Softball: Mormile outduels Townley to lift Spotswood past South Plainfield
SPOTSWOOD — The South Plainfield and Spotswood high school softball teams took the field Monday for a contest oozing with implications and ramifications for next week’s Greater Middlesex Conference Tournament seeding meeting and state tournament power points – not to mention the top spot in the rankings.
What ensued was an old-fashioned pitcher’s duel in which all three runs were scored in the first inning, a game played at warp speed, requiring a mere hour and a quarter to complete.
Spotswood scored two of the runs as the White Division-leading Chargers edged the Red-Division-leading Tigers 2-1 for Spotswood’s fourth win in a row and 12th in its last 13 outings.
“Sloppy first inning, but two phenomenal pitchers going head-to-head,” Spotswood coach Vin Vizzi said. “We’re lucky to be on top, but this is why we schedule South Plainfield. They’re a great program and we wanted to challenge ourselves so it’s a great win for our program.”
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South Plainfield (11-2) scored first as Sophia Alvarez walked, took second on a Nicole Swatko’s single, and third on Hailey Fonti’s full-count walk, before scoring on a grounder to short by Kelsey Geurts.
Spotswood (13-2) answered twice in the bottom of the first as Gabrielle Hill led off with a double and scored on a throwing error on Bella Vitale’s bunt. Ava Mormile singled, advanced to second on Juliana Ziegeler’s walk and scored on a base hit by Hannah Graulich.
And that was it.
Mormile (11-2) and South Plainfield’s Erin Townley (7-2) turned the remainder of the afternoon into a one-on-one contest from within the confines of the pitcher’s circle.
“I did expect us to score a little but more but I think that we held it together in the field,” said Mormile, adding that her change-up and rise were on point.
Mormile was terrific, recording 10 strikeouts, while walking two and yielding six hits. Townley was even better, retiring 15 in a row after Spotswood’s first-inning tallies, and tossed a four-hitter with 10 strikeouts and the lone, first-inning walk. The Chargers’ only base-runner after the first frame was Hanna Brown, who stroked a two-out single on a full count in the bottom of the sixth innings.
“Erin settled down after the first inning, I thought she was awesome,” South Plainfield coach Don Panzarella said. “That’s what we’ve been getting all year but we’ve been getting a little bit more hitting. We didn’t hit the ball at all, put it in play.”
Mormile said the pressure of a close game helped her stay focused.
“I feel the pressure,” she acknowledged. “I think it helps me pitch better because I want to win for my team.”
This was an important win for Spotswood in its first game against a Red Division foe this season. It faces another Friday at Old Bridge. As the presumptive winner of the White Division, though it has much work to do, this victory over the Red Division leader should elevate the Chargers and the other top teams from the White Division at the GMCT seeding meeting next Tuesday
“We have to finish a couple of things in the White Division,” said Vizzi. “It puts us in a very good spot but we can not live in yesterday. This is a great win, we’re going to celebrate it, we’re going to enjoy it but we’re right back to work tomorrow. We can’t slip up at this point.”
This article originally appeared on MyCentralJersey.com: NJ Softball: Mormile outduels Townley, Spotswood tops South Plainfield
