Mendham Edges Parsippany Hills As Both Teams Battle Elements
By Sean Reilly
For sidelinechatter.com
PARSIPPANY --- The conditions were cold, raw and rainy when Irene Margiotta stepped into the pitching circle for Mendham on Tuesday afternoon. But what made her job even worse were the three unearned runs her team allowed in the bottom of the first inning.
But Mendham's bats came alive, the rain stopped until the final inning and Margiotta settled down along the way. The result was a 7-6 victory for the Minutemen in a Northwest Jersey Athletic Conference-National Division matchup.
``It was hard at some points to grip the ball,'' said Margiotta, a junior right-hander said. ``I had to keep cool and focus.''
She wound up allowing seven hits, with three earned runs for Mendham (5-6). She walked five and hit one batter, and pitched out of a tough situation when the rain began to fall again in the final inning after Parsippany Hills (3-8) had the tying and winning runs on base.
``I had to focus a lot on my release point,'' she said. ``It gets a little messed up in this weather.''
Mendham had been idle since a 2-0 loss last Tuesday to Butler in the first round of the Morris County Tournament. The Minutemen had a threat going in the first inning against Parsippany Hills, but with runners on first and second and one out, the Vikings turned an infield double play.
Parsippany Hills, which beat Mendham, 1-0, in nine innings when the teams played for the first time on April 3, struck quickly in the bottom of the first. With one out, Mackenzie Brown was hit by a pitch and Erica Ruja followed with a single to right field that was misplayed, allowing Brown to score and Ruja to reach third. Ali Walek then reached on a two-base error that scored Ruja. Colleen O'Connor then doubled to left field to score the third run.
Mendham got a run in the second inning when Karyn Davey led off with a triple and Genny Madarasz followed with a double. Walek, the Parsippany Hills pitcher, retired the next three batters.
The Minutemen went ahead by scoring four times in the third. Nikkey Skuraton led off with a triple to left center and she scored when Courtney Gionco grounded out to second. The next batter also grounded out, but Margiotta reached on what proved to be a costly infield error. Davey followed with a single that was re-directed off of Walek's glove to advance Margiotta to second base. With Madarasz at the plate, a wild pitch moved the runners into scoring position before another wild pitch scored Margiotta with the tying run. Madarasz then walked to place runners on first and third.
With Erin Lanahan at the plate, a steal of second was overthrown, allowed Davey to score the go-ahead run with Madarasz advancing to third. Madarasz then scored on a wild pitch for a 5-3 lead before a ground out ended the inning.
Parsippany Hills loaded the bases in the fourth, and cut its deficit to one run when Walek drew a bases-loaded walk with two out.
Mendham then gave Margiotta some much-appreciated breathing room in the fifth. Walek retired the first two batters before Davey coaxed a base on balls. Madarasz hit a fly ball that was dropped. The resulting four-base error scored two runs and extended the Minutemen lead to 7-4.
The Vikings started the bottom of the seventh with a walk to Ruja and single to left field by Walek. A wild pitch moved the runners to second and third, and Ruja scored when Colleen O'Connor hit a sacrifice fly to right field. Kaitlyn Jansen then hit an RBI single to score Walek. Margiotta got a strikeout for the second out and the next batter grounded back to Margiotta, but her throw to first base was dropped, with Jansen -- the potential tying run -- moving to second. With the weather deteriorating, the next batter also grounded back to the pitcher. This time, the throw was handled cleanly to end the game.
``It was a lot easier to pitch knowing that I had that lead,'' Margiotta said.
``Both pitchers had a tough time because of the weather,'' Mendham coach Lori Welles said. ``We hadn't played since the Butler game and then during the day, we weren't sure we'd be able to play. It's not the best way to go into the game, but we got the win.''
Notes: Davey finished 2-for-2 with a walk and scored three runs for Mendham. ... Gionco went 2-for-4 with a triple, while Madarasz was 1-for-2 with an RBI double, a walk and the four-base error while scoring twice. ... Walek allowed seven hits for Parsippany Hills. three strikeouts and three walks. ... Ruja was 2-for-3 with a walk and two runs for Parsippany Hills.
