Eastern advances in Group 4 softball with 22nd straight win
Eastern centerfielder Maddie Morano was glad the ball was hit to her with the game on the line. "I just had a bunch of adrenaline in me at that point," she said.
Eastern centerfielder Maddie Morano was glad the ball was hit to her with the game on the line.
"I just had a bunch of adrenaline in me at that point," she said.
Morano also had one pretty good throw left in her arm, one that would vault the Vikings into the South Jersey Group 4 semifinals.
Morano's throw after a fairly deep fly out by Rachel Edwards nailed the runner at home for a game-ending double play Wednesday as second-seeded Eastern beat No. 7 seed Washington Township, 2-1, in a South Jersey Group 4 quarterfinal between Olympic Conference American Division heavyweights.
Eastern (24-2) has won 22 in a row. The Vikings will host Cherokee on Tuesday in a Group 4 semifinal. Township, the defending state champion, ended its season 15-8.
Morano's throw to the plate wasn't a strike, but it got there in a hurry. Freshman catcher RaeLyn D'Onofrio made an outstanding catch and tag to end the game.
"For RaeLyn to handle that pressure and for her to hold onto it was awesome," said Morano, who is headed to Penn State on a field hockey scholarship.
Township coach Tracy Burkhart, who guided the Minutemaids to state titles in 2013 and 2015, didn't second-guess sending her runner home.
"The girl has to make a good throw to home and at that point I thought we had to take a chance," she said.
Eastern scored twice in the first on a two-run double by Emily Serata.
"I got an off-speed pitch and waited on it," Serata said.
That was all the offense that the Vikings would generate against standout righthander Lauren Shannon, who struck out 10 and got herself out of a number of jams.
Township got one back in the third when Kasie McNichol singled and eventually scored on an error.
That was all the Minutemaids would get against Eastern sophomore Rachel Waro, who kept the Minutemaids off balance all day by changing speeds.
These teams split one-run decisions in the regular season, so it was no surprise that the same thing occurred in the postseason.
Washington Twp. 001 000 0 - 1 6 2
Eastern 200 000 x - 2 9 3
WP: Rachel Waro. LP: Lauren Shannon. 2B: E-Rachel Wood, Emily Serata.
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