Softball: St. Thomas Aquinas advances behind Hayley Wieczerzak's gem

EDISON – Its flag of dominance firmly entrenched in the Greater Middlesex Conference, St. Thomas Aquinas is seeking now to extend its sphere of influence throughout the entire state of New Jersey.

The Trojans took the first step of that journey on Thursday by defeating Red Bank Catholic, 3-0, in the quarterfinal round of the Non-Public A South playoffs.

St. Thomas (22-3), seeded fourth, got another masterpiece from junior Hayley Wieczerzak, who tossed a three-hit shutout with 16 strikeouts and two, first-inning walks. The Trojans’ offense came from a less-expected hero, freshman Haley Krainski, who singled home their first run in the fourth inning and provided their final tally with a solo shot to left center in the sixth.

The outcome sets up a semifinal encounter with top-seeded Donovan Catholic, which has ended St. Thomas’ last two campaigns in the sectional title game.

For the second game in a row, Wieczerzak yielded a leadoff walk and issued both of her free passes in the opening frame, while still recording three strikeouts. She whiffed the first seven batters she retired and didn’t allow a hit until Cori Wilton’s one-out bunt in the fifth.

Fifth-seeded Red Bank Catholic (22-7) was already trailing by then, a bad place to be when Wieczerzak is in her groove. The Caseys’ Lilly Hagan (8-3) was nearly as efficient in the circle, especially in the early stages.

St. Thomas placed runners in scoring position in the second and third innings before breaking through in the fourth. Melody Webb led off with a single, her second of the contest. Gwen Negron walked and, after Hagan’s third of eight strikeouts, Krainski lofted a towering single to right center, scoring Webb. Amya Hill’s perfectly placed bunt scored Negron for a 2-0 lead that appeared insurmountable.

But Red Bank Catholic wasn’t done and rallied with back-to-back singles by Jordan Terefenko and Hagan with two out in the sixth. That brought up Abigail Zebick, the Casey’s leading home-run hitter, as the go-ahead run to the plate. Wieczerzak struck her out, as she did to all three batters in the seventh, after Krainski’s solo shot gave her a little more breathing room.

What it means

St. Thomas Aquinas advances to Tuesday’s sectional semifinal against its arch-nemesis, Donovan Catholic at 1 p.m.

Key play

After two were out in the sixth, Wieczerzak yielded back-to-back singles to Red Bank Catholic’s No. 3 and 4 hitters, Terefenko and Hagan, putting the tying runs on the bases, with Abigail Zebick and her team-leading seven home runs to the plate. Wieczerzak bore down and recorded a four-pitch strikeout to quell the rally, then closed out the contest by striking out the side in the seventh.

By the numbers

Webb and Krainski were the only players in the contest with multiple hits. After Wieczerzak reached first on a fielder’s choice in the third and advanced to second on a passed ball, Red Bank Catholic issued another intentional walk to Mary-Kate Murray, the state’s leading home run hitter. Hagan allowed six hits and three walks (one intentional), while striking out eight.

Game balls

Wieczerzak, Krainski and Webb, who also made a sparkling grab in right field. And give a nod to Hagan, who pitched well enough to win.

They said it

Wieczerzak said of Red Bank Catholic’s sixth-inning threat, “I thought that, hits happen, it’s okay, it’s not the end of the world. I just have to get through the inning. Keep throwing and get three outs, whether it’s a strikeout or an out in the field.”

On striking out 16 for the second game in a row against quality opposition, she said, “Honestly, I really don’t try to think about it because if I think about it, then it’s going to get into my head and I’m probably going to do bad. I just want to stay relaxed, whatever happens that inning, happens, and next inning, forget about that”

On a daring stab she made of a vicious line drive hit back at her by Hagan in the fourth inning: “I just struck the glove out. I just saw the ball and put my glove out. It’s kind of a reaction thing.” On Donovan Catholic and the state tournament, ”I’m looking forward to it. I really, really want to play them and I really, really want to beat them because I don’t want to make it a three year in a row thing. You just have to want it, that’s what it comes down to. We made it to the finals two years in a row and I want to make it a third and, finally, win the finals for the section.”

Krainski said, “It was a good feeling, especially a big game like this, just getting those hits. It felt good, especially the home run. Was just looking right side, to score her, definitely get a clutch hit to bring in the first run. Just that one run felt good to get it. I’m very confident in (Hayley) but you can never finish until the game is over, so it felt good just consistently getting hits.”

St. Thomas coach Missy Collazo said, “Quite a pitcher’s duel to start the game. Sometimes it takes one or two times through the order for something to get through. We make adjustments at the plate, start to put some hits together and good things starts to happen.”

On Wieczerzak: “She’s always been good, she’s a really, really good pitcher. She may be feeling very comfortable, very confident right now and hitting her peak now. But she’s been good for us all year. She’s doing it against better teams now, so everyone can see how good she really is.”

On Donovan Catholic: “They are a phenomenal team, they’re fantastic. They’ve got a good pitcher, good defense, they hit the ball very well. They’re just a very good team and we know they’re a very good team and over the last few years we’ve been playing them in big games. They always seem to come out on top so we’re hoping that we can play with them and hang in there with them, maybe get a key hit here and there and make our plays in the field. Hayley’s going to keep us in the game and anything can happen. We just have to come and play our best game and play our game and not worry so much about what they do.”

This article originally appeared on MyCentralJersey.com: Softball: St. Thomas Aquinas advances behind Hayley Wieczerzak's gem