Softball: South Plainfield cools off Warren Hills to reach sectional final

SOUTH PLAINFIELD — As the post-season advances toward its conclusion, teams rely on three things to extend their season: Strong pitching, timely hitting and sound defense.

The South Plainfield High School softball team got two of the three Wednesday and it proved to be sufficient, as the Tigers defeated red-hot Warren Hills 8-4 in the North 2 Group 3 semifinals.

Fifth-seeded South Plainfield (21-6) -- the last GMC school to capture a sectional crown when it won the state title in 2017 -- will play at second-seeded Cranford for this sectional title on Saturday.

Erin Townley (9-3), who has emerged as South Plainfield’s top pitcher as the season has progressed, scattered seven hits while walking one and striking out nine. She protected a two-run lead when the Blue Streaks had runners on second and third and one out in the sixth by striking out the next two hitters.

Lindsay Oller had a two-run double and a run-scoring single to lead the South Plainfield attack, while Sara McNelly had two hits, including an RBI-double that broke a 2-2 tie in the fourth and put the Tigers ahead for good.

The Tigers dependable defense was a little less dependable than usual, but Warren Hills failed to capitalize on those mistakes as much as South Plainfield took advantage of the Streaks’ defensive miscues.

South Plainfield took a 1-0 lead in the first as Grace Capparelli doubled, took third on an error and scored on an unnecessary throw to first when the Warren Hills catcher dropped a third strike, with first base occupied. The ninth-seeded Streaks, who upset top-seeded North Hunterdon in the quarterfinals, took a 2-1 lead in the third when Carolyn Brown and Rylee Rhinehart each singled, and then scored on an infield throwing error.

Oller earned the game’s first RBI in the third when McNelly singled and scored on her double to knot the score at 2-2.

South Plainfield, which scored in five of its six innings at the plate, regained the lead with a two-out rally in the fourth. Sophia Alvarez stroked a two-run double to left and McNelly followed with her double to center, scoring on a single by Capparelli to take a 4-2 edge.

The Tigers tacked on another pair in the fifth as Hailey Fonti and Nicole Swatko singled and scored on sacrifice flies by Kelsey Geurts and Madison Matusz, respectively.

Warren Hills rallied for two runs in the sixth, but could have had more. Macy Pagano led off with a double and took third when Gianna Marinelli reached first on a dropped third strike. After pitcher Laney Adie flew out, Pagano scored on an infield error and Marinelli came home on a single by Carly Suyker, who took second on a throwing error on the play.

That left the tying runs in scoring position with one out. Townley took matters into her own hands, striking out the next two batters to quell the threat.

Warren Hills made three infield errors in the sixth inning, and Oller took advantage with a two-run double for an 8-4 lead.

The ever-battling Streaks placed runners on first and third with one out in the seventh but failed to score, bringing an end to their terrific post-season run.

Key plays

With the score deadlocked at 2-2 and two out in the fifth, McNelly clubbed a double to put South Plainfield in front to stay. With one out and two runners in scoring position in the sixth, Warren Hills, trailing 6-4, need one hit to tie the score. Townley fanned the next two batters to cancel the threat.

By the numbers

The Tigers have won four in a row and 10 of its last 12, both losses coming to St. Thomas Aquinas. South Plainfield scored in five of six innings it came to the plate. All nine batters in the Tigers lineup contributed at least one of the team’s 12 hits. Sophia Alvarez, McNelly and Capparelli, who bat 9-1-2, each scored twice for South Plainfield. Townley struck out at least one Streak in all but the two-run third inning. Speedy leadoff hitter Rylee Rhinehart was the only Warren Hills player with more than one hit and she had three, two singles and a triple. Adie yielded 12 hits, five earned runs and struck out four without walking a batter.

Game balls

Oller (three RBI), McNelly (two hits, two runs) and Townley (nine strikeouts) deserve honors for South Plainfield. Rhinehart had three hits and got into scoring position three times for Warren Hills, but only crossed the plate once.

They said it

“I was really just trying to put the ball in play, I knew that my swing would take care of where the ball would go,” the Virginia Tech-bound McNelly said of her go-ahead double in the fourth. “I think we got hot at the right time. The beginning of our season was a little bit slow, but we’re starting to pick it up and we’re all playing as one, and it feels really nice. Personally, I’m very excited. I missed out on my freshman year (due to COVID) so I really only had three years to do this. This is very big for us as a team and for Panz (Coach Don Panzarella), so it’s just exciting.”

“When I’m up there and there’s runners on base I’m always like, ‘I have to get them in’. I’m always confident with myself and thrust my hitting,” Oller explained. “The team is definitely doing really well, we’re coming up hot at the best time in our season and ready to come win Saturday.” On Townley: “We’ve gained a lot of confidence in her pitching. She’s been doing phenomenal and we definitely have her back in the field.”

“We’ve been playing real well down the stretch. Our pitching’s been good, our hitting’s been timely, and great defense,” South Plainfield coach Don Panzarella offered. “I think we were a little bit sloppy on the defensive end, at times, but we came back with the bats and got clutch hits here and there, sac flies. We did the little things we needed to do to get runs. I was really disappointed with our defense, I thought we’ve been playing great defense for the last two weeks. Going into Saturday against Cranford we’re going to have to play a little better. As I just got done telling them, there’s two teams left and nobody counted on you guys this year. I’m proud of them, they did a really good job.” On Townley: “She’s been awesome. She’s stepped up at the end of the year, that’s why we’ve been going with her now. They really don’t hit her that well. She knows how to move the ball around a little bit. I’m just happy with the way things are going right now, they’re believing in themselves a little bit and I’m glad for Sara and Cappy, our two seniors.”

“It could have gone either way,” said Warren Hills coach Renee Smola. “South Plainfield is a phenomenal team. They’re a phenomenal group of players, their coach is awesome and today it was their day, it was their game. But, there’s nothing for our kids to hang their heads about. I’m proud of them. Every single game that we played they just kept fighting back no matter what, and, no matter what, they believed every single game, right up until the last pitch. Today was a tough one, South Plainfield was the better team today and I wish them the best of luck in their next game. We had a great season and every single game, this is how our kids played from Day 1. I’m proud of them and look forward to next year with them.”

This article originally appeared on MyCentralJersey.com: NJ Softball: South Plainfield cools off Warren Hills to reach final