Sweet Revenge - Donovan Catholic Routs SJV For SCT Championship

Photo above: Your 2018 Shore Conference Tournament Softball Champions

RED BANK – It was payback time Monday night at Count Basie Field in Red Bank as the Donovan Catholic bats awoke from a short slumber to bang out 12 hits, including three home runs, and 13 runs to avenge their 2-0 loss to Saint John Vianney in last Thursday’s NJSIAA Non-Public South A championship game.

Saint John Vianney sophomore ace Julia Parker shut out the Griffins high-powered offense on just three hits in that 2-0 loss but Monday night it was a different story.

The Donovan Catholic offensive juggernaut, which prior to Monday night had scored in double digits in 24 of its 29 wins, returned to form clobbering the Lancers 13-4 and knocking Parker out of the game in a seven-run first inning to capture the Shore Conference Tournament title.

“This is a great championship to win today. We’re very proud of this,” said Donovan Catholic head coach Debbie Schwartz, who won three SCT titles in her 25 years of coaching at Toms River East. “That was more of Donovan Catholic softball that you saw today. What we wanted to prove today is that we can play with anybody, and we can make a statement.”

Coming into the game the Griffins (30-1) were ranked No. 1 in New Jersey and 17th nationally in the USA Today Super 25 softball rankings. So they had pretty much proved they could play with anybody already and Monday night’s rout of previously undefeated Saint John Vianney (29-1) – ranked No. 2 in New Jersey - cemented that fact.

“I think the score proved what we had to prove,” said Amanda MacBurnie, whose three-run home run in the first inning pushed the Griffins lead to 7-0 and knocked Parker out of the game. “Every good team has its ups-and-downs but tonight I think we showed just how much talent we have. Although this isn’t how we wanted to end it I think we still proved what we had to since the beginning to the end of the season.”

For MacBurnie – a University of Maine commit - and two other departing senior starters including Florida International University-bound Alexa Pagano and Monmouth University commit Kati Vazquez Monday night was the last game of their careers at Donovan Catholic.

“These four seniors (Grace Leon being the other) have really built a foundation for this program,” Schwartz said. “And for them to come out here and perform like they did today was awesome. I’m very, very proud of the foundation these seniors have built in this program and to carry out this tradition to our underclassmen is huge.”

“I think it hit us after the Saint John Vianney game that we had to work 100 percent to win this game,” Pagano said. “When we stepped on the field we had a mindset, we had a goal, we were chained together, and I think that showed in the first inning.”

Pagano led off the bottom of the first with a bunt single and University of Georgia commit Jayda Kearney – only a sophomore – followed with a two-run blast over the centerfield wall giving the Griffins a quick 2-0 lead.

“We didn’t want to end (the season) on a low note,” Kearney said. “We came into this game thinking we wanted to get revenge.”

Parker then walked three of the next four batters and Vazquez made her pay with a two-run line-drive single up the middle before MacBurnie capped off the seven-run first with her three-run shot that ended Parker's day in the circle and brought in freshman Hayley Ahr in relief.

“That’s what is great about our lineup, our power is through and through,” Schwartz said. “MacBurnie came up huge in that instance.”

Gillian Zack’s RBI double into the right-centerfield gap got the Lancers on the board in the second inning and Monmouth University commit Lindsey Baron’s leadoff homer in third inning pulled the Lancers to within 7-2.

Donovan Catholic added a solo run of its own in the bottom half of the inning scoring an unearned run. Mikayla LaPlaca led off the inning with a single and eventually came around to score when second baseman Alexis Agrapides let a MacBrunie grounder go through her legs.

Both teams added solo runs in the fourth with Saint John Vianney catcher Ally Jones bringing in a run on a sacrifice fly before Griffins starting pitcher Lindsey Nelson made it a 9-3 game with an RBI single after Karina Gaskins and Lindsey Hay had both reached base on hits.

Nelson picked up her 22nd win of the season Monday going the distance allowing four runs (three earned), five hits, one walk and struck out three. She also was 1-for-3 at the plate with a run scored and RBI.

The Lancers pulled to within 9-4 adding a run in the top of the sixth on a leadoff homer by pinch hitter Gabby Polera but that’s as close as they would get as the Griffins put the game out of reach scoring four times in the bottom half of the inning.

Kearney walked and Roncin singled to lead off the sixth before Gaskins - a Notre Dame commit - lined a laser shot over the left-centerfield wall for her 18th home run of the season. Gaskins, who went 2-for-2 with a home run, three RBI, three runs and two bases on balls, is the state leader in home runs (18) and RBI (65) with a .602 batting average on the year. Kearney finished the season averaging .598 with 12 home runs, 44 RBI and 49 runs scored.

Hay walked and eventually scored on a LaPlaca groundout for the fourth and final run of the sixth and the Griffins went on to a 13-4 win after Nelson set the side down in order in the top of the seventh.

“The kids played with passion today,” Schwartz said. “You saw a different team today. I’m really, really proud of them. We had a hiccup last Thursday and today we came out and played Donovan Catholic softball. Parker pitched a great game against us last Thursday but we were prepared for her today.”

With four sophomores, including Kearney and Gaskins, and three juniors in Monday night’s starting lineup there just might be a state title in the very near future for Donovan Catholic - I wouldn’t bet against it.

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