(Photo by Frank Wojciechowski) caption: TOUCH OF GRAY: Nancy Gray delivers a pitch last week for the Princeton/Cranbury-Plainsboro 12-year-old softball all-star team in the District 12 tournament. Princeton went 2-4 in Pool A play to end up third behind champion Robbinsville and Millstone-Roosevelt.

Princeton 12s Show Progress in District Softball; With Two Wins and Near Miss in Extra Innings

Bill Alden

In their District 12 tournament opener on June 25, the Princeton/Cranbury-Plainsboro 12-year-old softball all-stars went down meekly, falling 11-0 to Millstone-Roosevelt.

In the Pool A play rematch between the teams five days later, it appeared that history was repeating itself as Princeton fell behind 3-0 in the top of the first inning.

But showing grit and marked improvement, Princeton turned the contest into an two-and-a-half hour extra-inning marathon before dropping a 6-4 nailbiter.

The Princeton rally started in the bottom of the first when the team scored two runs with third baseman Alexandra Santa Maria delivering a key RBI single.

After giving up a run in the top of the third to fall behind 4-2, Princeton answered back in the bottom of the frame as pitcher Sarah Eisenach delivered a run-scoring ground out.

Princeton knotted the game at 4-4 in the bottom of the fourth when catcher Rachel Costantino drove in outfielder Natalie Campisi after the latter had stolen two bases to get to third.

In the bottom of the sixth, Princeton nearly won the game in regulation as it got two base runners in the frame but couldn’t push across the winning tally.

With Eisenach showing no signs of fatigue in the circle, Millstone-Roosevelt went down in order in the top of the seventh. Princeton, though, followed suit in the bottom of the inning and the game went into the eighth with the teams still knotted at 4-4.

In the top of the eighth, Millstone-Roosevelt broke through with two runs to forge ahead. Still battling, Princeton got one runner on in the eighth but couldn’t generate any more offense as it fell.

While disappointed by the result, Princeton manager Mark Eisenach wasn’t surprised at the way his team battled back.

“Since that first game, we have been playing good defense and hitting well,” asserted Eisenach.

“We knew we could come back from it this time. The first time we saw it, you are not so sure because you haven’t seen these teams. Tonight we knew we could come back and we did; we chipped away at it inning by inning.”

A key in the Princeton rally was the pitching of Eisenach’s daughter, Sarah, who settled down after the rough first inning.

“Sarah has done that before,” said Eisenach. “She can pitch a lot of pitches and seems to be stronger at the end than she is in the beginning.”

The Princeton defense produced some strong work, featuring a dazzling double play in the top of the fifth that saw Millstone-Roosevelt runners cut down at third and second in bang-bang manner.

“We made good plays all game long,” said Eisenach, who also got some superb individual efforts by Genna Garlock at second and Emily DiLella at first.

“We made very few defensive mistakes and we had some great defensive opportunities like that double play. The girls knew what to do and they went after it hard.”

At the plate, Princeton displayed some hard hitting. “In several innings, we had some good back-to-back hits,” added Eisenach.

“We didn’t put on a runner and strand her. We had them on and we were able to move them and then get another hit.”

Although Princeton squandered a golden opportunity to win the game in the bottom of the sixth, Eisenach was proud of the spirit his team showed in extra innings.

“The girls were really down but we came back in the top of the seventh and shut them down and the momentum was even again,” said Eisenach.

Princeton kept the momentum going last Thursday when it cruised to an 11-2 win over Florence as Shadhya Kaul led the way with a double and a triple and a superb pitching effort.

That triumph was further evidence of the positive trend Eisenach has seen through the course of the tournament.

“Every game we have been playing, we have been more and more together,” said Eisenach, whose club ended the tournament last Friday by falling 23-0 to pool winner and three-time defending District 12 champion Robbinsville.

“We are in synch, we are making plays we didn’t make in the first two games. There is a lot more movement and knowing where to go now.”

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