Steinert’s Taylor Hawkes slides in to home on a wild pitch in the MCT Softball Tournament. Photo by Michael A. Sabo
The first inning surely brought flashbacks to the packed house from both sides of last year’s MCT Tournament game where Hightstown upset Steinert which was a favorite to go deep in the tournament, But for Steinert those flashbacks quickly turned into visions of brighter days ahead for the Spartans as they cruised past the Rams by a final of 9-2 to advance to the semifinal round on Monday.
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Hightstown scored two unearned runs in the top of the first, but Spartan ace, Kaylee Whittaker recomposed shutting down the Rams bats, racking up 6 strikeouts and getting some solid defensive help from her teammates.
At the plate Carli Backlund hit a double and a home run, driving in five runs and scoring one to lead third-seeded Steinert over 6-seed Hightstown. Alex Haley singled twice with an RBI and two runs scored while Cora Bridgers and Kaylee Whittaker added an RBI and a run scored apiece for Steinert, which had five hits as a team.
“It was a great team win for us today,” said coach Jeannie Ruppert.
Next up for the Spartans (16-4) will be a game against West Windsor North on Monday night in the Semi-final round of the MCT Tournament.
