South Brunswick softball tops Sayreville, advances to GMC Tournament final
EDISON – The last two teams to clinch a Greater Middlesex Conference softball tournament title squared off on Sunday afternoon with a finals berth against top-seeded South Plainfield on the line.
Second-seeded South Brunswick (18-1), the defending champion, defeated No. 3 Sayreville 2-1 at Middlesex County College to earn an opportunity to repeat as champs when the Vikings and Tigers take the diamond at 4:30 p.m. on Friday at MCC in a rematch of last year’s final.
"Its’s been a hard season because everyone has been coming after us because we’re the defending champs,” said freshman Jess Stadler, who hit the go-ahead run in the bottom of the sixth inning against the Bombers. “We worked hard the entire season to reach our goal and we’re finally here.”
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Despite not being on the team last year, Stadler showed poise on Sunday when she stepped into the batter's box with the game tied at 1-1 and two outs in the bottom of the sixth.
With runners on the corners, Stadler swung at the first pitch and lined a hard-hit grounder past the pitcher and over the second base bag for the go-ahead RBI single.
“I was nervous with two outs going up but I pulled through it,” Stadler said. “Coach said she was throwing first pitch strikes so I just waited for that pitch.”
Sayreville’s ace, senior Kelly Duffy, was able to avoid further damage in the inning as she earned her 10th strikeout of the game to get out of the jam. Heading into the seventh inning, the Vikings once again relied on another freshman to seal the victory.
Freshman Alexandra Zetchus came in to relieve sophomore starter Gabriella Branaccio in the top of the seventh with one out and runners on the corners with the top of the lineup stepping up to the plate. Like Stadler, Zetchus remained calm and came up big when the team needed it most.
Sayreville’s leadoff hitter Kayla Stvan swung at the first pitch thrown by Zethus and grounded it to shortstop Carly Rybinski, who made a heads-up play by holding off the runner on third before throwing it to first base for the second out of the inning.
Zetchus forced the following hitter to pop-out on just her third pitch thrown to center field to help the Vikings advance to the conference final for the second consecutive year.
“She’s tough and she’s a freshman, she’d done it multiple times,” South Brunswick coach Heather Wells said about her freshman closer. “She has a very cool head, she knows her job, she knows her role and she comes in with confidence.”
The entire South Brunswick team entered the semifinals confident as it came into the matchup riding a seven-game win streak. The Vikings got out to an early 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning as Jaime Klemas recorded an RBI single.
Branaccio put out a solid performance as she struck out three in 6 1/3 innings and maintained 1-0 lead until the top of the fifth inning.
Sayreville (17-5) was able to manufacture the game-tying run with a leadoff walk by Ashely Mandela, a sacrifice bunt and a groundout that got Mandela to third base.
With two outs and a runner on third, Sayreville’s Ashley Cannon tied the game at 1-1 with a RBI single to right field.
“They are a very good hitting team, so we had to work on everything this week because there is no weakness in this squad,” Wells said.
It took a freshman in the biggest at bat of her young career to take the lead against the 2015 tournament champions.
Following the victory, the Vikings immediately set their eyes on South Plainfield, which defeated fifth-seeded J.P. Stevens 2-1 in the other semifinal on Sunday.
Last year, in the program’s first tournament final in their 41-year history, it took the Vikings 11 innings to clinch the program's first title. Wells knows her team will need to be at the top of their game in order to defeat South Plainfield (22-3), which will be looking to avenge last year’s loss.
“I’m sure they are going to come at us very hard,” Wells said. “That was a battle for 11 innings so to be able to bring that back again, I think it’s going to be a hell of game.”