Roselle Park Stuns Westfield
In UCT Softball Quarterfinals
By JR Parachini
For sidelinechatter.com

WESTFIELD - Roselle Park softball coach Fran Maggio said that anything from here on in is gravy after his team won at Governor Livingston in the first round of the Union County Tournament.

Well, sometimes you can leave home and the gravy still tastes very good.

Roselle Park, the 10th seed, went to second-seeded Westfield Wednesday afternoon and stunned the Blue Devils 4-3 in the fourth and final Union County Tournament quarterfinal.

Sophomore righthander Taylor Zengewald, without throwing a 1-2-3 inning, limited Westfield to four hits, while Melinda Dercole drove in Roselle Park's first two runs from the No. 9 position in the order and Liz Lautenbach provided the game-winning hit - a two-run single - on her father Glenn's birthday to lead Roselle Park into the semifinals for the first time in four years.

Roselle Park will next face third-seeded Union in Friday night's first scheduled semifinal at 6 at Linden's Memorial Field. Fourth-seeded Linden will take on top-seeded and two-time defending champion Cranford in Friday night's second semifinal at 8.

The final is scheduled for Saturday night at 7 at Memorial.

The rain date for the semifinals is Saturday night at 6 and 8 at Memorial and the rain date for the final is Sunday night at 7 at Memorial.

Roselle Park reached the semifinals for the first time since last winning the UCT in 2004, when it repeated by beating Cranford in the final for the second straight season.

Union is also in the semifinals for the first time since 2004.

That 2004 season was also the last time the top four seeds made it to the semifinals and also the last time the top seed won the tournament.

Roselle Park improved to 13-5 and won its fifth straight. The Panthers last played on May 6 when they defeated Dayton 7-1 at home in Mountain Valley Conference-Valley Division play.

Roselle Park was scheduled to host Newark Central May 8, but the conference rival couldn't make it and the game wasn't played. Roselle Park did not receive a forfeit win.

The Panthers defeated seventh-seeded Governor Livingston 4-1 in the first round on May 3 in Berkeley Heights. GL previously defeated Roselle Park 11-1 in Berkeley Heights on April 24 in a regular season MVC-interdivision game.

Westfield, which defeated 18th-seeded Dayton 20-0 at home on May 3 in that first round matchup, slipped to 15-4 and lost its second straight. The Blue Devils last played on May 8, falling at non-conference Middlesex County power South Plainfield 7-0, which snapped a nine-game Westfield winning streak.

Westfield last reached the UCT semifinals in 2007, the final in 1998 and last won the UCT in 1998.

Union advanced to the semifinals Tuesday after beating 11th-seeded Rahway 9-0 at home in their quarterfinal matchup.

Roselle Park and Union have been scrimmaging each other for a while now - including this year at Union - and last played each other in a game that counts last year when Union defeated Roselle Park 10-3 at home in a UCT quarterfinal.

"Chris (Flinn-Union head coach) and I know each other and know each other's teams very well," said Roselle Park head coach Fran Maggio, who guided the Panthers to back-to-back UCT titles in 2003 and 2004. "We faced their pitcher (Amanda Kardys - sophomore lefthander) last year and this year in our scrimmage.

"We're on a good run here and we're just going to take it as far as we can."

Kardy's four-hit Rahway and struck out 12 Tuesday for another shutout and her second in two UCT games so far this year. In last year's UCT contest against Roselle Park, she started, pitched the first 5 and 2/3 innings and earned the mound victory in a 9-6 freshman campaign.

Union is 17-2 and Kardys 13-2 at the moment, both on five-game winning streaks, with Union's only two losses coming on the road in the bottom of the seventh to Westfield 1-0 and Millburn 4-3.

"We had a very close scrimmage with them, late, I want to say on March 26," said Flinn, in his 13th season at the helm of the Farmers and who guided Union to the 1996 championship his first year at the helm. "Not many runs were scored, with our pitcher and their pitcher both pitching well. It was a tight scrimmage and we might have scored just one run.

"Fran and I are friends and we've been scrimmaging each other every year - one year at our place and the next at theirs - for some six years now."

Not many thought Roselle Park would beat GL on the road, much less knock off the No. 2 seed Westfield on the road and prevent the top four seeds from making it to the semifinals once again.

