Middletown North Softball Advances To Second Straight Monmouth County Tournament Championship

Photo above: Riley Kernan on the mound in Thursday's win over Howell

MIDDLETOWN – Senior Pitcher Riley Kernan went the distance picking up her 16th win of the season and No. 2 seed Middletown North advanced to its second straight Monmouth County final with a tidy 5-1 win over fifth-seeded Howell Thursday.

University of Rhode Island-bound Kernan allowed one run, six hits and two bases of balls with nine strikeouts while going the full seven innings.

The hard throwing right-hander was working on a shutout through six innings but gave up singles to the first two batters she faced in the top of the seventh. She then got the next two hitters on strikes before her pumping adrenaline led to a wild pitch to Haylee Barnes scoring Cassidy Predale from third for Howell’s lone run of the game. However, she shook it off and moved past it to strike out Barnes and end the game with a flair.

“No, it’s never easy,” Kernan said of the seventh innning. “I just tried to stay calm. I knew we were up in the game and I knew I’d get through it; there was never a doubt in my mind we would. They’re a very good hitting team but I put it out of my mind and we got the job done.”

The Lions – ranked sixth in the state and third in the Shore Conference behind No. 1 Donovan Catholic and No. 2 Saint John Vianny – will get a quick chance to state its case for a higher ranking when they host the Griffins Friday and will get a shot at Saint John Vianney Tuesday, May 16 in the rescheduled MCT final.

“My coaching staff and I preach one game at a time,” first-year head coach Chris Hoffman said of the upcoming games. “I don’t think they were looking ahead to anybody today.”

Saint John Vianney beat Middletown North (18-1, 13-0) 4-1 in last year’s MCT final and they would like nothing more than to snap Saint John Vianney’s seven-game winning streak in MCT championship games heading into Tuesday’s final.

“I’m excited, I’m looking forward to it,” Kernan said of the rematch. “A little bit of revenge maybe. We’re playing really well right now but SJV is a great team.”

Senior second baseman Liz Dorsa drilled a double up against the left-field fence leading off the bottom of the first and came around to score on a wild pitch and run-scoring sacrifice fly by Kernan.

The Lions added a solo run in the third on a leadoff double down the third-base line by junior third baseman Milena Wilton and a line-drive RBI single by Adriana Cerbo that glanced off Howell starting pitcher Linda Rizzo and into the outfield for a 2-0 lead after three innings.

In the meantime, Kernan was keeping the Griffins in check getting out of the fourth inning with runners at first and second via a walk and infield hit before inducing a fly ball by Cassidy Predale and then striking out Vicky Fama to end the inning.

The score remained the same as Rizzo kept the Lion hitters off balance with an array of off-speed pitches until the bottom of the sixth when Middletown North broke through for three runs off Rizzo giving Kernan some breathing room and a 5-0 lead.

“I think we played well today but we kind of struggled at the plate because Rizzo’s a good pitcher,” Hoffman said. “She was mixing that changeup with maybe every other pitch. We were prepared for her but she’s such a good pitcher it doesn’t matter. They’re a good team, that’s why they made it to the semifinals.”

Cerbo led off the sixth with a walk before her older sister Gaby rocked a fast ball over the center fielders head for an RBI two-bagger bringing Adriana Cerbo home for the innings first run. Sophomore Cara McNulty added an RBI single - her third hit of the game - driving in Gaby Cerbo and Alyssa Vetrano scored on an error by the third baseman after reaching on an error by the right fielder pushing the score to 5-0.

“Everyone thought we were going to have Gabby bunt her sister over but Gaby’s such a good hitter I called timeout and talked to her,” said Hoffman. “I said ‘You’re going to drive your sister in now’ and she did. The Cerbo sisters have done everything we’ve asked them to do all year. They’re kind of the unsung heroes of the team nobody knows about.”

“Getting those three runs meant a lot,” said Kernan. “As s pitcher it’s definitely easier to pitch the more runs you have. It was a little stressful throughout the whole game knowing we only up by two and knowing they (Howell) usually finish off well so getting those extra runs really helped us out.”

Middletown North clinched its second straight Class B North title on Tuesday with a 6-0 win over second place Red Bank Catholic. It’s their third divisional championship in four years including the Class A North title in 2014.

“Kim (Lancers coach Kim Lombardi) does a great job at SJV and we always talk about playing each other so it should be a good game,” Hoffman said of the MCT title game. “I don’t think it’s going to be like the old rivalry where we don’t like each other because we’ve kind of come together and tried to do good things for different communities so I’m looking forward to it.”

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