CARTERET, NJ – For the first three innings of action, the Arthur L. Johnson High School Crusaders were not starting off in the right direction as they kicked off their time in the state tournament, falling behind 3-0 to the Carteret High School Ramblers with everything going the opposite of what they were hoping would happen.
Johnson loaded the bases in the bottom of the second inning but couldn’t answer Carteret’s scoring three runs in their first two innings at the plate.
“We came out in the first inning and we had something going. It stalled on us and [Carteret] snuck a couple of runs across early on,” Johnson head coach Chris Di Nucci said. “They started to get some life. They hit the ball hard and they did a nice job, you have to give them credit for that.”
After scoring one run in the bottom of the fourth inning from an RBI single from senior Sydney Tropeano, they got to the bottom of the fifth inning, where everything changed in a span of seven batters. The third-seeded Crusaders scored seven runs in the inning, as they rallied past the 14th-seeded Ramblers 10-6 in the NJSIAA Central Jersey, Group 2 First Round Thursday afternoon at the Carteret Civic Center Sports Complex.
The game was moved from Clark to Carteret due to the poor field conditions at Brewer School from the rain in previous days.
The Johnson Crusaders (16-5) advance to the NJSIAA Central Jersey, Group 2 Quarterfinals. They will host sixth-seeded South Plainfield HS Wednesday afternoon at 4:00 p.m.
Johnson senior Jen Tinger led off the bottom of the fifth inning with a single and senior Mackenzie Purcell followed with one of her own to put two on with no outs. Senior starting pitcher Nicole Cassano got her team within 3-2 with a run-scoring singe.
Junior Victoria Zatko stepped to the plate and took the first pitch she saw to deep center field, scoring two and giving her team the 4-3 lead. She would successfully steal home plate as the lead now became 5-3. Suddenly, after a slow start, the Crusaders now found themselves in the drivers’ seat and more chances to add to their lead.
“I felt as though we didn’t have any momentum or emotion towards the game at all,” Zatko said of the team’s slow start. “I knew I needed to start something up. I saw my pitch and I ripped it. After that, everyone strung along hits to bring me in.”
Junior Hannah Brogan added an RBI single and junior Bailey Rosenmeier drove home another run on a groundout to increase the lead to 7-3. Brogan would later score when Tropeano reached on an error and when the inning was over, Johnson was out in front, ahead 8-3. Overall, Johnson got five hits in the fifth inning, along with two walks as they turned around their slow start.
“Once we got one hit, it kind of triggered everyone to get up and see that they can do the same thing,” Cassano said of the fifth inning rhythm.
