By Rich Fisher
Fish4scores.com

June 4: It was a seventh inning like no other and an outcome like no one associated with Steinert softball wanted.

Going from sheer joy to pure agony, Steinert scored twice in the top of the seventh only to lose in walk-off fashion in the bottom of the inning as South Plainfield took a 3-2 victory in the NJSIAA Group III championship game at Kean University Sunday.

Taylor Hawkes is greeted by Madison Balke after scoring the tying run. Photo by Amanda Ruch.

“It’s real tough,” said centerfielder Morgan Comfort, whose fourth-inning double was one of just five Steinert hits. “We got here, and worked so hard to get here. To lose, it sucks, but when we look back on it and the journey that we had, it was like no other. It’s the best team I think I ever could have been on.”

South Plainfield made three outstanding defensive plays in the outfield to rob Steinert of runs. When the Tigers (27-4) took a 1-0 lead in the first it was the first time the Spartans (22-4) trailed in the entire state tournament.

The lead got bumped to 2-0 in the fifth on Jillian Holoboski’s third hit of the game, and Steinert faced its last chance in the top of the seventh.

With one out, freshman pinch-hitter Alex Haley fell behind 1-2 before working a walk and Cora Bridgers got a pinch-single to put runners on first and second.

“Obviously I’m very happy we battled back in that spot,” coach Jean Ruppert said. “I put some kids in some tough situations. I bring a freshman in to try and get something going and she does her job. I bring Cora in off the bench and she does her job.

“That’s a difficult spot for anybody. At the same time I say that, I also believe in them, that they can do the job so I don’t feel like I’m putting a fish in out of water kind of thing.”

Taylor Hawkes then hit a one-hopper to second that resulted in a force at second. But the relay to first went wide, allowing Hawkes to move to second and Haley to score.

Kaylee Whittaker lines a pitch into right field for a single to score Hawkes with the tying run. . Photo by Amanda Ruch

In one of the most dramatic at-bats in Steinert softball history, pitcher Kaylee Whittaker came up as Steinert’s last hope. Whittaker was robbed of a hit in the fifth when, with a runner on first, her drive into right-centerfield was backhanded by Jennifer Grasso, who robbed Whittaker then threw to first for an inning-ending double play.

With the season on the line, Whittaker worked the count to 2-2 and then fouled off three straight pitches over the first base dugout. As knuckles grew whiter, and fans of both teams rocked back and forth in their seats, Whittaker lined the next pitch into right field for a single to score Hawkes with the tying run.

With Steinert riding all the momentum, Whittaker suffered a rare bout of wildness in the bottom of the seventh, walking the bases loaded with one out (the middle of the three walks was a pitch-around to Holoboski).

Taylor Hawkes scores to tie the game. Photo by Amanda Ruch.

With mercurial Caty Hughes – who has 22 stolen bases and 43 runs scored – representing the winning run on third, Camryn Schaeffer hit a grounder to short. The throw went to first, but that was only the second out as Hughes streaked home. That may have been a moot point, however. Hughes appeared to be two-thirds down the line when the ball was received and it appeared she would have beaten a throw home regardless.

For a moment South Plainfield was unsure what had just happened, but quickly broke into celebration as the Spartans walked glumly off the field. It made the Tigers 4-0 in state finals under coach Don Panzarella, whose 732 wins puts him 11 shy of tying the state record held by Middletown South’s Tom Erbig (who Steinert beat in last year’s state final).

Courtney Danser slap a hit against South Plainfield in the NJSIAA Group III championship game at Kean University. Photo by Amanda ” The Homeowner” Ruch.

Even in defeat, senior leftfielder Courtney Danser felt pride.

“The seventh inning, I thought we did so amazing and I’m so proud of everyone for not giving up,” said Danser, who had two hits. “It would have been very easy to just let them win. I’m very proud of us for not doing that.”

In a loss like this, South Plainfield’s defensive plays loomed incredibly large.

In the third, Danser got a two-out single and Nicole Cerasi slugged a ball to deep left field that Angela Sanchez plucked out of the air at the last second. The speedy Danser was a cinch to score had the ball been a foot higher.

In the sixth, Steinert put runners on first and third with no outs. After a strikeout, Madison Balke hit a fly ball to right field that Grasso gloved and gunned home to nail Danser trying to score.

“Overall I think we did a good job, we just couldn’t string a couple things together at any given time,” Ruppert said. “They did a nice job keeping us off our game a little bit, they made some nice defensive plays when it counted. That’s the name of the game at this level. That defensive play that you make is going to be the difference in the ball game and that’s what you want to try do every time.”

Steinert was attempting to become the first girls’ team in school history to win back-to-back state titles and came tantalizingly close. But the coach made sure her players knew just how good they were.

“They had an awesome season, I’m really proud of them,” Ruppert said. “That’s what I tried to share with them just now. I know it’s really hard to end your season on a loss but they had a tremendous season.”