Senior Gabriella Diaz twirled a two-hit shutout for Bayonne, which won its first Hudson County title since 1992 with a 1-0 win over Weehawken.
BAYONNE – As Bayonne’s Annie O’Neill rounded the bases all she could hear was the screaming of her teammates. She could not believe that something she dreamed about all season was actually taking place in real time. Rounding third she could not hold in the smile any longer, it was happening. When she crossed home plate and the team there to greet her with more screams and hugs all around, O’Neill instantly realized how special and how rare this moment was.
Locked in a scoreless duel in the Hudson County Tournament final against Weehawken, O’Neill led off the bottom of the seventh by punching a single to right. The ball skipped on the turf, past the chasing outfielder and O’Neill was off the races. She hustled all the way and scored the only run of the game to lift top-seeded Bayonne to its first Hudson County title since 1992 with a 1-0 victory over No. 2 seed Weehawken on Thursday afternoon at Don Ahern Veterans Memorial Stadium in Bayonne.
Weehawken had a quality chance to score in the top half of the first inning. Morgan Tomlinson drew a leadoff walk and went to third on a one-out error. Bayonne pitcher Gabriella Diaz came up clutch all game long. But it was a particular heads-up play in the first that set the tone. Weehawken cleanup batter Envey Duran hit a squibber off the end of the bat between Diaz and third baseman Caitlin Gaetani. It looked to be a surefire run-scoring infield single. Diaz alertly called off Gaetani and led the ball roll just over the line into foul territory before picking it up. Two pitches later, Duran lined out to O’Neill at second before Diaz struck out the next batter to end the threat.
“I’ve known (Savannah) my whole life and I had to be at my best,” said Diaz. “Weehawken is a very good team and I knew there were going to be some pressure situations. I never doubted myself for one second because I knew my team had my back, I just had to stay focused and hit my spots.”
Savannah McHale did not allow an earned for Weehawken, which will play for a state sectional title on Friday against Cedar Grove.
Bayonne got a runner into scoring position in the bottom half of the frame when Alyssa Urbanski reach second base on an outfield error. Weehawken’s Savannah McHale has been absolutely dealing as of late, having given up just one earned run in her last 43 innings pitched coming into the game with a whopping 104 strikeouts against just nine walks over that stretch. The hard-throwing sophomore struckout the next batter to keep zeros on the scoreboard.
Both pitchers quickly settled in with Diaz retiring 12 out of the 13 batters she faced from the second through the fifth innings and McHale retiring nine in a row between the second and fourth innings.
Bayonne got its first hit of the game when Gaetani, a freshman, led off the bottom of the 5th with a single to center and moved up to second base on a sacrifice. With two outs, Cameron Mercier dropped down a near-perfect bunt up the first-base line. Savannah McHale quickly pounced on it and tossed it to her sister Brooke at first to get Mercier by half a step, which ended the inning.
The game was still scoreless heading into the seventh inning. Eva Shevlin reached on an error to lead off the inning then ended up on third with one out thanks to another error and a groundout. With the go-ahead run just sixty feet away, Diaz remained calm and pitched her way out of the jam. The Indians tried to safety squeeze the runner home but Diaz induced a pop-up to Urbanski behind the plate before whiffing the next batter to get the Bayonne bench and their large, raucous crowd worked up. Little did any of them that less than a minute later it would get exponentially louder.
Alyssa Urbanski and Bayonne finished the season with a 25-5 record.
“The emotions are crazy in a county final and we’ve come up short twice before,” added Diaz. “Our team is like glue. No matter what the situation is this team was always going to stick together. Playing for one another is what got us through today.”
On the first pitch of the bottom half of the seventh O’Neill stepped up the plate with one thing in mind, swing at anything close on the first pitch. She got a pitch over the outer half of the plate and slapped the ball through the side and into right field. The ball skipped past the right fielder and all the way to the fence and O’Neill turned on the jets, coming all the way around to score the game-winning run standing up as after two straight championship-game losses in Hudson County, the Lady Bees brought home the Hudson County Tournament title, their first in 30 years.
“We needed a runner on base and I just went up looking to be aggressive,” said O’Neill. “I just hoped for a pitch to hit and I got one. When I saw the ball go past the right fielder I just took off. It was the fastest I’ve ever run. When I scored and everyone was going crazy I couldn’t believe what was happening. We really won it.”
Diaz was sensational in the circle for Bayonne (25-5). The senior went out in style, twirling a two-hit shutout with three walks and eight Ks.
McHale took the heartbreaking loss for Weehawken (25-2), also giving up just two hits, walking two, and striking out seven. The Indians still have something to play for as they take on top-seeded Cedar Grove today for the North 2, Group 1 title.
For the ballyhooed senior group of Bayonne, it was a glorious end to a long journey; one that could only end with history being made and with a county title to go with it.
“Especially going into this season with this many experienced seniors, this was a goal of ours from day one,” said Bayonne head coach Samantha Maggio. “Last time we won was the year I was born, pretty crazy. I couldn’t be happier for this senior class and couldn’t be happier for this team overall. To have the support we had both from the girls, the coaching staff, and the fans was amazing. This was the time to show out and show what Bayonne softball is made of and we did that.”
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