By BRIAN TORTELLA
Correspondent
@tortreports on Instagram
AUDUBON — Pennsville Memorial High assistant softball coach Lisa Doran stood beside the dugout prior to Tuesday’s South Jersey Group 1 semifinal and preached four simple words that begged a question.
“Ready for an upset?”
Two hours later, as she walked off the field, Doran confidently smiled and said, “what did I say? I told you.”
Behind great defense, efficient pitching and timely hitting, fifth-seeded Pennsville stunned top-seeded and defending champion Audubon, 3-1, to punch its ticket to the sectional title game. The Eagles will host No. 7 Woodstown, a 5-0 upset winner over No. 3 Palmyra, in Thursday’s championship.
“You’re never out until you’re out,” Eagles head coach Beth Jackson said of her squad’s stunning victory. “You have to get 21 outs. You never know.”
Graillyn Weber went the distance inside the circle for the Eagles, allowing only three hits and one earned run. At the plate, she delivered an RBI-double to give Pennsville a 2-1 lead in the sixth inning.
“We came out really hot,” the junior said. “We came with the energy and I don’t think they were ready for us, honestly. I think they expected a little easy game, but we really put it on them.
“I was ready to get a hit. I was like, ‘you know what, I’m due.’ I didn’t really feel much pressure, I was calm in the box. Everyone on the field contributed, especially Kenzie with her big shot home run.”
Facing a 1-0 deficit in the fourth inning, Makenzie Widener hit a line drive home run to center field for the game-tying run. After the Eagles took the lead courtesy of Weber’s double, Kylie Harris plated Weber on a single for a big-time insurance run.
“I was just thinking fastball, and I saw a fastball and swung away,” Widener said of her homer. “We just knocked off the No. 1 seed.”
Addison Leahan pitched well for Audubon, striking out four and allowing just four hits and a run through five innings before the Eagles broke through against Audubon’s bullpen.
“I am so proud of them for being frustrated and coming back,” Jackson, in tears, said. “The umpires make their calls, you know we talk all the time about them being human and have controllables and stuff, and they rose up above that. I always have confidence in my girls, and I know they can hit the ball.
“She did a great job,” Jackson said of Weber, who struck out only one but allowed just six base runners in seven innings. “We talked about different things and how we wanted to approach some hitters, and she’s kept her team in the game all year long.”
The last time Pennsville faced Audubon, it didn’t end well. In the semifinal round two years ago, the Green Wave downed the Eagles 12-0 in a five-inning mercy rule.
“It might have been two years ago when we were here and we lost,” Jackson said when asked when the last time she was this emotional after a game.
This time around, roles were reversed and instead they were tears of joy.
“You have to take it one game at a time,” Jackson concluded. “It’s nice to dream and to envision and think about this, that, or the other, but the reality is you have to take it one day at a time because there is no tomorrow.”
Audubon dropped to 19-10, playing a highly competitive schedule for a group 1 program. The Green Wave faced ranked teams such as Kingsway (twice), Gloucester (twice), Clearview (twice), and Cherokee to prepare for the state playoffs. The Green Wave had won eight of their previous nine games before the setback to Pennsville.
“We were definitely reaching out for most of our at-bats,” Audubon coach Erin Small said. “Not being patient and letting the ball get to us. It resulted in a lot of pop-ups. We only had three hits and one double. We definitely did not have a great day at the plate, and you have to give (Weber) a lot of credit for what she did on the mound. We just didn’t produce anything today.”
All-Salem County Final:
Woodstown took down Palmyra, 5-0, in the other semifinal game to advance to the South Jersey final for the first time since 1979.
The seventh-seeded Wolverines upended the third-seeded Panthers behind Ellie Wygand’s 2-for-3, two-RBI performance. Leah Clark went the distance inside the circle with 11 strikeouts in the shutout effort. Woodstown knocked off second-seeded Buena, 3-1, in Thursday’s quarterfinal round.
The victory sets the stage for a rare all-Salem County sectional final. Pennsville will host Woodstown at 3 p.m. on Thursday for the right to claim the prestigious blue trophy.
“It’s pretty cool that we have the opportunity to represent Salem County,” second-year Woodstown coach Rob Hildebrand said of the upcoming finals matchup. “It’s something that doesn’t happen often. I bet you it hasn’t been too recent. I’m excited, it’s a chance for redemption. They beat us earlier in the year, so it’s a great chance to play them again.”
