Seeking a spark

Rodriguez looking for his Salem CC softball team to find some consistency after being swept by Harford

TUESDAY REGION 19 SOFTBALL
Harford 5-14, Salem CC 1-11
Mercer at Lackawanna, Game 1 susp.
Brookdale 10-11, Northampton 6-10
RCSJ-Gloucester 24-23, Bergen 1-4
Middlesex 14-12, Ocean 2-0
Delaware Tech 12-13, Raritan Valley 0-2

By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News

PENNSVILLE – Angel Rodriguez returned to the Salem CC dugout for the second game of Tuesday’s doubleheader with Harford and if the Mighty Oaks softball coach was expecting to see something different from before he was sent off he was disappointed.

The Mighty Oaks were swept by the Fighting Owls 5-1 and 14-11.

Rodriguez missed Game 1 serving the final game of a three-game suspension stemming from a correctly argued point at the plate in last week’s doubleheader against Mercer. He was back in the third-base coaching box for Game 2, but returned to some of the same shortcomings that haunted the offense throughout the season.

“It was good to be back, seeing on the field and being with the players interacting,” Rodriguez said, “but, again, the storyline stays the same: We’re just inconsistent in what we do.

“We’ve just got to find that balance where we can get more consistent and we’re getting near the end so we’ve just got to do a better job of getting it. Hopefully with the more games we play this week it just comes.”

The Mighty Oaks (14-14) never led in Game 1. They were held to two hits by Harford’s hard-throwing Anna Sexton, who became the Owls’ all-time wins leader (19) with the victory. Additionally, sophomore first baseman Hayden Kobert hit her first career home run (in 92 at bats) leading off the fourth inning to give them a 3-1 lead.

Harford took a 2-0 lead in the second inning on a pair of RBI singles from the bottom of the lineup. Salem pushed across a run in the third on Tiana Wilson’s sacrifice, but never got closer. The Mighty Oaks got both of their hits and two runners in scoring position after that, but couldn’t bring them home.

“We have to do a better job of finding our offensive spark; it’s hit or miss,” Rodriguez said. “Once we do that, we’ll be better.”

It looked like they would get that spark from Ella Hayes, who led off the fourth inning of the nightcap with an inside-the-park home run to touch off a four-run rally that gave the Mighty Oaks their second lead of the game. Pahola Chavez had a two-run single later in the inning to make it 6-3.

Salem starter Jill Robinson kept the Owls off the board the next inning, which should have given the Mighty Oaks even more momentum. Instead, their 9-1-2 hitters went down in order on six total pitches.

Harford rode that wave to score six runs in the fifth and added three more in the sixth. Kobert hit her second homer of the day, this one a three-run shot, in the fifth and Juliet Sanchez hit a three-run bomb in the sixth. 

“It’s just a rollercoaster,” Rodriguez said. “It’s up and down. We have to stay a little bit more consistent. Good inning, can’t capitalize with the next inning seeing six total pitches and getting three outs. We just have to do a better job of having a quality at bat.”

The Mighty Oaks made it interesting again in the sixth, rallying for five runs to get within 12-11. Tessa Wise took a big chunk off the deficit with a three-run homer. Wilson made it 12-10 with an RBI double and Val Hatterer made it a one-run game with a two-out RBI single.

“I was just thinking I was not being the last out,” Hatterer said. “I did not want to get out.”

She got to second base with the tying run, but was stranded there. Harford responded with two insurance runs in the seventh and the Mighty Oaks went down in order to end the game. Despite the loss, everybody in Salem’s Game 2 lineup had at least one hit and the Fighting Owls needed to bring in Sexton to put out the fire.

“I feel like we were fighting,” Hatterer said. “I wish we would have fought more in the beginning than in the end (and would’ve) had more energy.”

ACORNS: The Mighty Oaks were 22-6 after 28 games a year ago. Still, they are holding onto the fourth spot in the Region 19 Division II standings … The seven teams they have left are a combined 83-63 … With the doubleheader, 2B Jocelyn Melendez has completed her four-game suspension for her home-plate collision against Mercer. She’ll be back for Thursday’s DH at Sussex. The Mighty Oaks are at Mercer Saturday … OF Lilly Peverelle undergoes an MRI on the knee she injured at Camden Wednesday.