In the wake of a dreary Saturday afternoon loss to Phillipsburg less than two weeks ago, the Warren High Regional High School softball team, having endured their third consecutive defeat, came to the realization that an adjustment in attitude was paramount. “We had to focus more in practice,” said Blue Streaks junior first baseman Sienna Cardell. “We had to practice with a purpose,” added junior pitcher Laney Adie. Since that defeat, in which the Stateliners unleashed multiple-run homers in each of the last three innings, Warren Hills has not lost.
Monday afternoon at Phillipsburg’s Ruth Gibbs Softball Complex, Adie went the distance, striking out 14, while Cardell highlighted a six-run fourth inning with a grand slam, propelling the Blue Streaks to a 12-6 Skyland Conference Raritan Division victory, their third straight. They’ve averaged 12 runs over those three games.
“You could say it (Phillipsburg loss) lit a fire under us,” said Cardell, who went 2-for-4. “We came back with a vengeance.”
“The players are believing in themselves and taking care of the things they can control,” said Craig Green, who serves as a co-head coach with Renee Smola. “We were disciplined and put together good, quality at-bats. We focus on all aspects of the game, but the important thing is to keep it simple.”
Warren Hills (5-3 overall, 4-2 division) certainly kept its hitting approach simple – see ball and hit ball as hard as possible, resulting in a bevy of run-producing line drives.
Junior first baseman Ava Colontrelle’s two-run double gave Phillipsburg (4-5, 2-4) a first-inning lead, but Warren Hills responded in the second with three runs. Senior right fielder Quinn Snyder, batting in the No. 9 spot, jump-started her 3-for-4, four-run afternoon with a two-run triple to the right field fence. Shortstop Rylee Rhinehardt followed with a single for a 3-2 lead.
The Stateliners tied the game in the bottom of the frame. Catcher Paige Randazzo singled, and her courtesy runner Amanda Mrotek came all the way around to score when pitcher Samantha Lane’s sacrifice bunt resulted in a throwing error.
Quinn Johnson ignited the decisive fourth inning with a one-out infield single. Rhinehardt sacrificed her to second base, and the Blue Streaks proceeded to tally all six runs with two outs. RBI singles by shortstop Gianna Marinelli and Adie made it 5-3. Lane, a sophomore, was relieved in the circle by freshman Hannah Wodtke after catcher J.J. Stoddart contributed another single. Center fielder Chloe Frommelt worked a walk to load the bases for Cardell. The lefty-swinging Cardell fell behind in the count 1-2 before unloading a towering fly ball that easily cleared the left-center field fence for the grand slam.
“I have to credit my teammates because they got a hit and walk before me,” Cardell said. “I was hunting for my pitch. Honestly, I hit the ball and took off. I trusted my swing and put an easy swing on it.”
Meanwhile, Adie found her groove, retiring the side in order in the third, fourth and fifth innings. Seven of the nine outs she recorded were by strikeout.
“I was looking to use my spin ball, but my team was great behind me, and they always had my back,” Adie said. “Today was a culmination of a lot of hard work in practice.”
Phillipsburg rallied for three runs in the sixth, including Colontrelle’s solo homer and Alexis Forder’s RBI single. Phillipsburg’s defense gave Warren Hills a pair of extra outs with errors, and the Blue Streaks added two insurance runs in the seventh.
Adie registered strikeouts Nos. 13 and 14 and induced an infield flyout to close the game. Marinelli and Adie joined Quinn Johnson in the three-hit club. Colontrelle (2-for-4) was the only Stateliner with multiple hits.
Phillipsburg coach Kristin Polet said her team played better than the score indicated and saw some bright spots that should benefit her squad down the road.
“Our pitchers did their job. They put the ball where we wanted it; their hitters just hit it,” Polet said. “It was a great game on both sides. When you’re playing teams with good talent in our division, it becomes anyone’s game.”
The Stateliners have lost four in a row after defeating Bridgewater-Raritan in the game after the 8-3 victory over Warren Hills.
“We’ll keep plugging along; we’re a young team,” Polet said. “We have a lot of puzzle pieces we’re putting together, and today I believe we found one of those pieces.”
