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Conroy's Three-Run Homer Hands Matawan Walk-Off Win Over Caseys
With the win, the Huskies now advance into the semifinals of the Monmouth County Tournament
Photo above: Yesterday’s game-winning Hero, Lauren Conroy
MATAWAN – Entering the bottom of the seventh trailing No.7 seed Red Bank Catholic 2-0 in Monmouth County Tournament quarterfinal action, the second-seeded Matawan Huskies had the top of their order coming to bat with 2014 third-team All-Shore pick Lauren Conroy slated to bat third.
“I knew that if we could get our first two batters on, me or Hadassah (Curry) could end the game for us,” Conroy said. “So all we needed was for those two to get on and I knew we could win. I knew as soon as the third baseman kicked the ball we had it.”
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Casey third baseman Brynne Bauman momentarily bobbled lead-off hitter Samantha Buchman’s hard grounder to third allowing her to beat the throw to first and bring the tying run to the plate. Sophomore first baseman Jessica Veary then lined a double over the head of left fielder Taylor Lane to put runners at second and third with Conroy due up next.
Conroy promptly lined a bases-clearing game-ending home run into the deepest part of the field in dead centerfield to hand the Huskies an exhilarating 3-2 walk-off win over the Caseys (10-7, 7-3) and advance into the MCT semifinals.
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“It’s surreal,” the sophomore shortstop said. “Probably the biggest hit of my career, I just hope I can get many more in the next two years.”
“It’s a nice win, things were not going well for us,” Matawan head coach Bob Dubina said. “We just couldn’t get a timely hit when we had runners on. But it got to the point in the seventh inning where we said ‘get the two runners on and we win the game.’ If we had to have anybody up in that situation that’s the kid you want up.”
The Huskies left runners in scoring position in the first, third, fourth and fifth innings but failed to push a run across the plate.
In the bottom of the first, Veary walked with one out before Conroy grounded a single up the middle to put runners on first and second. Both runners advanced to second and third on Curry’s sacrifice fly to deep center but were left stranded when senior pitcher Erin Powers grounded into a 5-3 out.
Conroy lined a single off the glove of first baseman Gabrielle Bram with one out in the third and advanced to second on a passed ball before Curry walked to put two on with only one out. But the Huskies again came up empty after Powers lined out to centerfield and junior Sami Boyne went down on strikes.
In the fourth, right fielder Shannon Sansone lined a single with two outs and moved to second when Buchman was hit by a pitch before Veary ended the inning with a 5-3 ground out. Then in the fifth, Curry lined a single into center with one out with pinch runner Amanda Hunter stealing second before two infield pop ups ended the inning.
“We just couldn’t get the timely hit,” Dubina said. “We had runners in scoring position but hadn’t hit the ball well. With the top of our order coming up I’d like to say I was confident, but I don’t know if I was 100 percent because we hadn’t hit the ball. We said to them ‘if the first two get on we’re going to win the game,’ because with our three and four hitters coming up I have a ton of confidence in both of them.”
Conroy finished 3-for-4, with a homer, three RBI’s and a run scored. Her home run was her Shore Conference leading seventh of the year and her three RBI’s give her 17 – second in the Shore. She boasts a conference leading .677 batting average and at this pace is a viable candidate for the Shore Conference Player of the Year award.
Senior starting pitcher Erin Powers (8-2) got the win for the Huskies, going the distance giving up two runs on nine hits and three strikeouts without walking a batter.
The Huskies meanwhile, moved up to No.8 in the most recent Shore Conference rankings and are in first place in the very competitive Class B North.
“We have great team chemistry,” Conroy said. “We’re playing well together, hitting in spots we need to and picking our teammates up when we have to; that’s what we need to do to make a long run. It’s been a long time for the school to be ranked anywhere and we just want to keep it going and maybe climb up the rankings even more.”
The Huskies will face the winner of the No.3 seed Howell vs. No.6 seed Manasquan game in the semifinals.
