Mullane's No-Hit Bid, Salvatore's Walk-Off Hit Lifts Eagles

MIDDLETOWN – Freshman sensation Hope Mullane, who earlier in the season tossed a five-inning perfect game, hurled seven innings of no-hit ball Thursday before finishing with an eight-inning, one-hit shutout in the eighth-seeded Eagles exhilarating 1-0 victory over No. 9 seed Marlboro in a NJSIAA Central Jersey Group IV first-round game.

The hard-throwing righty faced just one batter over the minimum 21 through seven innings the result of a third-inning walk and didn’t allow a base runner past second base during that span.

“She’s been lights out on the mound,” said Eagles head coach Lisa Smith. “She’s got a lot of confidence out there. She kept us in the game throwing a one-hitter through eight; you can’t ask for a whole lot more from a freshman.”

Mullane lost her no-hitter in the top of the eighth inning and had to work herself out of a one-out jam with runners in scoring position at second and third base.

Marlboro senior Kayleigh Ferraro led off the eighth with a clean line-drive single to centerfield to break up the no-hitter. Mullane then beaned the next batter, senior Nicole Santigate, putting runners at first and second with no outs.

Alyson Levito moved the runners over with a sacrifice bunt down the third-base line putting both runners in scoring position with one out.

Mullane then bore down getting the number eight batter, Jayna Kramsky, on strikes for the second out before inducing a slow tapper to the mound that she easily fielded and threw to first for the third out.

“It did, but I knew I wasn’t going to let that happen again,” said Mullane when asked if Ferraro’s hit leading off the eighth might’ve rattled her. “I knew I was facing the bottom of the order and that helped me because it was easier for me to pitch to them then the top of the order which has a lot of really good hitters.”

Apparently, Mullane had no trouble with the top of the order either. Using a combination fastball on the inside corner and a sinking curve she stymied the senior-heavy lineup, which boast an eye-popping team batting average of .456 making Mullane’s performance even more impressive.

“The top of their lineup is very strong,” said Smith. “They hit a lot of extra-base hits and for Hope to take that away from them was huge for us. They’re a tough, tough Marlboro team that has a lot of fight in them.”

In the bottom of the eighth Mullane, who went 3-for-3 with a walk at the plate, helped her own cause by leading off the inning with a solid single to centerfield putting the winning run on first.

“I was just saying to myself that I was just going to swing at anything,” said Mullane about her approach at the plate. “I just needed to get a base hit.”

Junior Julianna Green ran for Mullane and was promptly sacrificed to second base on a perfect bunt by junior Renee Lioudakis that moved Green to second with the winning run with one out.

That brought up shortstop Emily Salvadore, who holds a .404 batting average on the year but was 0-for-3 for the game but had hit the ball hard in her last at bat, and she delivered. The super sophomore drilled the second pitch she saw into the left-centerfield gap for the game-winning RBI and a 1-0 Middletown South win.

“I just went in with a hitters mentality of just wanting to hit a single,” said Salvadore. “I just really wanted to help Hope, she was pitching an amazing game. I know what a difficult position it is for her to be a freshman and she’s just showing how mentally tough she is.”

Smith was confident that her young slugger would get the job done for the Eagles at that point.

“I just had a feeling Emily was going to come through,” said Smith. “She had a great day yesterday at bat and her bats hot so I knew it was just a matter of time for her.”

In the Eagles 5-0 loss in the Monmouth County Tournament semifinals to St. John Vianney a couple of defensive lapses led to three unearned runs putting them in an early hole that they never dug out of. Thursday, the Eagles displayed flawless execution on defense making a number of sparkling plays in the field and it definitely made a difference.

“In the begining of the season we definitely struggled with our defense and it was our offense that was more on,” said Salvadore. “But coach Smith has been really great working with us on things like simple ground balls and a little things making sure teams like Marlboro don’t take advantage of our mistakes.”

Smith expects her team to play with a defensive edge and they did that Thursday.

“They were solid. We made the plays we’re supposed to make,” said Smith. “That’s the name of the game - make the plays you’re supposed to make. With every game our defense is getting more confident and coming together and our goal is to be our best at the end.”

Middletown South had its scoring chances throughout the game leaving four runners in scoring position and having a runner thrown out at the plate in the bottom of the first.

“I kind of new it was just a matter of time,” said Smith. “We had a lot of opportunities to score - we had kids in scoring position. We took a chance in the beginning (first inning) and our kids put the ball in play. It was just a matter of getting that clutch hit with a runner in scoring position and Emily did that today for us so we’re really proud of her.”

Including Mullane’s three hits and Salvadore’s one, the Eagles banged out eight hits in the game as freshman left fielder Amanda Dembowski went 2-for-3 with a double while junior Melanie Blarr and Lioudakis each chipped in with a hit apiece.

Marlboro senior ace, Alexandra Cavallaro was the hard-luck loser going the distance while allowing one run and eight hits with three walks.

The Eagles now have their work cut out for them as they travel to top-seeded Hunterdon Central (18-1) – ranked No. 8 in the state – on Monday in the Central Jersey Group IV quarterfinals.

“Hey, we’ll take it,” Smith happily said about their upcoming game with the Red Devils.

“We definitely excited, we have a chance for an upset,” said Salvatore of Monday’s clash. “We love being the underdogs.”

But first, the Eagles must focus on Saturday’s Shore Conference Tournament round of 16 game against fifth-seeded Central Regional (20-3).

“That’s super exciting,” Salvatore said of Saturday’s game with Central. “We want to come back in the Shore and bring back a little bit of Middletown South softball.”

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