Both Westfield and Roselle Park survived the first inning without giving up a run after the leadoff batter reached base. Roselle Park's Rebecca produced an opposite field single to left on a 2-1 count, but was then thrown out attempting to steal second by Westfield catcher Katie Kiefer. Westfield's Cyndil Matthew walked on four pitches, but then slid right into the tag of shortstop Jessica Johns at third after trying to go from first to third on a short 5-3 ground out.

Roselle Park then struck for its first run in the top of the second after two outs. As a matter of fact, all seven runs were scored after two outs.

After Matthew retired the first two batters she faced, Alex Bober smacked a double over the center fielder's head. Matthew then walked Cassey Riccitelli on four pitches, her second walk of the inning and sixth of the game, to put runners on first and second.

That brought up the righty batting Dercole, who although she was batting ninth in the order, Maggio said she was batting over .300 and was a good fit there for the Panthers. On a 2-2 pitch, she hit the ball the opposite way down the right field line, with the ball just landing fair. Bober came around to score and Roselle Park took a 1-0 lead.

Westfield took its only lead in the bottom of the third after Zengewald retired the first two batters she faced in the inning. Matthew blooped a single to left just over the reach of the Johns at shortstop and then quickly stole second. Alex Pecora was then hit by a pitch for the first of two times to put runners on first and second.

Erin Scialabba, a senior co-captain along with Pecora, followed with an RBI-single to center that brought home one run. On the same play, another run scored when the ball went through the center fielder's legs. That gave what turned out to be Westfield's only lead of the day as Zengewald rebounded to get the next Westfield batter to fly out to center for the inning's final out.

To Roselle Park's credit, the Panthers came right back in the top of the fourth, scoring what would be their final three runs of the game to take a 4-2 lead. Once again, with two outs and a runner on second - courtesy runner Liridona Gocaj for catcher Ashley Taluba, who led off the inning with a single up the middle - Dercole came through with a big hit, connecting on a hard-hit single up the middle that hit second base and bounced into the outfield. Gocaj came around to score to tie the game at 2-2.

"We've seen Cyndil before, we've played against her before, so once you connect against one - she is one of the fastest pitchers we've seen this year - it's going to go," Dercole said. "I was expecting her to come right at me with a fastball. Being the No. 9 batter you're going to get them to come right at you."

"She's not your typical No. 9 hitter where she's struggling," Maggio said. "She puts the ball in play and she's a very tough kid. She picks herself up in tough situations, so, mentally, she's the kind of kid you want to have ther."

Matthew then walked Vera for the second time, which was Matthew's fifth and final walk of the game, and the bases were loaded.

Up stepped senior Liz Lautenbach, who was previously 0-for-2 against Matthew with a ground out to Matthew in the first and a pop up to second in the third.

Lautenbach wasted no time with this at-bat, connecting on the first pitch she saw from Matthew - a fastball - and driving it up the middle for a two-run single that gave Roselle Park a 4-2 lead.

"The first two times I got up I was really nervous and it showed," said Lautenbach, who finished 1-for-4. "Coach just told me the first one is going to be a good one and just hop on it. I didn't know at the time it was going to be the difference-maker.

"I zoned it in and that's what I usually do. I usually look for the first pitch and jump right on it. I gave my dad a great birthday present today."

On the hit, Roselle Park had a baserunner thrown out at second for the inning's final out. The final pitch of the inning was the 31st thrown in the frame by Matthew and her 87th and final. Westfield head coach Tara Pignoli brought in fellow junior righty Alyson Moskowitz to pitch the rest of the game.

"The pitcher was struggling, she just walked two batters and I knew she wanted to get ahead of Liz," Maggio said. "I told Liz, 'if it's there, just go for it.'"

Westfield got a run back in the bottom of the fourth on an RBI-infield single by No. 9 batter Katie Esler that brought home Emily Tebbetts, who walked with one out. Zengewald then intentionally walked Matthew to load the bases with two outs. She then struck out Westfield's next batter to get out of further trouble.

