By Rich Chrampanis
NEWARK – Ava Metzger fittingly posed at the center of the Colts Neck team picture on the mound at Seton Hall’s Ivy Hill Park holding the state championship trophy and realizing what her team just accomplished. Just moments earlier she finished a complete game two-hit shutout of Cranford in a 2-0 win that gave Colts Neck the first state softball championship in school history.
“I’m so excited I could puke right now,” Metzger said. “We didn’t think in the beginning of the season we were going to get here and now that we just won Group 3; it’s so surreal. It literally feels like a dream.”
To say it was a dream season for Colts Neck (28-2) would be an understatement. After all, the Cougars were a modest 15-10 two years prior, had first-year head coach Anthony Iachello and started four sophomores and a freshman who never played varsity softball. Two months ago, Colts Neck was a complete unknown in Shore Conference softball circles. Now, they are standing on top of the mountain of New Jersey high school softball.
“The show that these girls put on and the dedication that they have and the camaraderie makes it all worthwhile,” Iachello said. “I love these girls. They plug and fight for each other and that’s what it’s all about.”
Surrounding the young talent was a senior leader who took the state by storm. Metzger was a nightmare for opposing batters throughout the entire year. She topped 300 strikeouts in a single season. Prior to the start of the state championship game, Ava was announced as New Jersey’s Gatorade Player of the Year. Her performance in the state final showed the right choice was made. Metzger’s pitching is so dominant, an incredible .489 batting average is overlooked.
In the championship game, Metzger was locked in a pitcher’s duel with Cranford’s Morrigan Gardiner. In a scoreless game in the fifth inning, Metzger hit a base hit to right to load the bases for Colts Neck. Senior Melissa Deissler drew a bases loaded walk to bring home Cassidy Relay with the game’s first run. In the bottom of the fifth, Cranford had runners on second and third with a chance to take the lead but sophomore third baseman Katie Finnegan handled a hard hit low liner to get Colts Neck out of the jam. Metzger took care of the rest, adding an insurance run in the top of the seventh with a double to right to that plated Relay. Metzger and Relay combined for five of Colts Neck’s six hits with the speedy sophomore scoring both runs.
It was a spring of other firsts for Colts Neck High School: The baseball team won its first sectional title and the girls track team also became first-time state champions. But the magical run of the softball team has to be the most surprising of them all.
“When a lot of people heard Cougars and Colts Neck they never thought twice,” Relay said. “I think everyone knows our name now and that we should be up there with the bigger teams.”
The article originally appeared in the June 24 – 30, 2021 print edition of The Two River Times.
