SOUTH PLAINFIELD — For the second year in a row, the Randolph High School softball team trekked to South Plainfield and ended its host’s season.
But unlike last season, when the teams were both competing in the same section and competing for a berth in the sectional final, this time both entered as sectional champs with a berth in Friday’s state Group 3 championship game on the line.
Randolph advanced to its first state final with a convincing 9-4 decision Wednesday, June 11 and will meet powerhouse Steinert, an 8-5 winner over Delsea, for the title.
“This means a lot for our team, our program,” said Randolph coach Ashley Kanya, noting last year’s sectional crown was the school’s first since 1997. “We set a goal for our team, we always say ‘Get on the banner.’ There are banners in our gym and for so long that banner was empty. And this group of girls has filled that up.
“This year, I said ‘Instead of just saying that, let’s do something that no team in Randolph history has ever done, and make it all the way to the end.’ We set that as our goal and here we are.”
The victorious Rams (17-7) capitalized on six errors by a South Plainfield team that did not commit an error in its first three state tournament games, including a one-strikeout perfect game from Nicole Swatko in its sectional final win over Summit last Friday.
Any chance for another perfect game was ruined on Swatko’s first pitch, which Randolph shortstop Autumn Liebhauser drilled a leadoff double to center field.
“That always shakes up the other team,” said Liebhauser, who will attend Oakland University in Michigan next fall. “We need to get on them early to show that we are the dominant team.”
The Tigers (17-6) escaped the first inning unscathed and jumped out to a 2-0 edge in the bottom of the frame, as Ava Fusaro led off with a walk, Sophia Alvarez singled her to second, and Jocelyn Sosa drove them both in with a double to right-center field.
Randolph responded immediately, aided by the Tigers’ first state tournament error on the leadoff batter, Hannah Bermudez, and the flood gates opened. Madison Ryan drove in a run on a grounder, and seldom-used Caitlin Sedorak, pressed into duty by an illness to Lily Zepp, tripled in another for the Rams in just her eighth at-bat of the season. She also scored on a muffed fly ball with two outs, as the bottom half of the order scored all three of the unearned runs.
“The best thing about our team is that we are so deep and rich in talent,” Kanya said. “When we get opportunities, we have to take advantage of them. And we have a very game-smart team.”
Randolph put its first four batters on in the third inning on a single by Hayley Arigo, who scored on a double by Bermudez down the left-field line. South Plainfield’s usually reliable infield committed two errors on a ground ball by the next batter, Rebecca Dasti, which scored Bermudez, and Isabella Schmidt greeted reliever Erin Townley with a single to score Dasti.
“I think it’s definitely contagious as far as players, the ball’s going to find you. In the beginning I’d say that’s what it was,” South Plainfield coach Antonia Pacillo noted. “We played sloppy. I never expected them to come out and play another perfect game, but I think we had higher expectations.”
Liebhauser then led off the fourth with a blast over the center-field fence for her 10th home of the season and 38th of her career.
“Just hard contact. I try to get it right past the pitcher every time, I’m aiming just to blow it back at her,” Liebhauser explained. “She was coming out-out-out, so I had a feeling she was going to come in. I got the inside pitch and I took it.”
The biggest scare Randolph faced all afternoon came on a grounder in the bottom of the fifth that Liebhauser fielded, stepped on second and threw to first as Fusaro barreled into her.
Liebhauser remained in the game and waved off a pinch-runner when she walked in the sixth, stealing second on the first pitch to demonstrate her fitness. She then scored from second on a single by Daniella Gizienski, who scored the ninth and final run on South Plainfield’s sixth and final error.
South Plainfield went down swinging, adding single runs in the sixth and seventh on Gabriella Cicenia’s RBI single up the middle and Alvarez’s solo, one-out homer, respectively.
Breanna Colburn went the distance for the Rams, scattering eight hits and yielding two walks while striking out seven, four in a row at one juncture.
South Plainfield ends its season with a sectional title and as runner-up in the GMC Tournament in Pacillo’s first season as head coach after replacing Don Panzarella, the state’s winningest coach.
“It’s been a hell of a ride, and it’s been so much fun” Pacillo began. “Most of the girls who played this year did not play last year, did not get at bats. They got so much opportunity, and they showed so much growth and showed everyone what they could do. Those girls worked so hard and they earned their spots.”
Liebhauser, meanwhile, gets to finish her spectacular high school career in appropriate fashion, playing for the school’s first bid at a state championship.
“I am going to play my hardest. I do every game, but especially on Friday,” Liebhauser offered. “We all need to have our ‘A’ game on Friday. We need to do our job and show everybody who we are.”
This article originally appeared on MyCentralJersey.com: NJ Softball: Randolph ousts South Plainfield in Group 3 semifinals