By BRIAN TORTELLA
Correspondent
On X @tortreports
PENNSVILLE — First-year Haddon Township softball coach Pam McCabe promised her team that if the Hawks made it to the semifinal round of the sectional tournament, she would dye her hair.
“I told them I would dye it. They didn’t think I was going to, so I came out today and sent them a picture this morning,” McCabe said. “Five or six of them were taking (batting practice) at 6:30 this morning before school. They think I’m nuts with the pink tails and the hair, but I said (to myself), ‘you know what, if it makes them play better, it’s (only) hair.’ If it gets them riled up, it makes my day. It’s about them, not me.”
Less than 10 hours later, the Hawks rallied for a huge seventh inning as third-seeded Haddon Township booked its ticket back to the South Jersey Group 1 final with an 8-2 triumph overNo. 2 Pennsville in the semifinal round of the sectional playoffs on Wednesday. The Hawks will travel Friday to top-seeded Audubon — a 16-0 winner over No. 4 Woodstown in the other semifinal — to play for the sectional title.
Leading 3-0 after three innings and 3-2 after six, the Hawks (17-8) fought off any potential comeback from Pennsville (21-5) with a five-run top of the seventh inning.
Jordan Strauss whiffed nine batters and scattered three hits in seven innings and recorded two hits at the plate, including the first RBI in the final inning to spark the Hawks’ scoring run.
“I’m a realist and we’ve been in close games before and have had teams come back,” McCabe said. “They’re a solid team and they can hit and they play solid defense. I preach to them all the time, ‘respect’. You have to respect them and you have to play them from inning one to inning seven, to the last out. That’s what we’ve been talking about is keeping them focused and staying in the game.”
Pennsville changed its pitcher from senior Savannah Brewer-Palverento, who had three strikeouts and recorded her 100th of the season, to sophomore Graillyn Weber for the final inning. Strauss was initially nervous with the switch, but it didn’t faze the Hawks as four players tallied hits in the frame.
“I was a little nervous, but I knew my team could get in,” Strauss said of it being a one-run game heading into the seventh inning. “The pitching change, we all saw it and were a little nervous, but we were just taking it one run at a time. As soon as we got the first one, we knew we could get more.”
Ariana Turkot, a sophomore who rarely saw varsity time last season, came up big with a two-run double in the second inning. Mikayla Callahan, Julie Broderick, Alexis Broderick and Grace Farah added a hit each for the Hawks.
“I hit it and I was pretty hyped and I got two people in, so it was great,” Turkot said. “I’m so excited to play on Friday, I’m ready.”
Was coach McCabe’s new electric pink hairstyle a good luck charm?
“I don’t know about that,” McCabe said. “I believe in showing up. Showing up and playing with respect and just leaving it on the field.
“I’m nervous still, a little nervous. They always laugh at me because they think that I’m nuts. I say that this is the only way I know how to be because I’m in it 100 percent.”
Said Strauss, “I love coach Pam, and she might not tell you this, but she loves me. I’m kidding. But I love her. I think she’s the best. Her energy’s amazing, and she’s able to encourage all of us. She’s so positive.”
The title game on Friday will be a rematch of last year’s championship game in which Haddon Township stunned the Green Wave behind a complete game, 10-strikeout performance from Strauss.
“I’m so glad we can make it back to the sectional this year,” Strauss said. “I’m excited to come back to them (Audubon) again. We played them twice this year, again, and I’m excited to try and win. I think this year our team is super close. Even closer than last year, which I didn’t think was possible. We do everything together, we go out to eat together, we ate lunch together today. I think it’s amazing for our chemistry.”
Click this link to view the full postgame GoPro Video featuring Strauss & Turkot along with photos from the game:
https://www.instagram.com/reel/DKfqYvqS99o/?igsh=ZTF6YzVuNmYweGJt
https://www.instagram.com/p/DKfwYUzsCHU/?igsh=bWllZG01M24wOTlp