Roselle Park led 4-3 after four innings and now needed nine more outs to pull off the upset. They really needed them because Moskowitz came pitched quite well in relief, not allowing a run or hit in her three-inning stint. Roselle Park loaded the bases against in her in the fifth on an infield error and two walks, but she got out of the inning, ultimately, by getting all three outs on strikeouts. She also retired Roselle Park in order in the top of the seventh for the game's only 1-2-3 inning.

Zengewald walked Scialabba to start the fifth, but then retired the next three Westfield batters in order. She intentionally walked Matthew again with two outs in the sixth to put runners on first and second and then hit Pecora again, giving Westfield the bases loaded once more.

Zengewald then had to get the tough-hitting Scialabba out. On an 0-1 pitch, she got the standout senior to pop up to Dercole at second, which might have been the most important out of the game for Roselle Park.

In the bottom of the seventh, Zengewald got the first batter to ground out to Dercole at second before Kiefer singled to center to give Westfield hope. After fanning the next batter looking for her seventh strikeout, Zengewald quickly went to a 3-0 count on Kim Townsend.

Zengewald then got the count to 3-2 before Townsend hit a shot to center that senior Michelle Rose made an excellent basket catch on coming in. The upset was complete.

" Westfield is always tough competition," said Zengewald, who improved to 9-3. "I felt like I was off today, but my team helped me out."

Roselle Park held on to beat Westfield 4-3 and become the second MVC team to reach the UCT final four, joining Mountain Division leader Cranford, which was 20-0 going into Wednesday. The 10th seed doesn't often make it this far in the tournament, so the Panthers have a lot to be proud of.

"We got two RBI from our No. 9 hitter and we were fortunate that we had situations where the Matthew girl was up and we were able to contain her," Maggio said, especially the two times Matthew was intentionally walked and Westfield did not score after both of those base on balls.

Maggio also said that Roselle Park had not played Westfield in a few years and the first time he saw Matthew pitch was against South Plainfield last week.

"That's the only time I've ever seen her pitch, so I didn't have much to go on," Maggio said.

Zengewald struck out seven and walked eight, although two intentionally, in a complete-game victory that included 127 pitches. She did not allow a hit until Matthew's only one with two outs in the third.

"You could just see the progression and the maturity that she's gone through this season," Maggio said. " Taylor wants to be good. She wants to be a successful varsity pitcher and she listens to every thing that you tell her and she takes it out there the next time out.

"She really employs what we tell her. She's very mentally tough and it's all coming together for her. She's going to be very, very successful over her career, because she's a worker and she wants to win."

"We just work hard and do our best," Zengewald said.

"We're a very scrappy team," Lautenbach said. "You can't look us out. We all love what we do here and it shows in through our play.

"I wasn't really worried about it because I knew last year Cranford was the eighth seed and they beat GL, so anything goes in softball. We played Union in the pre-season and only lost to them by a run. I have so much confident in my team. In my four years, I'm so elated."

"This feels amazing," Dercole said. "I just want to play again. Certain people are just stepping up at certain times. You have certain people that have bad days and then good days."

NOTES: Maggio coached Roselle Park to a Group 1 state championship - the softball team's first state crown - in 2003, so he's coached in plenty of big games. However, a win like Wednesday at the second seed and as the 10th seed in a UCT quarterfinal, sometimes it doesn't get better than that.

"You think how we had some tough losses early in the year and how we were able to bounce back from those," Maggio said. "We're just enjoying the ride. It's very improbable. It's a tribute top the kids. They really pulled themselves together, have played hard and have been excited from the very beginning."

After the UCT, Roselle Park will be competing in the Central Jersey, Group 2 playoffs.

Westfield will now regroup for the North 2, Group 4 bracket. The Blue Devils also still have a chance to win the single division Watchung Conference championship this year, with big road games remaining at Linden and at Union.

AT-BAT OF THE GAME - Liz Lautenbach's two-run single gave Roselle Park the lead for good at 4-2 in the top of the fourth. Second at-bat of the game is Zengewald getting a very good hitter in Scialabba to pop up with the bases loaded and two outs in the bottom of the sixth.

DEFENSIVE PLAY OF THE GAME - Roselle Park senior center fielder Michelle Rose's basket catch of the ball Kim Townsend hit for the game's final out. If Rose doesn't catch that ball, Roselle Park could have lost 5-4 on that play.

