By BRIAN TORTELLA
Correspondent
@tortreports on Instagram
FRANKLINVILLE — Dan Torcasio will be the first to tell you that Williamstown High isn’t known for its softball program.
But on a windy Tuesday morning during spring break, the longtime coach took a bus ride home he won’t forget as his Braves picked up one of their biggest victories during his 11-year tenure with a 2-1 upset over Delsea Regional, which entered the game as the No. 1-ranked team in South Jersey by South Jersey Glory Days.
“You know what? This is probably the most talented group, top-to-bottom, that I’ve ever had,” said Torcasio, who has also amassed more than 300 wins as the girls soccer coach at the Gloucester County school. “The last couple days of practice we’ve been focusing on doing the little things. Putting together solid at-bats, getting two strikes, stressing them to choke-and-poke. Put the ball in play, get people on base and be aggressive.
“I always tell the girls, and they laugh at me, ‘teams put their pants on one leg at a time just like us.’ Any given day.”
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Trailing 1-0 in the top of the seventh inning, the Braves (2-2, 0-2 Tri-County Royal) turned on their otherwise quiet bats. Sam Houser doubled on a fly ball to center and Gracie Young walked to get two runners on before Shelby Stephani singled to center to score Houser for the game-tying run.
“I was low key just locked in. I thought ‘just get the runners in, we need to win.’ It felt great,” Stephani said. “It’s really amazing. We haven’t beaten Delsea since my freshman year, and as a senior, it feels great.”
Savannah Debus pushed through the game-winning run with a line drive single that went directly past first base.
“I don’t remember the count, but the ball came in and I sent it,” said Debus, a junior. “It feels really good to know we can beat a team that’s really good right now. We just have to keep it going and we’ll be fine. It means a lot for our program and helps our energy for the rest of the season. We have our confidence up.”
Delsea standout sophomore Cailyn Centeno was on point for the majority of the contest, fanning 14 batters and allowing just two hits before the final inning, when she allowed three hits and a walk. Centeno also had two of the four hits for the Crusaders (1-1, 1-0 Tri-County Liberty)
Said Torcasio, “we knew their pitcher was one of the best in South Jersey, so we knew we had a tough task, but we came in with the right mental approach and did the right things today.”
Angel Bush went the distance in the circle and recorded seven strikeouts and scattered four hits for Williamstown. With the game in her hands in the final inning, she fanned two batters and forced a fly out.
Williamstown will host two-time defending Group 2 state champion Gloucester on Thursday.
“We’re going with the Group 2 state champions on Thursday, and I think we got it,” Debus added.
WHAT’S NEXT: Williamstown hosts Gloucester on Thursday at 10 a.m. Delsea travels to Timber Creek on Thursday at 10 a.m.
