By DAVE O’SULLIVAN
Publisher
Paige Weisman’s high school softball memory bank is full, and that’s not something players who never got a chance to start a varsity game can claim very often.
Weisman is a senior catcher in the Egg Harbor Township softball program, but so is Kate Korte, also a senior who happens to be one of the best catchers in South Jersey and a four-year starter. That relegated Weisman to the junior varsity team, where she played without complaint for the past four years. Not many athletes would stick it out when their varsity dreams don’t come true by their junior years, and even fewer would remain with a program during their senior year if it meant having to play on the JV team.
But that’s how much Weisman loves softball. She wanted to be part of the Eagles, no matter what role she was asked to play.
“I just love the game so much. It didn’t matter to me that I wasn’t playing on varsity. I had great relationships with all the girls on the team. Going to winter workouts, going out there and supporting everyone,” Weisman said. “One of the most important things to me was being able to continue to catch, and Kate is an absolute stud behind the plate. It was cool that I was able to play the position I love for all four years.”
Players such as Korte, senior pitcher Nicole Wisser, third baseman Miranda Cincotti, outfielder Emily MacNeil — these players are used to seeing their names in newspaper clippings; they are used to seeing their photos in online galleries; they are used to speaking to the media following big wins by the Eagles. Weisman didn’t even see her name listed on the roster until the playoffs rolled around. She was a late-season call-up from the junior varsity by head coach Mary Dunlap, who wanted to bolster the roster for the playoff run and have pinch running options on the bench. Dunlap had no way of knowing when the playoffs began how critical that decision would turn out to be.
Weisman’s perseverance and dedication to the program paid huge dividends in the South Jersey Group 4 championship game, as she scored the biggest run of her career to help the Eagles win one of the most exciting playoff softball games South Jersey has ever seen.
The Eagles were in a tug-of-war with Eastern Regional in the sectional championship game, as the top two seeds battled to a 2-2 tie at the end of seven innings. The score remained the same into the 10th inning, and that’s when the international tiebreaker rules were put into place. Under that format, each team begins its offensive half of the inning with a runner at second base. Normally, it’s the last batted out, unless the team opts to use a pinch runner.
Eastern Regional scored its runner in the top of the 12th to take a 4-3 lead after the teams traded runs in the 11th inning. Weisman got the call from Dunlap to be the Eagles’ runner to start the bottom of the 12th. After a strikeout, MacNeil reached on an infield single as Weisman advanced to third. Cris McElhinney then lofted a fly ball to right field, setting up a play at the plate as Weisman attempted to score on the sacrifice fly. The throw beat Weisman to the plate, but her slide knocked the ball out of the glove of Vikings catcher Rae D’Onofrio, allowing Weisman to score the tying run that eventually sent the game into the 13th inning.
“It was unbelievable. My coach told me to start loosening up my legs. I got put out there for the international tiebreaker rules. It’s still crazy to think about, if that ball hadn’t gotten dislodged (from the catcher’s glove) we wouldn’t have a trophy right now. It meant so much to the team,” Weisman said. “I remember coming off the field after I realized the girl had dropped the ball, and everybody just cheering so loud. Kate Korte and Nicole Wisser, I saw them through the little window in my helmet, and they were just crying because they were so happy. It meant so much to me that I was able to have such an impact on the game. And for (my teammates) to be able to hold them down after that, and for Ella to be able to get the big hit, I was so happy for the whole team.”
Eastern rallied for a pair of runs in the top of the 13th as the see-saw struggle continued, and EHT mounted a pair of runs in the bottom of the 13th to knot the game again, 6-6. Ella Glenn came up with two outs and Sarah Kawejsza standing at second base. Glenn ripped an RBI single to right field as the Eagles won, 7-6, in one of the most exciting games in South Jersey playoff history.
Surprisingly, Weisman said she wasn’t nervous at all when she was called upon to pinch run. She and the other late-season call-ups had been used as scout runners during practices leading up to playoff games, so she knew exactly what to do.
“I was actually relaxed, and that surprised me, too, because it was the biggest crowd I’ve ever seen for a softball game. But it was just like practice to me,” Weisman said. “Being an extended playoff roster call-up, pretty much all we did was run and do whatever the varsity girls needed to perfect their mechanics for elite competition. So it just felt like practice to me.”
In a game that featured many heroes, Weisman certainly was one of the biggest. Her aggressive slide into home plate helped keep the Eagles’ dream season alive. The South Jersey championship was the first the Eagles had won since 1993, well before any of the players were even born. Egg Harbor Township went on to beat East Brunswick, 3-2, in eight innings in the Group 3 semifinals before falling, 4-0, to Watchung Hills in the state championship game.
Weisman’s slide into home was the last time she appeared in a playoff game, and that’s just fine with her. She finally got to experience what it feels like to be a player everyone talks about.
“It was euphoric. People just kept coming up to me. We went to Primo Pizza after the game, and the first pictures that started showing up (online) were pictures of me jumping into Miranda’s arms after I scored the run. And everybody was saying, ‘Paige, this is the best picture ever!’ People are still coming up to me today and saying, ‘Paige, that picture of you is so cute.’ It’s an unreal feeling,” she said. “I was always for the team, no matter what. I was just happy that my season was still going. I was playing on borrowed time at that point. I’m so grateful that coach Dunlap brought me along on this crazy playoff run for my senior year.”
Weisman’s name never was penciled into the starting varsity lineup during her softball career at Egg Harbor Township. But because she never gave up on herself or her teammates, her name now will forever be etched in Eagles fans’ memories — and on a championship ring.
“My freshman coach keeps telling me about it, saying, ‘Paige, I’m so happy you have that moment,’” Weisman said. “I’m just happy to have helped out when the team needed it.”
Contact Dave O’Sullivan: sully@acglorydays.com; on Twitter @GDsullysays