Saint John Vianney Wins Eighth Straight Monmouth County Tournament Title

Photos above courtesy of Tom Smith: Champs. Baker, Parker and Rivera

WALL – Freshman Julia Parker relieved senior pitcher Demi Revera with one out in the bottom of the eighth of a 1-1 ball game with Middletown North runners at first and second representing the potential game-winning runs in Tuesday’s Monmouth County Tournament final at Wall Township High School.

Parker, who bats third as the designated player and is 7-0 in the circle this season behind Rivera, retired both batters she faced to get out of the eighth. She then retired the side in order in the bottom of the ninth to preserve the 2-1 win for Saint John Vianney.

“I knew when I came in that my team was behind me,” Parker said when asked if she felt pressure coming in that situation. “I just needed to pitch my game and relax. I felt that I needed to do my part. We needed two outs, but I knew I had my defense behind me; everyone told me to relax.”

After Middletown North tied the game in the bottom of the seventh sending it into extra innings, the Lancers scored the game-winning run in the top of the ninth.

Lancers catcher Ally Jones led off the top of the ninth drilling a single over the third base bag putting the go-ahead run on base with sophomore speedster Charley Baker coming in to run for her. A sacrifice bunt by Gianna Mavica moved Baker into scoring position at second and a walk to Alexis Agrapides put runners at first and second with one out and senior Magan Masi coming to the plate.

Masi hit a slow grounder to senior Liz Dorsa at second who flipped it to shortstop Alyssa Vetrano covering second for the force out. Vetrano then threw to first looking for an inning-ending double play but Masi beat the one-hop throw sliding head first across the bag with Baker scoring the go-ahead run all the way from second with some heads-up base running.

“At that point of the game you have to risk it, do or die,” Baker said of her gutsy dash home. “I guess it’s just instincts.”

With the Lancers now up 2-1, Parker closed out the game inducing two ground ball outs to shortstop Jess Campana and striking out Adriana Cerbo to end the game.

“I’ve been using her (Parker) in the closing role so I knew what she was capable of doing,” Lancers head coach Kim Lombardi said. “That was a stressful situation, but she’s been a huge part of my lineup all year long. She had a lot of composure and didn’t act like a freshman; she was ready.”

The top-seeded Lancers (21-0) – ranked No.2 in the state - have now won an unparalleled eight straight Monmouth County Tournament championships including last year’s 4-1 win over Middletown North making it two in a row over the second-seeded Lions (17-3) in MCT finals.

Junior centerfielder Lindsey Baron – a Monmouth University commit – put the Lancers on top in the third inning hammering an RBI double off the top of the left-field fence driving in Masi, who led off the inning being hit by a pitch.

“I didn’t assume, I just tried to run hard until I knew for sure,” Baron said of whether her double was a home run or not. “I sort of got tripped up at first but I didn’t know if it was out or not.”

Baron, who cut down a runner at the plate from centerfield in last year’s MCT final against the Lions, was at it again Tuesday.

With one out in the bottom of the sixth and the Lancers grasping onto a 1-0 lead, Gaby Cerbo lined a ball into the left centerfield gap that she tried to stretch it into a double. However, Baron – one of the best defensive centerfielders in the Shore Conference - cut it off, wheeled and uncorked a perfect throw to second to nail Cerbo.

"Lindsey Baron, man," said Rivera. "She was clutch the entire game. She was awesome and I'm lucky to have her on my team."

The significance of Baron’s assist came to light after the Lions strung together a couple of hits following it and had runners on first and third before Rivera got the third out on strikes to end the threat.

“I try to help my team out any way I can,” Baron said about the play. “So of course coming up with the big throw is something that I’m proud of. I figured they were going to be aggressive on the bases but it wasn’t necessarily a perfect throw but it got there.”

Middletown North banged out 10 hits left 13 runners on base including leaving the bases loaded in the first and six runners in scoring position overall. But to Rivera's credit, she battled throughout and got the big outs when she needed them.

Rivera (14-0) wiggled her way out of jams in the first, fourth and sixth innings without allowing a run before the Lions – ranked sixth in the state – finally broke through on her in the bottom of the seventh scoring an unearned run to tie the game 1-1.

With one out and the Lancers clinging to a 1-0 lead, Campana booted a grounder to short for an error – a rarity for the usually flawless Lancer defense - putting the potential tying run on first.

Rivera then worked the count to 3-and-2 on slugger Kayla Gallo before walking her on a pitch that could of gone either way. During that at bat, after running the count full, Gallo fouled off five consecutive pitches in a classic confrontation between the two senior stars.

With runners now on first and second, Middletown North pitcher Riley Kernan hit a hard grounder up the middle that second baseman Alexis Agrapides made a nice backhanded play on and flipping it to Campana for the force at second with Liz Dorsa, who reached on the error, advancing to third.

Adriana Cerbo then brought Dorsa home on a soft liner into left field for a clutch two-out game-tying RBI single tying the game at one and forcing extra innings.

“We were frustrated,” Baron said after the Lions tied the game. “But we just motivated each other and were picking each other up. We really wanted it and pushed ourselves through.”

Kernan was the hard-luck loser going the distance allowing two runs, six hits, and two walks while striking out three.

“Everyone knows we win the Monmouth County Tournament every year,” Moore said of her team’s streak. “So this was super important to us and super important to me and my seniors because senior year you don’t want to lose; this is the legacy we’ve had.”

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