Hillsborough Win Away From Somerset Softball Crown

Hillsborough High School girls will seek their sixth county championship in 12 years after shutting out Bridgewater-Raritan 8-0 Saturday in the Somerset semifinals.

Hillsborough got off to a solid start when pitcher Alexis Schengrund struck out the side in the first inning. Schengrund's teammates did their part and put up 4 runs in the same inning, putting Bridgewater on their heels.

But Bridgewater looked like they were up to the task when they loaded the bases with one out in the second inning. But the Panthers were unable to capitalize and failed to score. 

"We hit the ball well today," said Hillsborough coach Cheryl Iaione. "We played them twice before and beat them up pretty good. But we were a little nervous today because they are a very good team. We knew we had to come out swinging the bats to put doubt in their minds right away and get a great effort out of Alexis.  Obviously we got both."

"We definitely came to play today," Schengrund said. "Our defense backed up our hitting. We played really well today."

"We just lost to a very good team," said Bridgewater coach Sandy Baranowski.  "They are fantastic, they should win it all this year. We have nothing to be ashamed of, I thought we played a really good game. The score does not reflect how well we played today. I am very pleased with how we played."

Hillsborough will face the winner of Immaculata vs. Watchung, postponed to Monday due to Saturday's rain, next Saturday at Torpey Park, Bridgewater.