New Providence Softball Falls to Gov. Livingston in UCT Semifinal, 10-0

What was expected to be a pitcher’s duel turned out to be the opposite when two softball teams from Governor Livingston and New Providence High Schools clashed at the Memorial Field Complex in Linden on Saturday afternoon in the Union County Tournament semifinal.

The Highlanders capitalized on New Providence fielding mistakes all afternoon, putting the ball into play early and often, and winning a mercy rule-shortened game by a score of 10-0.

“We got some hits, we put the ball in play, and they broke down a little bit, but we made things happen,” said Highlanders’ head coach Rick Iacono. “That’s girls’ softball; you can make stuff happen.”

The Highlanders (20-2) scored the first run of the game off of Bari Grossman’s single to shallow right field in the bottom of the second inning. The Highlanders would put five runs up in that inning, capitalizing on New Providence fielding errors.

“We beat ourselves; we really did. That’s not how we play. We made a ton of errors,” said New Providence head coach Kelly Villa. “I don’t know if it was nerves that got the best of them. I’m not taking anything away from GL; they are a great team and they put the bat on the ball.”

“(Pioneers’ pitcher ) did a good job pitching,” continued Villa. “She didn’t walk anybody, she didn’t give up any homers. We just couldn’t get outs, and at bat, we didn’t adjust.”

Governor Livingston pitcher Jordan Robbins had another standout performance on the mound, silencing the Pioneers’ bats through five shutout innings. That was all that was necessary for Governor Livingston after Sam Frungillo of the Highlanders capped another five run inning by driving in the game-clinching tenth run for the Highlanders.

Frungillo, who plays first base for Governor Livingston, is pleased with how she and her teammates were able to respond to another pressure-packed situation.

“It was a big win for us. We came out; we haven’t played them before, so we didn’t know what to expect,” Frungillo said. "We heard they had a good pitcher, but we were all told that, when we were in the box, we had to be focused and see it and hit it, and that's what we did today.”

The Highlanders will now play the Blue Devils of Westfield in the County Championship next weekend. Westfield upset Cranford on Saturday afternoon after a stirring win against Arthur L. Johnson the night before.

“Either way, it’s gonna be a good game,” Frungillo said. “Westfield upset ALJ yesterday and were tough, so we just have to go into the game completely focused and know that a tough opponent’s going to be on the other side.”

As for New Providence, the focus now lies on the state sectional tournament. Villa hopes that her team will be able to regroup and learn lessons from this tough loss.

“We’ve got to use this as a learning experience, so that when we hit states, we don’t get nervous when we face good teams,” Villa said. “That’s going to be our goal.”