By BRIAN TORTELLA
Correspondent
X @tortreports
WOOLWICH TOWNSHIP — Kingsway and Egg Harbor Township have had their fair share of thrilling battles the last couple of years. Always narrow affairs, EHT seems to shine when it matters the most. Not to mention that it’s hard to beat a team twice in a season, especially one that you’re so familiar with.
Kingsway learned that the hard way as the top-seeded Dragons fell to No. 4 Egg Harbor Township, 4-3, in the semifinal round of the NJSIAA South Jersey Group 4 playoffs on Wednesday afternoon.
“I’m so happy and eager to get to Saturday, the finals,” catcher Payton Colbert said. “I haven’t been there since my sophomore year, (a 7-3 win over Kingsway in the 2022 sectional final) and I’m a senior now, so I’m ready to play.”
Is she ever — Colbert showed that she was more than just ready. She started the reign of “Harbor Homers,” hitting a two-run bomb on a fly ball to left field in the top of the third inning. She finished the day 2-for-4 with two RBIs, while also having an exceptional outing behind the plate.
In the Eagles’ previous matchup with Kingsway, a 2-1 loss in extra innings on April 20, Colbert dropped a pop-up in the bottom of the eighth inning — the Dragons ended up prevailing, largely due to the critical error.
“It meant a lot to me, because I was the one who dropped the popup and let the passed ball go through for the winning run,” Colbert explained. “It meant a lot to me, more than anyone else, because I really wanted to get back at them. I knew we were going to play Kingsway at some point, and I’m glad it was now. I was ready before the game even started. I said a prayer, and I was ready.”
The hit that ultimately took the fire out of the Dragons for good was Laura Mack’s solo home run that gave the Eagles a 3-2 lead with one out in the top of the seventh inning. In the biggest moment of her career, the junior performed. She said she performs better in the pressure moments.
“We’re so thrilled,” she exclaimed. “You know, we had some haters. They didn’t think it was going to be us in the final game, but we were so motivated to get there, and we’re all coming together so much right now. It’s a great time, we’re all hot, and I’m ready to win the sectional championship. I’ve honestly been doing better in the big pressure moments, and I just try to let everything get out of my head. I don’t really worry about my stats, I just want to get (the job) done for my team when I can. We were really hungry today, and we were not going to lose.”
Said EHT coach Kristi Troster, of Mack: “She works really, really hard in the offseason. It was not that she wasn’t putting the ball in play well. Even in her first two at-bats today, she put the bat on the ball better than other people had up to that point. Honestly, she’s come alive the last couple weeks, so she’s been a little bit of a silent killer. She had really good games against Vineland, which helped us at the end of the year in the CAL playoffs, and obviously here again today.”
Mack went from just silent — to ‘silent killer’ during the current stretch as she batted 4-for-7 with nine RBIs across a two-game span against Vineland on May 14 and 16. She had another RBI in the quarterfinal round against fifth-seeded Southern.
Egg Harbor Township, (20-9, 8-4 Cape-Atlantic American), after having a turbulent season with ups and downs, will take on the winner of today’s semifinal between sixth-seeded Eastern and No. 2 Vineland in the South Jersey Group 4 final on Saturday.
“Honestly, the loss to Mainland, that hit hard,” coach Troster said. “That was our senior day, that was supposed to be a lot of things. I think sometimes it just has to hit at the right bad spot, and it did. That hit a nerve, where everybody in that moment decided that we needed to pick it up and do better, and they have ever since. I’m really proud of them. I called it the ‘come to Jesus’ softball moment, because we obviously had a team-talk the next practice, and since then, they’ve been a different set of girls. They’ve worked really, really hard, and we’re owning the ‘underdog’ stuff, but anytime you have (Madison) Dollard on the mound, I’m not counting us down or out, ever.
“It’s really hard. We like Jill (Ward, Kingsway’s head coach), she runs a really good program. We know them well, we scrimmage them and play every single year. I think it says a lot about my kids, to get on a bus ride for an hour and 20 minutes and come here and win a game against a quality team.”
Madison Dollard continued her career senior season inside the circle for EHT, going the distance striking out seven. She raises her strikeout total to 261 on the season and 748 for her career.
For Kingsway, third baseman Hannah Weismer went 3-for-4 with two home runs, one of which came in the bottom of the seventh inning. Already one out away from being eliminated, the effort was too little, too late for the Dragons.
“It was an amazing season with amazing girls and we battled all the way to the end,” Weismer, a junior, said. “It’s definitely not the outcome we wanted, but we did all we could in the moment. This is a special group of girls and I love this team so much. I think the chemistry will grow even more, and even though the seniors will leave a gap, we have incredibly talented girls right behind them. We might take a little time to settle in, but the chemistry will still be there and the talent will be there. I’m super excited for next year with my girls.”
Only a sophomore, Ava Snyder had a breakout season. She batted .466 with 31 RBIs on 41 hits with six home runs, including one in the first inning against EHT. Often serving in relief to ace Jessa Pieters, she also tallied 68 strikeouts in 43 innings pitched.
“This season was one to remember,” Snyder said. “We worked as one unit the whole season and that’s what I believe helped us win so many games. We didn’t end the season how we wanted to, but we made great memories in the time we spent together this season. We fought hard in this game today, down to the final out. Everyone was up cheering the entire time even when we were down. I will miss the seniors so much. They were there for me when I needed a pep talk or to get in the right headspace. They will be missed greatly by everyone.”
The Dragons finished 23-3 overall with a perfect 8-0 mark in Tri-County Conference Royal Division play. Their only regular-season losses came to state powers Notre Dame and Donovan Catholic. They only lose three seniors in Noelle Flail, Ava Paoletti and Ellie Ward.
“I mean, it was a great season,” Ward said. “It’s hard in this moment, but we always, always know how hard Egg Harbor’s coached, how good they are, and no matter what their record was, that they definitely had a chance to beat us. It was a great game, what are you going to do? Ava (Snyder) was phenomenal, and coming in as the closer, we put her in a lot of tough spots all season. She really stepped up, and obviously her hitting.
“Her and Jessa are two very different pitchers. When teams have you very-well scouted, it’s nice to have another option,” Ward continued. “I know Krist (Troster) from Egg Harbor knows pretty much everything about us. We know everything about each other’s teams, so the scouting is already done, but it’s nice to give a different look. We knew what Egg Harbor was capable of, so you know that things can go either way at any time. We needed to execute better at the plate. I think that was probably the difference in the game for us, but overall, it’s been a fantastic season. I’m sad it’s over.”
WHAT’S NEXT: No. 4 Egg Harbor Township plays the winner of No. 6 Eastern vs. No. 2 Vineland on Saturday in the South Jersey Group 4 championship game, time TBD. Kingsway’s season is complete.
