Friday, May 23, 2008

By Cory K. Doviak
NJS.com Editorial Director

Michelle Graham threw her third straight shutout and won her second state tournament game in as many days as Hawthorned outlasted top-seeded Tenafly, 4-0, in eight innings in the quarterfinals of the North 1, Group 2 state sectional playoffs.

HAWTHORNE – By the time the eighth inning rolled around, it was a matter of which team would blink first. Both pitchers had long since proven themselves to be on top of their games as through the regulation seven innings the two teams had combined for all of five hits, two for Tenafly and three for visiting Hawthorne in the quarterfinals of the North 1, Group 2 state sectional playoffs.

Hawthorne, the No. 8 seed that has turned its season around as its bats have started to heat up over the last couple of weeks, had done next to nothing offensively until Jenni Lee led off the top of the eighth inning with a double to left field. And when she did, the rest of the Bears followed suit.

After a ground out and a bunt single by leadoff hitter Robyn Neri, Katie Goitz, a left-handed hitter, finally knocked in the game’s first run, placing a short flyball between the shortstop and leftfielder and allowed Lee to scored the winning run. Hawthorne added three more in the frame and Michelle Graham polished off a gem in the bottom of the eighth inning as the Bears won their second state tournament game in as many days and ousted top-seeded Tenafly, 4-0.

Tenafly catcher Brigette Cohan getting a force out at home that kept Hawthorne off the board in the top of the fifth inning.

“I struck out my first two times up and grounded out the other time, so I was hoping that I would get another chance,” said Goitz, a left-handed batter whose game-winning hit went to the opposite field. “I got a good pitch. It was outside and I was looking to take it to left field. I was nervous, but I kind of like the pressure. When you get up with pressure like that on you it means you still have a chance to win and I had a chance to come through and get us a run.”

Caitlin Smith reached on an error following Goitz’s at bat and the next three Hawthorne hitters all came to the plate with the bases loaded. Olivia Gagliardi was the first of those batters and she came through with a single that scored Neri to make it 2-0. Graham then helped her own cause by drawing a walk with the bases still loaded and Alicia Bonazzi pushed home the last run in unusual circumstances.

Bonazzi lifted a pop fly toward second base and, with its relatively low trajectory and the perceived ease of the catch; the infield fly rule was not invoked. But the ball went in and out of the glove of Tenafly second baseman Marissa Silver, who quickly recovered and stepped on second base for a force play and the second out of the inning.

Robin Neri had two hits and scored one of Hawthorne's four runs in the top of the eighth inning.

With all of the traffic on the base paths getting a late start, Silver threw to third base for a tag play that was went down as the third out of the inning, but in between the second and third outs, Smith was able to get across the plate to make it a 4-0 Hawthorne advantage.

“We were hitting the ball well all game, but it just wasn’t falling. They were making all of the plays in the field, but we just had to keep swinging,” said Hawthorne head coach Lynn Shortway. “We played good defense and Michelle pitched great to keep us in the game and give us some time to score. It finally all came together.”

Each team has one legitimate scoring opportunity before heading into extra innings and Tenafly tried hard to capitalize on its shot in the bottom of the second. Megan Birch led off the frame with a bloop single and Michelle Koles immediately followed with a twisting flyball the road the wind into left field. Birch got a good read on the play, a good jump off of first base and was waived around third base by head coach Megan Williams.

Tenafly starter Jessie Shevins allowed just three hits through the regulation 7 innings.

But the perfect relay from Bonazzi, Hawthorne’s leftfielder, to Neri, the shortstop, to Gagliardi at the plate was in time to cut down the scoring attempt. Coles moved to third on the throw home and was there with one out, but Graham got strikeout and a fly ball to Smith in centerfield to end the threat.

Hawthorne put together a rally with one-out in the top of the fifth when Bonazzi and Lee singles bookended a walk to Jamie Watts that loaded the bases. But Silver fielded a groundball and threw home to Brigette Cohen for the second out of the inning and Birch made a strong throw against the speedy Neri to just get the out at first base and keep the game scoreless for the time being.

Tenafly starter Jessie Shevins (8 IP, 4 R, 7 H, 4 K, 3 BB) pitched well for Tenafly, which saw its season come to an end with a 21-5 record and the BCSL-American Division championship. Koles had two of the three hits for the Tigers, who ran into a team playing as well as any in North Jersey during the home stretch of the season.

Graham allowed just the three hits and without a walk and, with liberal use of her sneaky changeup, struck out 10, including the final batter she faced to close out the win. In 15 state playoff innings over two days including Hawthorne’s opening round win over Ramsey on Wednesday, Graham has allowed a total of five hits, zero walks and zero runs while striking out 18.

Hawthorne's Katie Goitz watching her game-wininng single reach the outfield grass.

Graham has now thrown three consecutive shutouts and will try to carry all of that momentum into Saturday night when Hawthorne will make its first appearance in the Passaic County final since 2001 against West Milford.

“We beat Eastern Christian, then we beat Pompton [Lakes in the Passaic County semifinals] and then we won two state games in the last two games. We have a lot of confidence right now,” said Graham. “West Milford is a good team. We know that, they beat us once already this season, but we made a lot of errors in that game and I did not pitch well. If we come out more focused we know we can play better then we did the first time and hopefully it will be good enough.”

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