Saturday,
May 2, 2015
By Cory K. Doviak
NJS.com Editorial Director
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Freshman Makenzie McGrath did not allow a run in six innings of relief as Demarest clinched at least a share of its first league title since 2008 with a 6-3 win at rival Old Tappan on Friday. |
OLD TAPPAN – Stefani Antoshak is one of the four seniors on the Northern Valley/Demarest roster that has helped rebuild the program into one that was on the verge of winning its first league title since 2008. Makenzie McGrath is one of two freshmen in the starting lineup that has now helped push them over the finish line.
There was a point in Friday afternoon’s showdown against rival Northern Valley/Old Tappan where the baton was clearly passed from Antoshak, a veteran right-hander who throws strikes and keeps her team in games by letting the defense do the work to McGrath, more of a hard-thrower who can miss bats.
After the Norsewomen took a 5-0 lead through an inning-and-a-half, Old Tappan scratched out three runs with the help of a couple of errors in the bottom of the second and had the go-ahead run at the plate when Demarest head coach Keith Johnson made the slow walk to the circle to make the pitching change.
“Stef has been doing well and I really felt bad going out there because this is her senior year and it is Old Tappan, but she pitches to contact and at that point in the game the ball was not really bouncing our way,” said Johnson. “We weren’t really making the plays and we needed somebody to come in and keep the ball off the bats a little bit. That is what Makenzie has been doing all year long and it showed today.”
McGrath struck out the first hitter she faced, walked the second to load the bases and then got two fly ball outs to end the threat. McGrath went on to throw six innings of scoreless relief to pick up the win in Demarest’s 6-3 victory that gives Demarest at least a share of the league title and it can clinch it all by itself with a win over Tenafly on Monday.
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Old Tappan's Emma Nelson hit the ball hard in all four of her at bats and finished 2-for-4 with 2 RBIs. |
McGrath is a Dumont resident who had choices. She could have gone the parochial school route or stayed in her hometown, but her mother works in the Demarest school district, which opened the door to this opportunity.
“I visited the school last year and me and my father looked at the [championship] banners [in the gym] and there weren’t a lot for softball. He said, ‘Let’s put one up there,’ and we did,” said McGrath. “We were talking about it this morning while driving to school. We were like, ‘How good would it feel?’ And it feels awesome.”
McGrath’s first high school start was in the first matchup between the sister schools, a game won by a seventh inning home run from Emma Nelson Old Tappan’s senior shortstop. This time around, Antoshak handled the early adrenaline rush and then passed the baton.
“I was happy that Stef started because, after the loss last time, I might have been a little shaky,” said McGrath. “When I came in after Stef today and with the game already started, I had a lot of confidence.”
And she had a lead to work with because Demarest got its bats going early. Victoria Corcoran singled with one out in the opening inning, stole second and third and scored on McGrath’s two-out, RBI single that bounced right over the first base bag. The Norsewoman then put together a big inning in the second and again Corcoran was in the middle of it.
After Ellen Hamlin (2-for-4, RBI, R, SB), Demarest’s other freshman starter, knocked in a run with an infield single and stole second, Caitlin Reuter walked to bring up Corcoran (2-for-2, HR, 3 RBI, 2 R, 2 SB), who drilled a high fly ball down the left field line. The only question was whether or not it would stay fair as it curled toward the line, but it hooked inside the foul pole and landed well over the fence for the three-run homer that gave the Norsewomen a 5-0 lead.
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Demarest's Victoria Corcoran showing her vertical leap is better than her head coach's after her second inning, 3-run homer. |
“I have been working hard on my swing, so I am not going up to the plate looking to see how far back third or first is playing so that I could lay down a bunt,” said Corcoran, who now has a team-leading four home runs on the season, one more than her twin sister Veronica and Reuter. “I am confident to go up there and take a good swing.”
The Golden Knights did not hang their heads despite falling behind by five runs early. Instead, they got right back in the game in the bottom of the second with Rebecca Blekht and Julia Spinelli each singling to start the inning and freshman Lyndsey Germano reaching on an error that loaded the bases. That brought up Lana Davidoff who smacked a grounder that was misplayed and allowed the two lead runners to score. Nelson then hit a hard shot off the pitcher’s glove for an infield single that scored Germano to make it 5-3.
That was when Johnson made the move to McGrath, who struck out the first hitter she faced, walked the second to load the bases and then got a short flyball to center that Victoria Corcoran caught on the run moving in with the runner holding at third. Victoria Corcoran had to go the other way for the final out, retreating to within a couple of steps of the fence to haul in Carol Oberhelman’s blast that got caught up in the wind for the third out.
McGrath (2-for-4, 2 RBI) drove in the game’s only other run with a single in the top of the fifth and Demarest’s defense was rock solid after the rough second inning. Nelson (2-for-4) singled leading off the fourth and tried to take two bases on Kristen Farrell’s sacrifice bunt, but was cut down on the back end of a 5-3-2 double play. That meant that Demarest catcher Haley Pontillo hustled down to third base to take the throw and got her shin guard down to block the base to boot.
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Lexie Piccinich after making Old Tappan's defensive play of the game, a diving grab in foul territory in the second inning. |
“It was a perfect throw by [first baseman Jessica Muti]. She literally could not have done it any better than that. She threw it right where she was sliding,” said Pontillo, who ended up on the ground in a cloud of dust after applying the tag. “I knew they were bunting and I kind of knew [Nelson] was going to go to third because she is fast and she is aggressive. My first instinct as soon as Brooke [Runge] got the ball was to get down to third. I don’t even remember catching the ball; I just remember rolling about 500 feet after the play was over.”
Old Tappan was robbed of two more hits as Veronica Corcoran picked off a hard line drive off the bat of Farrell in the sixth and Maniscalco made a running grab to rob Oberhelman in the seventh to short-circuit the Knights’ final rally. Julie Rodriguez (0-for-0, 4 BB), who did not see a pitch to hit in the game, and Lexie Piccinich drew consecutive walks leading off Old Tappan’s final at bat and the tying run came up in the form of three different hitters in the final frame.
Maniscalco raced back into short right field and kept her concentration as Reuter was sliding in behind her for the first out, McGrath fielded a come-backer for out No. 2 and Reuter grabbed the final out to put the finishing touches on the game that gave Demarest at least a share of a league title for the first time in seven years.
“First time since 2008 and this group of kids really deserve it. You have to have talent, which we do, but on top of that you have to focus and you have to have hard work and these kids really came into this season with a purpose,” said Johnson. “I am extremely proud of their effort.”
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