Township girls staying red-hot down in Florida

BY WAYNE WITKOWSKI
Staff Writer

After suffering through one of the slowest starts of any girls softball team in the Shore Conference, Brick Township now has one of the hottest teams.

The Green Dragons steamrolled through four games in a high school softball showcase at Walt Disney World in Orlando, Fla., outscoring their opponents 58-7 and getting a no-hitter from Elizabeth Erbig, as they’ve won seven of their last eight games. And they did it with outfielder Nichole Alvarez unable to make the trip.

Brick Township, now 8-7 and reviving serious thoughts about qualifying for the NJSIAA and Shore Conference tournaments with the cutoffs looming, started the season 1-6.

“We’re developing a team sense of what it takes to win games,” said coach Mike Fletcher. “We also won the opening round of the Ocean County Tournament, so we’ve re-set our goals.”

It’s been a long time since Brick Township last qualified for the NJSIAA tournament, which has its cutoff on May 12. The only thing out of reach is the Shore Conference A South championship, one of the hardest conference titles to win in the state. Brick Township is 3-5 in the conference.

But the team is looking to stay hot the rest of the way, which it made clear when it headed to Florida two weekends ago for the week-long stay.

“We went not just to compete. We went down on a roll and wanted to run it out,” said Fletcher.

Certainly, the games before the trip set the tone. It started with a 9-1 victory over Brick Memorial in which Erbig pitched the win. She also got the win in relief of starter Kaitlyn McElroy when the Green Dragons surged for nine runs in the 12th inning of a 14-8 victory over Toms River South. Brick Township forced the extra innings with three runs in the seventh inning. Then, they beat Point Pleasant Borough, 11-5, in the Ocean County Tournament to set up a second-round game on Friday at Southern.

“We thoroughly enjoyed the trip,” said Fletcher. “It was everything we hoped it would be. Everything was first rate. We had rain one night and the field was ready to play on the next day. The facilities are outstanding.”

What also helped is McElroy’s development into a solid starting pitcher to complement Erbig.

“We’re confident in both of their abilities,” said Fletcher. “We’ll ride the hot pitcher, and when she tires, the other one finishes. The confidence of their teammates in them is showing.”

Erbig no-hit Franklin K. Lane, 15-0, in the opener that was stopped after the Queens, N.Y., school batted in the fourth inning because of the showcase’s 15-run rule. Erbig struck out six and did not walk a batter, and batted in two runs to help her own cause. Jessica Wilenta batted in four runs with two hits, and Christina Rodriguez lined a two-run double. Ashley Evan chipped in two hits.

The Green Dragons followed it with a 22-2 victory over Franklin K. Lane, as McElroy allowed only two hits while Jamie Parks slugged three of her own, one of them a two-run triple. Wilenta continued her hot hitting with three hits for two RBIs.

“Our defense is beginning to shine,” said Fletcher, as his team turned some tough plays in the first two games against Franklin K. Lane.

Then came a gritty 5-4 victory over Hewlett, N.Y., in which Brick Township rallied for a 2-1 lead and eventually fell behind, 4-3, before jumping back ahead in the sixth.

Ciara Iasillo started the comeback in the sixth when she fouled off an 0-2 pitch before singling sharply. Evan bunted her into scoring position, and freshman Sandy Lutz hammered a run-scoring double. Ashley Hessenkemper beat the throw on a drag bunt, putting runners on the corners, before Joey Afflito grounded in the go-ahead run with a fielder’s choice.

The second game was much easier, 16-1, before the mercy rule was invoked in the fifth inning. Brittany Morgan and Lutz each hammered three hits and drove in two runs to back McElroy’s two-hit pitching. Afflito and Iasillo each smashed three hits and drove in a run, and Rodriguez also collected three hits.

The Florida blowouts allowed Fletcher to use his bench more often than he had in earlier games.