It was an old-fashioned pitcher’s duel on Thursday night in the Burlington County Scholastic League softball final between top-seeded and No. 16 Northern Burlington and second-seeded Rancocas Valley.
For three innings, neither Northern Burlington’s Haylei Archer or Rancocas Valley’s Selena Aponte allowed a baserunner. For four, neither gave up a run.
Finally, Archer barely beat out an infield single with two outs in the bottom of the fifth to break the ice as Madison Sisz scored from second and the Greyhounds tacked on two more with two outs in the sixth to capture the championship game, 3-0.
“It’s fun when it’s a pitcher’s duel and it’s exciting to see who scores first,” said Archer.
Archer finished off the game allowing just two singles. The hard-throwing 6-foot-1 right-hander did not walk a batter and struck out 12.
“I was definitely using my speed to my advantage,” said Archer. “(Catcher) Julia Mayernik) was definitely calling a great game keeping the batters on her toes and we just worked really well together today. Today just felt great.”
While speed is definitely a plus for Archer pitching, the sophomore said it was not a strength running. Still she hustled out the ground ball to short and Sisz never stopped running from second, scoring easily.
“I’m not the fastest person, I just knew I made pretty good contact and I was just hustling my butt up the line,” said Archer, who jumped high into the air as soon as the umpire called her safe.
Said Sisz, who is also a part of the Greyhounds’ vaunted sophomore core: “I was just running so hard. I knew Haylei hit it hard. I was just trying to get home anyway possible, and when I got home I heard all the cheering and I knew Haylei was safe.”
Sisz tallied Northern Burlington’s first hit to open the fifth, then came around on Archer’s hit. She added an RBI single with two outs in the sixth with another run coming home on a couple errant throws.
With the way Archer was throwing, three runs felt like 30.
“Great softball, great softball and just fun to watch,” said Northern Burlington coach Brian Wolverton. “RV made every play the first four innings. This time of year you want to play good softball, and that was a great game.
“Haylei’s been battling some injuries, we were able to get her some rest and rehab and she looked sharp tonight, which was the goal going into the playoffs. For Haylei, the big thing has been developing her changeup and keeping them off-balance.”
The victory avenged a 2-1 loss to RV earlier as this season as well as a defeat in last year’s conference championship game.
“We definitely wanted them so bad for beating us earlier in the season, this was our game,” said Archer, who has been dealing with shoulder and elbow pain from over-use.
In a pitcher’s duel like Thursday, the margins were thin. Aponte finished with a five-hitter, striking out two and not walking a batter.
“Just a couple mistakes,” said Rancocas Valley co-coach Lauren Gaskill. “Not coming to get the ball defensively and then offensively not staying aggressive on good pitches, swinging at bad ones and getting behind in the count.
“For the most part (Aponte) did a good job keeping them off-balance. Our (offensive) approach was the same as last game, but it came down to executing it and we didn’t do a good job of that.”