10-ROSELLE PARK (13-5, won 5 in a row) 0 1 0 3 0 0 0 - 4 6 1

2-WESTFIELD (15-4, lost 2 in a row) 0 0 2 1 0 0 0 - 3 4 1

ROSELLE PARK STARTING PITCHER:

Taylor Zengewald, sophomore righthander (9-3)

7 innings: 127 pitches, 3 runs-2 earned, 4 hits,

7 strikeouts (2 looking), 8 walks (2 intentional), 2 hit batters

WESTFIELD STARTING PITCHER:

Cyndil Matthew, junior righthander (7-2)

4 innings: 87 pitches, 4 runs-all earned, 6 hits,

4 strikeouts, 5 walks

WESTFIELD RELIEF PITCHER:

Alyson Moskowitz, junior righthander

3 innings: 52 pitches, 0 runs, 0 hits,

5 strikeouts, 3 walks

ROSELLE PARK LINEUP:

8-Rebecca Vera, sophomore first baseman (bats lefty): 1-for-2;

opposite field single to left in first,

walked and scored in fourth, walked in sixth

24-Brittany Stromko, senior left fielder: 0-for-1;

walked in first, walked in fourth, sacrifice bunt in sixth

5-Liz Lautenbach, senior third baseman: 1-for-4;

two-run single up the middle in the fourth - game-winning hit

18-Jessica Johns, junior shortstop: 0-for-3;

walked in third, reached on infield error in fifth

20-Michelle Rose, senior center fielder: 0-for-4

6-Ashley Taluba, senior catcher: 1-for-3;

singled up the middle in fourth, walked in fifth

14-Liridona Gocaj, junior courtesy runner:

ran for Taluba in fourth and fifth, scoring in fourth

2-Alex Bober, senior designated player: 1-for-4;

doubled over CF head in second and scored

1-Cassey Riccitelli, senior right fielder: 0-for-1;

walked in second, walked in fifth

7-Melinda Dercole, senior second baseman: 2-for-3;

opposite field RBI-double down RF line (on chalk) in first;

RBI-single up the middle and scored in fourth

9-Taylor Zengewald, sophomore starting pitcher/flex: did not bat

Others: 4-Jackie Anouge, junior. 22-Dierdre Picciano, senior.

16-Ashley Gomes, junior.

Head coach: Fran Maggio.

WESTFIELD LINEUP:

4-Cyndil Matthew, junior starting pitcher-third baseman: 1-for-1;

walked in first, bloop single to LF over SS head and scored in third,

intentional walk in fourth, intentional walk in sixth

17-Alex Pecora, senior right fielder: 0-for-2;

hit by pitch and scored in third, hit by pitch in sixth

14-Erin Scialabba, senior third baseman: 1-for-3;

RBI-single in third, walked in fifth

22-Krissy Wendel, senior first baseman (bats lefty): 0-for-4

3-Katie Kiefer, junior catcher: 1-for-4;

singled to center in seventh

11-Emily Tebbetts, junior designated player (bats lefty): 0-for-0;

walked in second, walked and scored in fourth

18-Alyson Moskowitz, junior relief pitcher: 0-for-2

2-Kim Townsend, junior shortstop: 0-for-3;

walked in sixth

15-Sara Connery, sophomore left fielder: 0-for-1;

walked in fourth, sacrifice bunt in sixth

44-Katie Esler, sophomore center fielder: 1-for-3;

RBI-infield single in fourth

7-Ariel Gale, senior second baseman/flex: did not bat

Others: 28-Katie Abruzzo, junior. 21-Christine Feldbauer.

20-Jamie Wisniewski, junior.

Head coach: Tara Pignoli.

33RD ANNUAL SOFTBALL UCT

SEEDS: 1-Cranford. 2-Westfield. 3-Union. 4-Linden.

5-Johnson. 6-Scotch Plains. 7-Governor Livingston. 8-Mother Seton.

9-Roselle Catholic. 10-Roselle Park. 11-Rahway. 12-New Providence.

13-Brearley. 14-Summit. 15-Elizabeth. 16-Union Catholic.

17-Plainfield. 18-Dayton. 19-Oak Knoll. 20-Hillside.

