the middle innings against Morris County District One – the only times they had trailed at any stage in the tournament – and beat their nemesis 8-7 to win their second straight state title and earn a berth back to the East Regionals.
The victory sends them back to Worcester, Mass., where they’ll look to exorcise some demons from a year ago. They’ll face Maryland champion Havre de Grace in their first game of pool play Saturday.
“We handled it well,” Pennsville manager Chris Watson said of the adversity. “Nobody lost control. Nobody backed away. They all faced it full on and they did their jobs. They executed and they came back hard.
“A lot of these girls have been together for several years and we have played from behind in the past, we have walk-off wins in our history, so they don’t back away … I didn’t really have any worries. I was nervous, I didn’t want to have to play a second game here tonight, but, no, I didn’t have any concerns about that.”
Pennsville trailed 2-0 in the fourth and 7-4 in the fifth but rallied in the bottom of each inning to assume the lead.
Savannah Palverento delivered twice to give the District 3 and Section 4 champs the lead. She had a two-run triple in the fourth to put them ahead 3-2 and the go-ahead solo homer in the fifth to make it 8-7.
“With the triple I knew we needed to get our energy up,” she said. “I went into the dugout and said this isn’t how we play this isn’t how we play, this isn’t Pennsville, this isn’t the Pennsville that gets tight, chokes and that’s not us, that’s not how we play. I was just looking to get on base. I don’t care what she threw because my at-bat before that was really bad. I needed to get on base and find a way to do it.
“On the homer my mind was kind of blank. I didn’t think at all. There were no thoughts going through my head when I hit that. I probably started tearing up when I touched home plate.”
Jess Bretz set the stage of Palverento’s heroics when she blasted a three-run shot on the first pitch she saw in the fifth to tie the game 7-7. It was her first at bat after being replaced in the circle in the top half of the inning and came after Avery Watson drew a four-pitch leadoff walk and Kylie Harris singled.
“That ball was at least 250 feet; she crushed it,” manager Watson said. “A lot of pitchers struggle and give up the lead, they’re going to be a mess the next time they come up. She was the third batter to come up and just absolutely unfazed crushed the ball and tied the game. Again, they’re unfazed. They don’t mind adversity. They don’t let the pressure get to them.”
“I’ve played with Jess a long time,” Palverento said. “She likes to say if she’s pitching she’s not going to do well hitting and if she’s not pitching she’ll do very well hitting. The second she gets pulled off the mound she hits a three-run home run.”
Kloi Tighe gave a masterful relief performance in the circle behind Bretz to get the win.
Making just her second appearance in the circle this tournament season, Tighe came in after the hosts stretched their lead to 7-4, but she got the last out of the inning with the first of her four strikeouts and then completed 2 1/3 innings of one-hit relief. She struck out the final batter of the game on three pitches with the tying run on third base.
“She came in and she did her job,” Watson said. “She was hitting her spots like I’ve never seen her hit her spots before. There might have been one or two called balls; she was just in the zone. Totally unfazed.”
“We were trailing when I came in and I knew I had to come in and step up for the team,” Tighe said. “I knew I had my teammates behind me. I wasn’t really worried about it because I knew we were able to hit two more times. I just knew I had to throw strikes and I have my teammates behind me.”
SENIOR MOMENTS: It’ll be a quick turnaround for the team. It leaves for Worcester Friday. Organizers will put together a GoFundMe page to help fundraise for the trip … Bretz faced the minimum in the circle through the first 3 1/3 innings, thanks in part to Harris cutting down two runners on the bases … Last year, Pennsville was in the driver’s seat in the regional final when a 10-run inning proved their undoing. “It is the theme,” Watson said. “It’s already come up a couple times from the girls that we have unfinished business up there. We need to go up there and be serious about making some noise.”
NJLL Senior Softball
Championship Game
Morris Plains 000 250 0 – 7 3 1
Pennsville 000 440 x – 8 10 1
WP: Kloi Tighe (1-0). LP: Leah Scalzo (2-2). 2B: Abby Herzog (MP). 3B: Savannah Palverento (P). HR: Jess Bretz (P), Savannah Palverento (P).
Pennsville (NJ) Regional Schedule
at Worcester, Mass.
July 22 – Maryland (Havre de Grace), 1:30 p.m.
July 23 – Delaware (Smyrna), 6 p.m.
July 24 – Pennsylvania (Stroudsburg), 5 p.m.
July 24 – New York (Warwick), 8 p.m.
July 25 – Quarterfinals
July 26 – Semifinals
July 26 – Finals
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