Butler Softball Disappointed By Loss in State Tourney

The Butler softball team headed into the season with little to no expectations, and after falling to a very good Cedar Grove team 9-0 in the state softball tournament, it's time to look to the future.

The Bulldogs entered the tournament with perhaps the youngest team, sporting only one senior.

"It's tough to talk now, but at the same time I'm excited about our team. We are getting most of them back. It's only up from here and this was a great learning experience," Butler head coach Brittany Marion said.

The humbling defeat in shutout is never something a team nor its coaching staff welcome, but in defeat much can be learned about the bond of a team.

"We never stopped pulling for each other and we refused to give in until the end," senior Kim LaPenta said.

The senior, who will play for Ramapo next year, was excited for the future of this team. 

"They believe in our coach and that's why we played so well this year," LaPenta said.

On the other side, Cedar Grove head coach Dena Tauriello gave her talented squad a goal to refocus following their disappointing dismissal from the Essex County tournament - five wins.

Following their heady 9-0 victory over the Butler team, they're four away.

"I told them (the team) if we can win five games over the next couple weeks, we can win our conference and win the state sectional," said Tauriello.

The fourth-seeded Panthers came out focused and quickly found a chink in the Butler defense.

"We thought we'd be able to run on them so we stressed being aggressive on the base paths. We challenged them (Butler) and it worked out very well in our big inning," said Tauriello.

The Panthers were able to get on the board early with runs in the first three innings, but it was in the fifth when they exploded for five runs to push their lead to 9-0. The big inning was fueled by five stolen bases and relentless pressure on the base paths that led to some passed balls with two runs scoring on the Butler mistakes.

The runs were more than enough for starter Gabrielle Castelli, who threw five impressive shutout innings and freshman Samantha Platt closed it out with two shutout innings.

The only Panther hiccup came when Platt walked the first two batters, but she battled her way out and rewarded the trust Tauriello has in this standout freshman.

"She (Platt) was hurt most of this season so she's still getting into her game form. We were excited to get a solid performance out of her and it was important she got through some early troubles in the sixth," said Tauriello.

The Panthers will look to take their positive momentum into a Wednesday battle against conference foe Caldwell with the conference title hanging in the balance. Following that matchup, they'll host Morris Tech in the second round of the state tournament.

Butler will now be spectators, but next year expect them to be active participants much later in the state tournament.