GMCT softball quarters: South Plainfield handles Colonia; STA, Metuchen, Spotswood advance

SPOTSWQOOD — When assessing his team this spring, veteran South Plainfield High School softball coach Don Panzarella has often added the qualifier, “When we hit.”

Hitting wasn’t an issue Saturday, at least not for the fourth-seeded Tigers, whose bats rapped out 14 hits over six innings in defeating fifth-seeded Colonia 8-3 in the quarterfinal round of the Greater Middlesex Conference Tournament.

For its efforts, South Plainfield (17-5) advances to Tuesday’s semifinal round against defending champion and top-seeded St. Thomas Aquinas at South Plainfield High School, which will host both semifinals.

More: Softball roundup: Results, analysis, links for Skyland, GMC and area Union County

More: Softball: Raymond, Bobrowski lead Watchung Hills to Somerset County crown

The Tigers did all of their scoring and collected all but one of their hits over the first four innings, a factor that did not escape Panzarella’s watchful eye.

Lindsay Oller and Nicole Swatko did the heavy lifting in the early innings for South Plainfield, each going 3-for-3 over the critical early frames. Swatko got the ball rolling with a three-run homer in the first, and Oller had a single, double and two-run homer in the third.

Erin Townley (5-2) continues to impress in the circle for South Plainfield, yielding three of her four hits in Colonia’s three-run sixth inning. Townley struck out 10 and walked two in a dominant outing.

Mariella Spina had a two-run double for 12th-seeded Colonia (12-10) while Myiah Sutton contributed a first-inning single and a sixth-inning double.

What it means

South Plainfield advances to the semifinal round against St. Thomas Aquinas and gets to do so Tuesday on its home field.

Key play

The game was still scoreless with two out and runners on first and third in the first inning when Swatko crushed a 1-1 delivery over the center-field fence for a three-run homer and a lead the Tigers would not relinquish.

By the numbers

South Plainfield entered having scored double-digit runs in each of its last three outings and has averaged 10.75 over its last four, yielding a total of four runs over that span.

Oller and Swatko each had three hits and multiple RBI for the Tigers, while Grace Capparelli also collected three hits. Perhaps the most impressive facet of South Plainfield’s offensive fireworks was the fact leadoff hitter Sara McNelly, a Virginia Tech-bound shortstop, was hitless. It is extremely doubtful that her bat will remain quiet for two games in a row.

Townley retired nine batters in a row from innings three through six, fanning four during that span.

Sutton delivered half of Colonia’s hits with a first-inning single up the middle and a sixth-inning double to right center.

Game balls

Swatko and Oller anchored South Plainfield’s 14-hit attack while Townley held the Patriots at bay until the sixth.

They said it

“The team definitely brought the bats out and we ready to come win,” said Oller, who bats third in a dynamic batting order. “I definitely think it gives me a chance to get runners in, or in scoring position. I definitely set goals for myself, to get my 100th hit (check), get my 100th RBI (check) and hit over seven home runs, and I made that today. I’ve had a good junior year and, hopefully, will get better next season.”

“We started out real strong but we have to learn to put teams away, too,” Panzarella said. “We did great for four, five innings, we had an opportunity to put them away. They’re a good team and you don’t want them to come back, and they came back, but we played great. Our pitcher did well, she maybe got a little tired at the end. We got some clutch hits early and we played good D. I’m proud of them. They’re believing in themselves and they’re doing a good job.” On McNeely’s rare O-fer: “That doesn’t happen often and, when she can get picked up by the rest of the team, that’s awesome. It really makes us a good team.”

On Townley: “She’s been awesome. She walked a couple that one inning but she’s making us field the ball, she gets a handful of strikeouts. She doesn’t look like she’s overpowering but she moves the ball around with good location.”

On Tuesday’s third meeting with St. Thomas, which defeated it, 8-3 and 6-2, during the regular season: “We’re looking forward to it. They beat us twice, they were good games. They’re an excellent team, I don’t think they’ve lost in three years in the county. We have nothing to lose so we’re going to go out and give it all we got. I’m looking forward to it. We’ll see what happens.”

Up next

South Plainfield hosts top-seeded and defending champion St. Thomas Aquinas in the semifinal round Tuesday at 4:30 p.m. The other semifinal between Metuchen and Spotswood will also be staged at South Plainfield at the same time.

Satruday's other GMCT results

Spotswood 7, Monroe 4: Cynthia Rucinski had two hits and three RBI and Alex Diaz contributed a double and a solo home run for third-seeded Spotswood (20-2). Ava Mormile went the distance for the Chargers, scattering seven hits and striking out five while walking five. Angelina Guida had a double and two singles for 11th-seeded Monroe (4-14), which entered having won four of six after an 0-11 start.

Metuchen 11, East Brunswick 1: Kylie Flaherty clubbed a solo homer leading off the second and added a three-shot in the third for second-seeded Metuchen (16-4). Abby Kozo brought the game to an early conclusion with a solo, walk-off blast in the fifth and earned the victory by firing a two-hitter with two strikeouts and a walk. Sapna Stanley and Nicole Motusesky had fifth-inning singles for the seventh-seeded Bears (14-6), while Jocelyn Nazario walked and scored on Carmela DeMaio’s infield grounder in the second.

St. Thomas Aquinas 5, Woodbridge 1: The top-seeded and defending champion Trojans (19-2) cruised into Tuesday’s semifinal round behind the pitching of ace Hayley Wieczerzak (7-2) and Sophia Collucci. Wieczerzak struck out 13 and walked four over five shutout innings. Luis Negron plated two runs for St. Thomas with a single and a sacrifice fly while Melody Webb delivered a two-run double. Gia Pedde scored the lone run for ninth-seeded Woodbridge (9-8) on an infield error in the sixth inning.

This article originally appeared on MyCentralJersey.com: NJ GMCT softball: South Plainfield handles Colonia; three more advance