Woodstown, Pennsville both beat higher seeded opponents on road to reach South Jersey Group 1 softball semifinals; Woodstown’s Clark fans 16 in record 16th win, Eagles’ Jackson gets 250th coaching win
SJ GROUP i SOFTBALL
Tuesday’s semifinals
(5) Pennsville at (1) Audubon, 3 p.m.
(7) Woodstown at (3) Palmyra
By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News
BUENA – Even as much as he’s seen it, it never ceases to amaze Woodstown softball coach Rob Hildebrand the depth with which his team digs and finds a way to win.
The Wolverines faced their biggest test of the season Thursday, a win-or-go-home matchup with second-seeded Buena on the road in the second-round of the South Jersey Group I playoffs. They fell behind early, got it tied, turned back a couple serious threats, then won it with two runs in the eighth inning, 3-1.
The win keeps their run towards the first sectional final since 1979 alive and sends them to third-seeded Palmyra (18-7) in the semifinals Tuesday.
The Wolverines (18-8) have won nine in a row and 12 of their last 13. During the nine-game winning streak, they trailed at some point in five of the games.
“Team effort again,” Hildebrand said. “I can’t stress enough from our bench and how loud it was – I couldn’t hear – to our bottom of the lineup coming through to Leah (Clark) digging deep, striking out, leaving bases loaded twice … it was nothing short of amazing that they always consistently just dig deep when they have to all year long and don’t give up.
“It’s nothing short of shocking when we got in that situation to know we would pull it out because it hasn’t proved otherwise the entire year. We haven’t taken the roller coaster ride. It’s up the entire year of them not giving up.”
It was a true pitchers’ duel between Clark and Buena freshman Gracie Dixon.
Clark, a senior, gave the showing of her career, giving up three hits, a first-inning run, turning back bases-loaded situations in the first and eighth innings, and striking out a career-high 16 of 24 outs. After giving up a run-scoring single followed by a two-out walk in the first, she retired 14 in a row (nine by strikeout) before giving up a double to Dixon, who was thrown out at third on a relay from Ellie Wygand to Talia Guardascione aggressively trying to stretch it into a triple.
Dixon, meanwhile, gave up seven hits, three runs and struck out 10.
The Wolverines reached Dixon for the tying run in the third on Macie Moore’s RBI single then took the lead for the first time in the eighth. Guardascione’s one-out single to right brought home Wygand with the go-ahead run and Kendall Young singled home Guardascione with an insurance run.
The Chiefs threatened in the bottom of the inning, but Clark remained vigilant in the circle. It looked like it was going to be an easy finish as she retired the first two batters, but Laylani Muniz kept the inning alive when she reached on an error. Hildebrand then raised a few eyebrows by intentionally walking Dixon, a .667 hitter with 23 extra-base hits, 41 RBIs and two hits already in the game, putting the trying run on base to get to the bottom of the lineup that had 13 strikeouts.
“It’s not necessarily something you want to do, but our gameplan going in all along was if we ever had an opportunity to walk this girl and she looks like she’s going to be able to hit, we’re going to walk her,” Hildebrand said. “To be honest with you, if the bases were loaded with two outs I still might have done it because none of the bottom of the lineup had really even made contact with the ball.”
A passed ball put both runners in scoring position. Clark walked Makenna Feaster to load the bases, then killed the threat by striking out the last batter of the game to complete her 16th win of the season, tying Anna Marino for the most by a Woodstown pitcher since 1979.
“It’s all in the players and the bench,” Hildebrand said. “Every single person has a role and they’re all pulled in on it, they’re all bought in on the team. It’s consistently a team effort. All we’ve got to do is sit back and watch. Do we make mistakes, sure, but when it’s a clutch time they just come through. It’s nothing short of amazing. It’s just so fun to watch.”
| Woodstown | 001 | 000 | 02- | 3 | 7 | 1 |
| Buena | 100 | 000 | 00- | 1 | 3 | 2 |
Weber sharp for Pennsville
PITMAN – Graillyn Weber was brilliant in the circle and at the plate and Pennsville beat Pitman 8-0 to give coach Beth Jackson her 250th career coaching victory — all of them with the Eagles.
Weber, a sophomore, fashioned her second straight playoff shutout, another five-hitter with four strikeouts. She had not spun a shutout in 27 previous appearances before these playoffs. At the plate she was 2-for-4 with a double.
Her defense helped keep the shutout alive. They turned a double play to end the sixth inning and Lily Edwards made a game-ending running catch in deep centerfield with a runner on third.
The Eagles jumped on top with three runs in the first inning. The first run scored on an error after Edwards and Weber opened the game with a single and double, respectively. Kenzie Widener’s ground out chase home the second run and Reagan Wariwanchik’s RBI single brought him the third.
“I told my dad last night about being the away team and we get to bat first, jumping out, getting some runs and setting the tone,” Jackson said. “That’s what they did today. We sent nine people to the plate in the first inning. We had to come to play. It’s win or go home.”
As sharp as Weber was in the circle, that’s all they needed. But they added single runs in the third and fourth and stretched the lead with three in the fifth. Taylor Bass singled home the run in the third, Wariwanchik had another RBI single in the fourth, Kylie Harris, Avery Watson and Widener drove home runs in the fifth.
Edwards had three hits for the Eagles. Weber, Wariwanchik and Bass had two apiece.
Jackson tried to keep her milestone under wraps for as long as possible. Her step-daughter made a poster commemorating the milestone and her husband had been talking it up, but beyond that not many actually knew it was near.
“I didn’t say anything, I didn’t want to tell anybody, I didn’t want to make a big deal out of it,” she said.
But it is a big deal. Through 17 years coaching at her alma mater, she is 250-124. She followed a coach who had 558 career wins.
“It’s a nice accomplishment,” she said. “All the girls have their accomplishments and whatnot, it’s nice to have one of your own. It wouldn’t happen without them. It’s a testament to them and the great program we have and the great players that Pennsville always has. It’s always nice to coach at your alma mater and know the winning continues and the tradition. It’s just a nice feeling to have all of that. Just to see everything continue. It’s nice and heartfelt.”
The Eagles (16-7) now face top-seeded and defending champion Audubon (19-9) in Tuesday’s 3 p.m. sectional semifinals.
| Pennsville | 301 | 130 | 0- | 8 | 11 | 0 |
| Pitman | 000 | 000 | 0- | 0 | 5 | 2 |
Riverview Sports News 