By DAVE O’SULLIVAN
Staff Writer
X @Gdsullysays
VINELAND — Six years. That’s how long it’s been since the Vineland High softball team won a South Jersey Group 4 title. Six years ago, current seniors were in seventh grade.
Now, most high school softball programs would do anything to win a pair of sectional titles in a six-year span, but ever since that magical 2018 season — when the program won its first sectional title and made it all the way to the state championship game — the standards have been pretty high in New Jersey’s largest city.
On Saturday afternoon, the Fighting Clan rallied late to beat Egg Harbor Township, 4-3, and get to the top of the South Jersey mountain once again — in a section that typically is one of the toughest in the state. EHT has been a state championship contender ever since winning it all in 2017.
In the five seasons since 2018, Vineland has been very good, but not quite good enough to win another sectional title. In 2019, the Fighting Clan won 20 games but bowed out in the SJG4 semis. After the 2020 season was wiped out due to the covid pandemic, Vineland returned and was ousted in the opening round of states in 2021. In 2022, same thing, dropping a 9-8 decision to GCIT in the opening round. Last season, it was Washington Township upending the Clan, 6-3, in the first round.
But this season, Vineland is 25-2 and has gotten contributions from throughout the roster, including in the championship win over EHT. A sacrifice bunt from freshman catcher Averie Gomez, Ceniya Holland getting hit by a pitch and scoring, shortstop Frankie Celebre turning several double plays, and the pitching combo of Brooklyn Lopez and Kashvi Patel doing just enough to out-duel EHT star senior Madison Dollard, who struck out five and allowed just one earned run.
“We’ve probably turned 15 or more double plays this year, and that’s pretty impressive in the sport of softball,” said Vineland coach Mike Reed. “That’s something that works for us with our pitching. Our pitchers generally keep the ball down and give us a chance.”
The Eagles put pressure on Vineland early, scoring a pair of runs in the top of the third on a two-run triple to right-center by star outfielder Sofia Spatocco. But Vineland stormed back, cutting the deficit in half in the bottom of the third when senior speedster Morgan Harrell-Alvarez scored all the way from first when a ball was overthrown in the infield.
Then, the big blow came in the bottom of the fifth when Vineland’s senior first baseman, Gyanna Porreca, belted a two-run double off the left-field wall with two outs. That gave the Fighting Clan a 3-2 lead, and Vineland never trailed again.
“I know she’s had some struggles up and down with different things, but I have nothing but confidence in that kid,” Reed said. “She’s one of the best first basemen in our league, without a doubt.”
“It was a nerve-wracking spot to be in, but I knew I had to go in there, stick with my game plan and come through for my teammates. I stayed disciplined and I executed well,” Porreca said. “It’s a blessing to be part of an atmosphere like this, with this coaching staff and team. Everybody plays for each other, and to have people who have your back like we do is truly a blessing, and it’s an honor to play with them. We know that we can trust our lineup, 1-through-9. It’s a blessing to have a lineup like we do. When we all put it all together, it turns into a great outcome. We know we can trust our team, no matter what part of the lineup we’re in.”
“It feels great, we worked really hard this whole season and we showed that we’re never out of it,” Harrell-Alvarez, a Morgan State commit, said.
Vineland (25-2, 12-0 Cape-Atlantic American) extended its lead to 4-2 with a run in the bottom of the sixth on an RBI infield single by Harrell-Alvarez, but EHT didn’t go quietly. The Eagles (20-10, 8-4 CAL American) mounted a rally in their half of the seventh, plating a run on a double steal and putting runners at first and second, setting the stage for Spatocco against Patel, who came on in relief four batters earlier.
Patel won the battle, getting a comebacker to seal the championship.
“What was going through my mind is that we have it,” Harrell-Alvarez said of the seventh-inning pressure. “We have each other’s backs, and we showed a defensive clinic today. We turned multiple double plays and everyone had each other’s backs and everyone was giving their heart.”
“I had 3-2 as a score in my head, and once we got to three I was like, ‘alright.’ Going up 4-2 felt good, but then they got the one back and I was hoping we would find a way to get the last few outs, and we did,” Reed said. “(Spatocco) is one of the best hitters (in South Jersey), but, honestly, this year we’ve held the middle of their lineup in the four games we played them pretty much in check.”
Vineland had to earn everything it got off Dollard, who finishes her career with 753 strikeouts and a 0.97 ERA in more than 500 innings. She walked just one Vineland batter, and the Fighting Clan had to find a way to win with just six hits scattered over seven innings.
“(Putting the ball in play) definitely is (half the battle) against her,” Reed said. “That’s one of the things I’m most proud about, we don’t strike out a lot against her, like most teams do. We’re able to be patient, and that’s a lot of what we work on in practice every day. They listen, and they follow through.”
Vineland now turns its attention to the Group 4 state semifinals and a date at Marlboro, a 6-2 winner over Northern Burlington in the Central Jersey Group 4 tournament, this week.
“(The state playoffs) are tiring, but it’s worth it,” Harrell-Alvarez said of a season that’s about to go into it’s 28th game in a little more than two months. “This is what we signed up for, an every day thing. We knew that coming in and we stayed conditioned. We worked in the heat, and we kept working in the heat, and that’s why we had energy throughout all seven innings. We never died down once.”
Contact Dave O’Sullivan: sullyglorydays@gmail.com