By Sean Reilly
For sidelinechatter.com
PARSIPPANY --- The conditions were cold, raw and rainy when Irene Margiotta stepped into the pitching circle for Mendham on Tuesday afternoon. But what made her job even worse were the three unearned runs her team allowed in the bottom of the first inning.
But Mendham's bats came alive, the rain stopped until the final inning and Margiotta settled down along the way. The result was a 7-6 victory for the Minutemen in a Northwest Jersey Athletic Conference-National Division matchup.
``It was hard at some points to grip the ball,'' said Margiotta, a junior right-hander said. ``I had to keep cool and focus.''
She wound up allowing seven hits, with three earned runs for Mendham (5-6). She walked five and hit one batter, and pitched out of a tough situation when the rain began to fall again in the final inning after Parsippany Hills (3-8) had the tying and winning runs on base.
``I had to focus a lot on my release point,'' she said. ``It gets a little messed up in this weather.''
Mendham had been idle since a 2-0 loss last Tuesday to Butler in the first round of the Morris County Tournament. The Minutemen had a threat going in the first inning against Parsippany Hills, but with runners on first and second and one out, the Vikings turned an infield double play.
Parsippany Hills, which beat Mendham, 1-0, in nine innings when the teams played for the first time on April 3, struck quickly in the bottom of the first. With one out, Mackenzie Brown was hit by a pitch and Erica Ruja followed with a single to right field that was misplayed, allowing Brown to score and Ruja to reach third. Ali Walek then reached on a two-base error that scored Ruja. Colleen O'Connor then doubled to left field to score the third run.
Mendham got a run in the second inning when Karyn Davey led off with a triple and Genny Madarasz followed with a double. Walek, the Parsippany Hills pitcher, retired the next three batters.
The Minutemen went ahead by scoring four times in the third. Nikkey Skuraton led off with a triple to left center and she scored when Courtney Gionco grounded out to second. The next batter also grounded out, but Margiotta reached on what proved to be a costly infield error. Davey followed with a single that was re-directed off of Walek's glove to advance Margiotta to second base. With Madarasz at the plate, a wild pitch moved the runners into scoring position before another wild pitch scored Margiotta with the tying run. Madarasz then walked to place runners on first and third.
With Erin Lanahan at the plate, a steal of second was overthrown, allowed Davey to score the go-ahead run with Madarasz advancing to third. Madarasz then scored on a wild pitch for a 5-3 lead before a ground out ended the inning.
Parsippany Hills loaded the bases in the fourth, and cut its deficit to one run when Walek drew a bases-loaded walk with two out.
Mendham then gave Margiotta some much-appreciated breathing room in the fifth. Walek retired the first two batters before Davey coaxed a base on balls. Madarasz hit a fly ball that was dropped. The resulting four-base error scored two runs and extended the Minutemen lead to 7-4.
The Vikings started the bottom of the seventh with a walk to Ruja and single to left field by Walek. A wild pitch moved the runners to second and third, and Ruja scored when Colleen O'Connor hit a sacrifice fly to right field. Kaitlyn Jansen then hit an RBI single to score Walek. Margiotta got a strikeout for the second out and the next batter grounded back to Margiotta, but her throw to first base was dropped, with Jansen -- the potential tying run -- moving to second. With the weather deteriorating, the next batter also grounded back to the pitcher. This time, the throw was handled cleanly to end the game.
``It was a lot easier to pitch knowing that I had that lead,'' Margiotta said.
``Both pitchers had a tough time because of the weather,'' Mendham coach Lori Welles said. ``We hadn't played since the Butler game and then during the day, we weren't sure we'd be able to play. It's not the best way to go into the game, but we got the win.''
Notes: Davey finished 2-for-2 with a walk and scored three runs for Mendham. ... Gionco went 2-for-4 with a triple, while Madarasz was 1-for-2 with an RBI double, a walk and the four-base error while scoring twice. ... Walek allowed seven hits for Parsippany Hills. three strikeouts and three walks. ... Ruja was 2-for-3 with a walk and two runs for Parsippany Hills.