Softball: Ridge outlasts Bridgewater-Raritan in 8-inning epic

BRIDGEWATER – The Ridge High School softball team has learned how to take the punches and come up big when it counts.

After a 2-7 start, the Red Devils have won 10-of-16 and, now, 5-of-6. And after squandering a seven-run lead in Wednesday’s opener of the opening round of the NJSIAA North 2 Group 4 Tournament, they found a way to stay focused and win it in extra innings, showing how resilient this team truly is.

Seniors Julia LaRose and Robyn Lusardi each notched three hits, two runs and two RBIs, and winning pitcher Kari Murray’s second RBI of the day came on an eighth-inning sacrifice fly that gave Ridge the lead back for good Wednesday and the ninth-seeded Red Devils outlasted No. 8 Bridgewater-Raritan in an epic contest, holding on for a 9-8 eight-inning victory at North Bridge Street Park.

“This is one of the most resilient groups we have ever had,” McCarthy said. “We go against whoever it may be, and (even in losses) we’re not getting 10-runned, we’re in every game. And we have the confidence and the senior leadership to come in here and say ‘Let’s go.’ And the girls responded to that today. It was great.”

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Ridge scored six times in the top of the first inning, with three of the runs unearned against Panthers freshman pitcher Brynn Hawley. Murray singled in the first run, before Lusardi hit one off her fists that just found the ground behind second base, plating two more runs. The Red Devils scored twice more on an error and another on a LaRose RBI single to make it 6-0 before the Panthers even came to bat.

After shortstop Angela Tremarco started a 6-4-3 double play for Bridgewater-Raritan, turned by second baseman Madalyn Dolly in the second inning to avoid trouble, Ridge added on in the third, getting a two-out RBI single from LaRose to make it 7-0.

Murray, meanwhile, was holding the Panthers’ prolific lineup at bay, not allowing a hit through the first four innings. But BR broke through in the fourth, as Dolly delivered a two-out double to drive in two runs, and the Panthers added a couple more in the fifth on a two-run homer by Brianna Cacchio.

Murray worked out of trouble in the sixth to hold the score at 7-4, but Bridgewater-Raritan, which rallied from two down to tie it in the seventh Tuesday against A.L. Johnson, before winning it in the eighth inning, had another rally up its sleeve.

Evelyn Fresco drew a leadoff walk to start the bottom of the seventh, and after a strikeout, Cai Mahovetz singled, bringing up Jess Pastorick, whose seventh-inning homer Monday tied the game, and she nearly hit one out in the fifth inning Wednesday. The freshman ripped an RBI double to center field to make it 7-5, and Dolly followed with a bloop single to make it 7-6, before Sienna Newsome tied it with a hit. Murray then got a popout and a groundout to pin the would-be winning run on third base and send the game to extra innings.

Despite suffering a gut punch, Ridge and its ace were no worse for wear in the eighth, starting the frame with two hits and a hit batsman to load the bases, before Murray sent a long drive to center field for a sac fly, plating LaRose with the go-ahead run. Juliet Larsen then added a two-out RBI single to make it 9-7, an insurance run that would prove essential.

Bridgewater-Raritan, which had gone 8-6 after a 1-10 start to the season, continued to show its resolve, as well, as Tremarco walked leading off the bottom of the eight, before Fresco ripped an RBI double to left field to make it 9-8. But, after Ridge coach Brian McCarthy defied conventional wisdom by intentionally walking Cacchio with the would-be winning run, Murray bore down, getting a pop out, a bloop single to load the bases, and then another pop up and a strikeout to end it, securing the dramatic win.

Murray earned the win going eight innings, allowing eight runs on 11 hits, walking eight and striking out seven.

“Kari, right now, is dealing in the circle,” McCarthy said. “It was a hot, uncomfortable day, but she battled through it going eight strong. And we had the trust in her, we kept going to her. She turns around and said, ‘I want this ball!’ when I was thinking of taking her out (prior to the eighth inning). And when you hear that from a player, you give her the ball.”

“I didn’t want to lose, for the seniors,” Murray said. “I wasn’t really thinking (in the eighth inning), I was just trying to trust my pitches, and hope for the best.”

Ridge will take on top-seeded Bayonne in Tuesday’s quarterfinals, and got a huge boost of confidence Wednesday, one its coach hopes will continue to carry his club through the state tournament.

“Right now, we’ve beaten four teams that are ahead of us in the state bracket, which, in itself, should give these girls the confidence they need,” said McCarthy, whose team has also beaten No. 7 seed Franklin (twice), No. 6 Westfield and No. 3 Scotch Plains-Fanwood. “And this team, which we just beat, also beat Bayonne, which should also give us confidence that we can handle them.”

For Bridgewater-Raritan, which finishes its season 9-17, its rookie righty has clearly come a long way. Hawley took over as ace late in the season and has been doing a fantastic job. She was victimized by some bad luck along the way Wednesday – soft-hit balls that found grass or dirt for hits, and some errors. She allowed six earned runs on 13 hits, walked five – four in the first inning – and struck out five.

The offense, also, continued to show how potent it can be. Cacchio finished 2-for-4 with a walk, the homer, two runs and two RBIs, while Dolly added a single, double and three RBIs for Bridgewater-Raritan, which proved its own resiliency Wednesday.

Add the promising pitching from its young hurler down the stretch and the fact BR gets back all but one veteran starter next season, and things are certainly looking promising as the Panthers head into the offseason.

“I think they see how good they can be,” Bridgewater-Raritan coach Sandy Baranowski said. “The sky’s the limit.”

BOX SCORE

RIDGE (10-11) 601-000-02 – 9-13-1

BRIDGEWATER-RARITAN (9-17) 000-220-31 – 8-11-4

WP:  Kari Murray. LP: Hawley

2B: BR—Dolly, Pastorick, Fresco. HR: BR—Cacchio.

Staff writer Simeon Pincus has been covering NJ sports since 1997, and has been on the softball beat since 1999. He can be reached at CourierSoftball@aol.com. Follow him on Twitter/X @SimeonPincus

This article originally appeared on MyCentralJersey.com: NJ Softball: Ridge outlasts Bridgewater-Raritan in 8-inning epic