Softball: Metuchen outlasts Spotswood to advance to first GMCT final

SOUTH PLAINFIELD – Following the St. Thomas Aquinas School softball team’s thrilling come-from-behind, one-run victory over Metuchen two weeks ago, the Trojans’ coaches had a simple message for Metuchen coach Hannah Thomas as they exchanged handshakes

“We’ll see you in the county final.”

While that prophecy was hardly a revelation considering the teams have occupied the two spots in the league rankings all season, it did come to fruition Tuesday.

Second-seeded Metuchen (17-4) rallied from a two-run deficit in the fifth inning with a six-run outburst that enabled it to pin a 10-6 setback on third-seeded Spotswood (21-3) in the Greater Middlesex Conference Tournament.

The contest was like a heavyweight prize fight, two brutal punchers exchanging blows and momentum until the Bulldogs landed a knockout in the fifth inning.

Metuchen took a 1-0 lead in the first as leadoff batter Abby Kozo earned a four-pitch walk, moved to second on Kiara Guzman’s sacrifice bunt, and scored on Brianna De La Fuente’s single up the middle.

Spotswood provided the first of the game’s four lead changes in the third when Gabby Diaz singled, Emily Yatsko walked, Alex Diaz bunted them over and Jenn Pokropinski drove them both in with a double to right-center. Metuchen answered immediately in the bottom of the frame, foreshadowing the decisive response they would deliver in the fifth.

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Kozo began the third-inning rally with a single and De La Fuente closed it with a two-run bomb for a 3-2 Metuchen edge.

Thomas removed starter Alicia Montalbano after four innings and inserted Kozo, a southpaw. After retiring the first batter she faced the Chargers greeted Kozo with a single, two walks, and a two-run single to left by Hanna Brown. Spotswood ace Ava Mormile, who was keeping the Bulldogs in check, drove in another run on a fielder’s choice and the Chargers claimed a 5-3 advantage and the almighty momentum.

But not for long.

Metuchen put the first six batters on base in the fifth and each of them scored to forge a 9-5 cushion it would not cede. Eva Szap, Metuchen’s No. 9 hitter with leadoff skills, started the rally with an infield single. Kozo singled her home, Leslie Flaherty and Mia Szap also singled in runs before Kylie Flaherty topped off the rally with a two-ruin double.

The Bulldogs added an insurance run in the sixth as Guzman led off with a single and scored on Mia Szap’s single.

The Chargers’ last charge was abbreviated. Pokropinski, who went 4-for-4 with two doubles, led off with a two-base hit and scored one out later on a single by Cynthia Rucinski.

Kozo induced ground outs from the next two batters and Metuchen could finally turn its attention to the defending champions, who by then were already on their bus headed back home and their impressive trophy case.

What it means

Metuchen advances to the title game of the Greater Middlesex Conference Tournament for the first time and will face four-time defending champion St. Thomas on at 10 a.m. Saturday at East Brunswick Tech.

Key play

After Spotswood had taken a 5-3 lead in the top of the fifth Eva Szap, Metuchen’s No. 9 batter, led off in the bottom of the frame. She immediately poked an infield single, sending her already engaged teammates into a frenzy and opening up the floodgates. Each of Metuchen’s first six batters in that inning eventually scored as the Bulldogs took control of what been an intriguing back-and-forth affair.

By the numbers

Mormile limited Metuchen to three hits over the first four innings before the Bulldogs rapped out seven hits in the sixth off and her replacement, Diaz. The first five batters in the Metuchen lineup all had multiple hit games: Kozo, Guzman, Leslie Flaherty, De La Fuente and Mia Szap. De La Fuente, Szap and Kylie Flaherty all had multiple RBI games.

Pokropinski and Brown both had multiple-hit and multiple-RBI performances. Mormile struck out five over the first four innings. Metuchen quieted Spotswood threats with inning-ending double plays in the first and sixth innings.

Game balls

De La Fuente had an RBI-single, a two-run homer and was intentionally walked in the fifth-inning uprising. Kozo had two hits, scored three runs and earned the victory in relief for Metuchen.

Pokropinski went 4-for-4 with two doubles and two RBI for Spotswood.

They said it

“I was feeling faith in my team that they would come back and pick me up from it,” Kozo said, after relinquishing the lead when she took over in the circle in the fifth. “It was definitely not an end-all, be-all feeling. I knew that our bats were going to come through, it was just a matter of time. There’s not shortage of talent on the team.” On playing St. Thomas, who has beaten Metuchen twice this spring: “We’ve been preparing for this moment since we were sophomores. I can’t help but just think that we want to do this for everyone in the GMC. I’d love to get the win for Metuchen but I just want someone else to win, shake it up a little bit. They have a great pitcher, no one can deny them that, but there are things that we can do to make the games better than they’ve been in the past.”

“Obviously, we don’t want to get down in that position, especially more than halfway through the game, but I knew that we had Eva Szap coming up and she’s almost like a leadoff hitter,” Thomas said of the chaotic fifth inning. “When she got on base, I was pretty confident that we were going to be able to come back. As soon as our backs are against the wall what we don’t do is shut down. Instead, we pick each other up, we bring the energy up, they get loud. As Kylie likes to say, ‘energy brings energy’ and that’s something we kind of carry as our mantra.” As for St. Thomas: “I’m looking forward to it. I’m glad we made that come true and I’m looking forward to seeing them for a third time.”

“Tough one. We were feeling good. We knew it was going to be a back-and-forth affair, we knew they could swing the bats,” said Spotswood coach Vin Vizzi. “We knew we were going to have to score runs and I think we did a good job of that. Hats off to them, they made some big plays and had that big inning that just put a dagger in it. We took momentum, it felt like, but we didn’t take it for long enough. They took the momentum and they ran with it. Credit to them, we wish them luck the rest of the way and hopefully we see them in Central 2.”

Up next

Metuchen travels to Notre Dame Thursday before facing St. Thomas Aquinas for the GMCT championship on Saturday at 10 a.m. at East Brunswick Tech. Spotswood concludes its regular season on Wednesday at Point Pleasant Beach. A rematch with Metuchen in the state tournament is certainly a possibility.

Top-seeded St. Thomas Aquinas (20-2) also fell behind by two runs in the first inning and needed to scratch out a run in the sixth to edge fourth-seeded South Plainfield (17-6), by a 3-2 margin.

Elsewhere

St. Thomas Aquinas 3, South Plainfield 2: Gwen Negron led off the bottom of the sixth with a walk and scored on a single by Kamerin Collado to snap a 2-2 tie and propel the top-seeded Trojans (20-2) into the championship game against Metuchen. Hayley Wieczerzak limited the Tigers to one hit, a sixth-inning single by Nicole Swatko, striking out 17 while walking two. Fourth-seeded South Plainfield, the visiting team despite playing on its home field, took a 2-0 lead when its first two batters, Sara McNelly and Grace Capparelli, reached first and eventuality scored on wild pitches. Melody Webb led off the second with a solo shot for St. Thomas and led off the sixth with a walk before scoring on Hailey Krainski’s single to tie the score.

This article originally appeared on MyCentralJersey.com: NJ softball: Metuchen outlasts Spotswood to advance to GMCT final