PRELIMINARY ROUND:

Wednesday, April 30

Brearley 13, Hillside 0

Union Catholic 16, Plainfield 1

Summit 7, Oak Knoll 4

Friday, May 2

Dayton 15, Elizabeth 12

FIRST ROUND:

Saturday, May 3

Johnson 8, New Providence 6

Linden 2, Brearley 1

Roselle Catholic 7, Mother Seton 6

Cranford 12, Union Catholic 2

Rahway 6, Scotch Plains 4

Union 14, Summit 0

Roselle Park 4, Governor Livingston 1

Westfield 20, Dayton 0

QUARTERFINALS:

Saturday, May 10

Linden 4, Johnson 0

Cranford 10, Roselle Catholic 1

Tuesday, May 13

Union 9, Rahway 0

Wednesday, May 14

Roselle Park 4, Westfield 3

SEMIFINALS:

Friday, May 16

at Linden’s Memorial Field

10-Roselle Park vs. 3-Union, 6 p.m.

4-Linden vs. 1-Cranford, 8 p.m.

RAIN DATE - Saturday, May 17, 6 and 8 p.m.

FINAL:

Saturday, May 17 at 7 p.m.

at Linden’s Memorial Field

RAIN DATE - Sunday, May 18, 7 p.m.

UCT TOP SEEDS SINCE 1998:

2008 - Cranford, reached at least the semifinals

G2007 - Gov. Livingston, lost at home in quarterfinals

8th-seeded Cranford won

2006 - Brearley, lost at home in quarterfinals

4th-seeded Cranford won

2005 - Gov. Livingston, lost in final

7th-seeded Brearley won for first time

2004 - Roselle Park, repeated as champion

2003 - Roselle Park, won its second title

2002 - Westfield, lost in the semifinals

6th-seeded Cranford won for the first time

2001 - Scotch Plains, lost in final

2nd-seeded Governor Livingston won third title

2000 - Union, won its 10th title and first since

it won a record six straight from 1991-1996

1999 - Governor Livingston, won its second title

1998 - Governor Livingston, lost in semifinals

6th-seeded Westfield won its seventh title

- Since Roselle Park won the UCT as the top seed in back-to-back years in 2003 and 2004, the trend the last few years has seen seeds 8 (Cranford in 2007) , 4 ( Cranford in 2006) and 7 (Brearley in 2005) win the last three crowns.

UCT CHAMPIONS:

2007 – Cranford

2006 – Cranford

2005 – Brearley

2004 – Roselle Park

2003 – Roselle Park

2002 – Cranford

2001 – Governor Livingston

2000 – Union

1999 – Governor Livingston

1998 – Westfield

1997 – Governor Livingston

1996 – Union

1995 – Union

1994 – Union

1993 – Union

1992 – Union

1991 – Union

1990 – Westfield

1989 – Union Catholic

1988 – Union

1987 – Union

1986 – Westfield

1985 – Westfield

1984 – Westfield

1983 – Union

1982 – Roselle Park

1981 – Johnson Regional

1980 – Linden

1979 – Johnson Regional

1978 – Westfield

1977 – Scotch Plains

1976 - Westfield

CHAMPIONSHIP GAME SCORES:

2007 – Cranford 13, Linden 0

2006 – Cranford 1, Governor Livingston 0

2005 – Brearley 2, Governor Livingston 1 (10 inn.)

2004 – Roselle Park 2, Cranford 1 (13 inn.)

2003 – Roselle Park 1, Cranford 0 (11 inn.)

2002 – Cranford 3, Union 0

2001 – Governor Livingston 3, Scotch Plains 0

2000 – Union 2, Governor Livingston 1

1999 – Governor Livingston 8, Johnson 3

1998 – Westfield 9, Roselle Park 0

1997 – Governor Livingston 5, Cranford 0

1996 – Union 4, Johnson 3

1995 – Union 11, Westfield 0

1994 – Union 8, Cranford 7

1993 – Union 16, Cranford 14

1992 – Union 13, Westfield 0

1991 – Union 1, Roselle Park 0

1990 – Westfield 3, Union 0

1989 – Union Catholic 4, Union 2

1988 – Union 1, Roselle Park 0

1987 – Union 3, Roselle Park 0

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