The Greyhounds topped Rancocas Valley for their 12 straight victory.
EASTAMPTON — Nobody completely understands momentum.
Everyone realizes it’s important to keep it.
The Northern Burlington softball team went into its Burlington County Scholastic League Liberty Division finale Monday riding an 11-game win streak, and emerged as a repeat division champion by virtue of an 11-2 victory over host Rancocas Valley.
“We played them last week in the BCSL (Tournament) final and we were really energetic,” Greyhounds catcher Julia Mayernik said. “And we were happy to carry that into this game and just soar more for our team.”
Mayernik singled in the Greyhounds’ three-run first inning and tripled to lead off the third.
“I’m usually taking the first strike,” Mayernik said. “Let the pitcher work a little bit and get used to how I am at the plate. And then I’m just keying on the first ball that’s in the zone, after they’re trying to get into a count.”
Early success begets early success, as the Greyhounds demonstrated. Cameron Cassidy led off the game with a hit and scored on a wild pitch then Alexa Blue tripled to right and scored on an error to make it 2-0. Megan Berg singled and scored as Mayernik’s hit bounced past an outfielder.
Madison Sisz added a two-out, two-run single in the second and another run scored on a passed ball to make it 6-0.
A long double by Haylei Archer gave the Greyhounds a 7-0 lead in the third. Rancocas Valley (10-7 overall, 4-3 division) scored in the third when Shauna Nuss was hit by a pitch and moved up on Gianna Guerriero’s infield hit. A passed ball sent Nuss to third and a wild pitch brought her home.
Berg singled in a run in the fourth and the Greyhounds added three in the seventh. Archer reached on an error that brought the first one home and Hannah Alexander launched a triple to left.
Alexander scored as Cassidy reached on a dropped third strike.
“I know I’m giving confidence to my team,” Mayernik said.
Archer took over the designated player role after three innings, when Amanda Gonzalez came in to pitch. Gonzalez allowed one run on five hits over four innings and struck out two.
“I’m pretty used to coming in, in relief,” Gonzalez said. “It doesn’t really matter to me. I can start or relive. Before I go in, I always ask (Archer) about the ump’s strike zone and how the hitters are. She just told me where to pitch the ball and about the strike zone, which was pretty fair.”
Gonzalez isn’t a power pitcher like Archer. Sometimes, that’s the point. “All of my pitches were going,” she said. “I’m a location pitcher, not trying to overpower so much with my speed. Everything was working today.”
When it happens 12 times in a row, you’ve got momentum, and perhaps something even more valuable.
The Greyhounds will host Ocean Township in their Central Jersey Group 3 playoff opener.
“If you’re playing good softball, and I think we’ve been doing that, I think we can really challenge the kids,” Northern Burlington coach Brian Wolverton said. “We’re going to have an extra-inning game in the playoffs, and it’s not going to matter. We’re going to be able to lean back on that Robbinsville game (a 4-3 win Friday) and know that we’re OK.”
The Red Devils, who’ve lost three straight, will have to lean back a little farther.
“It’s nothing that we can’t fix,” senior pitcher Selena Aponte said. “We can 100 percent fix it. There’s no doubt in my mind that we will, and that we’ll come out tomorrow.”
The Red Devils will travel to Bordentown for the last game on their Liberty Division schedule. They’ll host Eastern on Thursday in their South Jersey Group 4 playoff opener.
“I definitely feel like we came in with momentum,” Aponte said. “The only problem was with our hitting. We just haven’t been hitting as a team, and it’s something we need to work on. Hopefully, we’ll come out tomorrow and get our bats going again.”
