Holmdel 12U Softball wins All-Shore Championship....Again!

After sweeping the fall league with 10U and 12U titles in 2014, the Holmdel Girls repeated as 12U Champions by winning the All-Shore Spring League Championship this past Saturday.

"Big Blue" (as they are affectionately called) rolled to an 8 and 2 spring record and the #1 seed in the All-Shore playoffs. After a hard fought 8-6 Semi-Final win against a very good Wall Township Honey Badger team, the Hornets then overcame a 6-0 deficit to beat the league powerhouse Matawan-Aberdeen Huskies 7-6 in the title game.

In the Championship battle, Madison Yan settled down after giving up 3 runs in each of the first two innings and pitched a scoreless 3rd and 4th inning. As is their calling card, the Hornets never gave up, even after being no hit for 2 and 1/3 innings and trailing 6-0. Ivanna Pego got it all started with a leadoff single in the third. Anna Briamonte then fought to get on base with a walk, and clutch hits by Crystal Carino and Emma Quirk plated 2 runs to cut the deficit to 6-2 after 3 innings of play.

The big inning for "Big Blue" was the bottom of the 4th. They started the inning by singing "Timber" and ?went on to score 5 runs, capped off with an amazing effort by Madison Yan to give them the lead. The rally started with back to back singles by Vicki Whittle and Izzy Lamberti. Anna Briamonte then squeezed home a run and a two run double by Crystal Carino cut the lead to one. Crystal then stole third and scored on an overthrow on the play to tie the game. Yan then singled and stole 2nd and 3rd. When the throw down to third got away, she hobbled home on one leg (reminiscent of Kerri Strug) to score the go ahead run.

When Madison’s sprained ankle prevented her from returning to pitch the 5th, Emma Quirk, who pitched all 7 innings to win the semi-final game, answered the bell. She pitched a scoreless final 3 innings to close the door and lead Holmdel to another title.

The game didn't end without a threat however. The Huskies singled with one out in the 7th. Then hit a short fly to right that looked like it was trouble because Holmdel only had two outfielders after Yan went out with an injury and the Hornets had no substitutions left. However, Crystal Carino ran about 20 yards from her 2nd base position to corral the pop fly and double up the runner by throwing to an alert Nikki Pavlik at first base to end the game and capture the Championship.

Afterwards, Coach Briamonte said "Our girls overcame so much to win this! After being down by 6 runs most teams would have packed it in. Then to lose Madison after scoring that amazing run and having to play with 8, our girls never quit. It was truly a team effort."

Not only did Crystal Carino make the double play to end the game, but she also led the team by going 3 for 3 at the plate. Also, Caitlyn Joyce made two highlight reel diving catches in the outfield, one on the first play of the semi-final and a second to stop a Huskie rally in the Championship game.

The Holmdel season was filled with many highlights including clutch hitting from Mia Greiner and Gillian Henderson. Several Girls batted .400 or above: Ivanna Pego, Crystal Carino, Vicki Whittle and Nikki Pavlik. Emma Quirk led the team with a .543 batting average. Flawless defense was exemplified with Gold Glove efforts at 3B, SS, LF, and RF by Izzy Lamberti, Anna Briamonte, Caitlyn Joyce and Vicki Whittle, respectively. Quirk and Yan proved to be one of the best pitching combinations in the League.

The team looks forward to repeating their title run with a key addition of AAU hoops star Lindsey O'Brien in the summer league. Stay tuned for a continued wave of "Big Blue" wins at the shore this summer.

-Johnny Hornet