Story and photos by Rich Chrampanis
CALDWELL – “They always make it interesting,” were the first words from legendary Middletown South softball coach Tom Erbig after the Lady Eagles made the final out in a 5-3 win over West Essex in the Group 3 state softball semifinals. When you’re playing softball in June, no lead ever feels safe. Middletown South held a lead on West Essex since the top of the 3rd inning and were one out away from a state semifinal win. But the Knights had the tying run at the plate in Julia Vardiman, who hit a 2-run homer off of Eagles pitcher Maddie McMahon in her previous at-bat. Tom Erbig, the Middletown South softball coach who is New Jersey’s all-time high school leader in wins, would be the first to tell you that he was on pins and needles, yet the experienced defending state champs were more than fine playing in a pressure cooker. When Vardiman launched a shallow fly ball to center, Ciara Sullivan showed why she’s a Division I athlete. The future Georgetown Hoya sprawled to the ground and kept the ball in her glove to preserve a 5-3 win and a return trip to the state championship at Kean University this weekend.
“I knew that I was going to have to lay out,” Sullivan said in describing the game ending catch. “I was just hoping that it didn’t bounce out of my glove because once I saw it I knew I was going to be able to get it, but a lot of time during practice they bounce out of my glove, so I was just praying that it wasn’t going to bounce out. You don’t get many chances to make a catch like that.”
The Eagles (28-3) have a recipe for success that any team would envy: Devastating power, a Division I pitcher and the experience of winning a state championship. All three of these traits were key factors in the win over West Essex. Trailing 1-0 after a sacrifice fly by West Essex in the first, the Eagles took the lead in the top of the 3rd when McMahon launched a no doubt home run to left that saw the Knights left fielder crash through the temporary fence only to see the ball sail into home run land. Lightning and a brief rain shower came in the bottom of the third causing a 30 minute delay, but didn’t slow down the Eagles momentum. In the top of the fourth inning, Sullivan smacked a double to left field setting the stage for Sarah Corey to launch a high fly ball to left centerfield that cleared the fence to give Middletown South a 5-1 lead. Corey’s blast proved to be the game winning hit as Vardiman hit a 2 run shot in the 5th to close the deficit to 5-3. Middletown South has a staggering 32 home runs in 2016, double their 2015 total. Sullivan has 16 bombs and five other Eagles have hit the long ball.
“Everybody does their job and everybody just tries to hit singles and when people try to hit singles good things happen,” Corey said in explaining the Eagles power surge. “I think we were definitely a little underestimated coming into this season so we wanted to really prove ourselves again and it’s the great feeling going to the state finals especially twice.”
Middletown South returns to Kean University and takes on Steinert (26-4), a 2-1 winner over Lacey, in the Group 3 state championship on Saturday at 11 a.m. The Eagles beat Steinert 4-0 last year in the Central Jersey Group 3 finals. It will be the final game in the magnificent career of Maddie McMahon who pitches one more time in an Eagles uniform before leaving for Albany, New York to play Division I softball for the Siena Saints. With a 55-5 high school record, McMahon will be more than comfortable on the big stage for a second straight year.
“I like the pressure. I don’t know why, but I think I do better under pressure,” McMahon said. “When I don’t have the pressure, I don’t do as well. I think the pressure situations are better for me. I really don’t know why, but it happens that way.”
