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WOOLWICH TWP. -- The Clearview Regional
High School softball team came into Thursday's NJSIAA
South Jersey Group III quarterfinal with seven straight
losses, seeded seventh in a nine-team bracket and facing
second-seeded Kingsway, the co-champions of the Tri-County
Conference Royal Division.
The Pioneers edged the Dragons, 2-1,
to advance to the semifinals against rival Deptford Tuesday,
but it was no upset.
Clearview's junior pitcher Lauren Davis
missed five games and parts of the two other losses in
the slide with inflammation in her pitching shoulder.
She was back Thursday and showing few signs of rust.
Davis pitched a four-hitter, walking
none and striking out six, and Lauren Sparacino provided
all the run support with a two-out, two-run double in
the third inning. A devastating, fall-off-the-edge-of-the-table
drop curve was Davis' out pitch.
"It was an extremely difficult (matchup)
for us," said Davis. "They just tied for the
conference championship, so it's a little intimidating,
but you always come prepared.
"I felt good. I've been doing stretches
all day. I was getting up in the middle of class and stretching
in the doorway. I just tried to stretch it out as much
as I could before the game, and then I went and threw
for 45 minutes before we started."
Kingsway freshman Jamie Minix matched
Davis, yielding just four hits and fanning seven.
Clearview's lone threat was in the fourth.
Christina Kerasinis singled with two outs and Marcy Miller
barely beat the throw on an infield single to short. Sparacino
then hit a line drive to left which appeared to be heading
for left fielder Amber Limanni before the ball tailed
wickedly towards the line, falling in for a two-run double.
"I thought she had it in her glove,"
said Sparacino. "That happens to me a lot where I
hit it hard and they make great catches, but it fell in
for once."
Kingsway immediately halved the deficit
in the bottom of the third as Limanni scored on the front
end of a double steal, but the Dragons didn't threaten
again until the sixth.
Lindsay Evans opened the sixth inning
by reaching on a strikeout-wild pitch. Dragon coach Tony
Barchuk decided to play small ball as Minix, the third
hitter, sacrificed and Evans reached third on a wild pitch.
Cleanup hitter Danielle Rice tried to squeeze, but Davis
pounced on the bunt and threw home for the second out.
"I kind of knew it was coming, you
always have to be ready for anything," said Davis.
"When I saw her bat come around, I knew I had to
come up as quick as I could."
After a Vicki Hasselman single and Clearview
error put Dragons on second and third, Davis induced a
popup to escape the jam.
"We wanted to advance runners and
make them make plays," said Barchuk. "We didn't
think we could rely on getting hits against (Davis). She
has that great drop and keeps the ball down. Bottom line,
we had to put it in play, and it almost worked."
Third baseman Erin McCauley and Davis
thwarted most of Kingsway's chances in the short game.
"It was definitely one of our strongest
efforts of the year," said Clearview coach Deana
Moore. "We came in here feeling very good about our
chances. We just had to get some hits."
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