Upset Alert: It was Cold, But the Phillipsburg Softball Team was Hot with Win Over Pingry

PHILLIPSBURG, NJ - Sophomore pitcher Sam Lane was dominant and took a no-hitter into the seventh inning, and juniors Ava Colontrelle and Kayla Melsky blasted two-run home runs to lead Phillipsburg High School to a 7-0 upset victory over Pingry on Senior Day in a Skyland Conference Raritan Division game on a bleak and raw Saturday afternoon at the Ruth Gibbs Softball Complex.

Before the contest, the Stateliners honored their four seniors, Adrianna Taynor, Paige Randazzo, Riley Santos, and Sara Segeda.

CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP FOR THE FREE TAPINTO.NET NEWSLETTER

“Our seniors have been great,” Phillipsburg coach Kristin Polet said. “They come in and set the tone, and they make adjustments just like everybody else. They give their heart and their soul to this program and they’ve done it for four years.”

Pingry (7-4 overall, 6-2 division) entered the contest in first place in the Raritan Division and on a four-game winning streak. Phillipsburg (5-7, 4-4) came in on a six-game losing streak. Both streaks started after Pingry defeated the Stateliners, 11-5, on April 16.

Lane was masterful in pitching a complete-game shutout of her career and allowed the only hit to losing pitcher Casey McKeon leading off the seventh inning, a clean single to right field. Lane walked the first batter of the game and then set the next seven down. Another walk in the third inning led to 10 straight outs going into the seventh inning.

“I was hitting the corners with my fastball,” Lane said. “And my curve and change-up were pretty good today. I felt really comfortable out there.  I don’t know why but I felt today was going to be a pretty good day. I wanted to do well for my teammates and especially the seniors.”

DOWNLOAD THE FREE TAPINTO APP FOR MORE LOCAL NEWS. AVAILABLE IN THE APPLE STORE AND THE GOOGLE PLAY STORE .

Mission completed.

“Just a great performance by Sam,” Polet said of Lane, who fanned four. “She was on track for that no-hitter until the last inning. But listen. A one-hitter against a really quality program is great. Kudos to Sam. She deserves it.”

P’burg scored three runs in the first and three more in the second. And it’s a good thing it got to Pingry left hander McKeon early because she settled down, retired 15 of the final 19 batters she faced, and finished with 10 strikeouts.

The ‘Liners took a 2-0 lead when Melsky followed a Randazzo walk with a two-out line drive rocket over the left field fence on the first pitch she saw in the game. It was her first homer of the season and third of her career. After two more base on balls Lane helped herself with a slow roller up the middle to plate another run.

“The first pitch is usually a strike,” Melsky said of her aggressive approach at the plate. “So, I always jump on the first pitch. It was a fastball high in the zone. And I like pitches like that so I usually go for those. We were really locked in today, and we supported Sam. It was a great team win.”

“We have multiple girls that are capable of hitting home runs on this team,” Polet said. “The trick is also getting them to get base hits and hit line drives when we need them. But I’ll take a home run any day.”

Segeda reached base to open the second inning on a bunt that was misplayed for an error. Taynor followed with an RBI double off the right center field fence. Colontrelle knocked one out of the park to centerfield to give P’burg a 6-0 lead. Colontrelle, who also started at center on the basketball team in the winter, has four home runs this season and six in her career.

“It’s good to start to get out of the hole we created with the losing streak,” Colontrelle said “We fit the pieces together today. I was looking to hit something to the opposite field when I homered because I was only getting outside pitches. The pitch was elevated and I saw it early and put a pretty relaxed swing on the ball.”

Santos led off the fifth inning with a single to the base of the fence in right-center. Shantalina Blake followed a fielder’s choice and walked with an RBI single up the middle to close out the scoring.

“Pingry is a quality program,” Polet said. “But so is everybody else in the conference. Every game is anybody’s game. Yes, we had a losing streak, but we still come out every practice and work to get better. And we’ll keep doing that. We made some adjustments today to find success and that is ultimately the name of the game.”

PINGRY (AB-R-H-RBI) – Frances ss 2-0-0-0, Swain c 3-0-0-0, McKeon p 3-0-1-0,  Royster 3b 3-0-0-0, Ahn 2b 3-0-0-0, Travers rf/Provence dp 3-0-0-0, Soloman cf 1-0-0-0, Pereira ph 1-0-0-0, Tario lf 2-0-0-0, Sartorius 1b 1-0-0-0. Totals: 22-0-1-0.

PHILLIPSBURG (AB-R-H-RBI) – Taynor lf 4-1-1-1, Randazzo c 3-1-0-0, Colentrelle 1b 4-1-1-2, Melsky 3b 4-1-2-2, Santos rf 1-1-1-0, Fallon cf/Wodtke dp 2-1-0-0, Lane p 2-0-1-1, Forder cr 0-0-0-0, Blake ss 3-0-1-1, Segeda 2b 3-1-0-0. Totals: 26-7-7-7.

Immaculata 000 000 0 – 0 1 1

Phillipsburg 330 010 x – 7 7 0

LOB Immaculata 3, Phillipsburg 9. 2B – Taynor. HR – Melsky (1), Colontrelle (4).

McKeon and Swain; Lane and Randazzo. SO-BB – McKeon 10-4; Lane 4-2.

For more local news, visit TAPinto.net