Here is the story by Amit Batra for NJ Advance Media
The Cranford softball team needed some sort of spark offensively.
After falling behind by a run early, the thought of a three-peat as Union County Tournament champion appeared to be in jeopardy.
-
5/19 – 7:00 PM Softball Final Gov. Livingston 1 Cranford 2
That changed when Sophia DeMarco hit a home run – her 13th of the season – and Sabrina Prata’s RBI single lifted the top-seeded Cougars, No. 15 in the NJ.com Top 20, past third-seeded Gov. Livingston, 2-1, in Friday night’s Union County Tournament final at Kean University.
Cranford relied on the strong arm of Avery Toddings to do the rest, and the Cougars (21-4) celebrated yet another county crown.
Struggling to find offense against Highlander pitcher Katie DeBello, DeMarco’s solo shot gave Cranford the boost it so desperately needed.
“I had a feeling Sophia (DeMarco) was due for one,” Cranford head coach Melissa Moreno said of her star hitter. “That sparked the fire.”
Cranford was getting contact throughout the night, but it wasn’t until the Cranford junior and Seton Hall commit’s blast that changed the momentum.
“I was just trying to swing early in the count and not get behind like my last two at-bats,” DeMarco said. “I was just looking for an outside pitch and driving it and get us on a rally there.”
Following the game-tying home run, Maddy DeLong and Giulia Olear had back-to-back singles. With runners on first and second, Sabrina Prata hit a deep RBI single that proved to be the difference.
“I was just looking for it right down the middle and I was getting in my head because it was a 3-2 pitch,” Prata said. “I just wanted to hit something hard enough to score a run.”
Gov. Livingston (17-6) struck first in the first inning when Elise Faxon’s sacrifice fly scored leadoff hitter Chelsea Kiesewetter, who opened the game with a single.
Cranford continued to stay in it, and Toddings, a Holy Cross commit, settled in and became unhittable towards the latter part of the game. She finished with 11 strikeouts on the night.
“They came out swinging and they were really aggressive,” Toddings said. “I realized I needed to speed up my pace and that really helped me to get back into the flow of things.”
Cranford gave up just one run the whole tournament, defeating its previous three opponents by a combined 30-0 score.
The Cougars are the second seed in the NJSIAA North 2, Group 3 tournament. They’ll open the state tournament against 15-seed Mendham. Fourth-seeded Gov. Livingston will meet 13th-seeded Monmouth in the Central, Group 2 first round.
