Softball: Oller leads South Plainfield over Old Bridge in GMC Tournament final

WOODBRIDGE — Lindsay Oller, the South Plainfield High School softball team’s senior power-hitting, leadoff batter, stepped up to the plate in the first inning of Saturday’s Greater Middlesex Conference championship game with a singular mindset.

“Going into the game I knew that on the first pitch I was going to rock, I was going to bomb,” Oller said. “I was going to hit the first pitch, the first strike, that was my mentality coming in.”

Oller drilled the first pitch she saw up the middle for a single and went on to score the first of two Tigers runs in the opening inning. She saw her second pitch in the second inning and turned on that one, too, driving it over the fence in left-center for a two-run homer and a four-run lead and second-seeded South Plainfield was on its way to a 10-0 victory over top-seeded Old Bridge for the school’s first title since 2013.

“It feels amazing,” said Oller, who added a three-run homer in the seventh inning to complete her memorable three-hit, four-run, five-RBI afternoon. “From day one, the first day of tryouts, we said we were going to make it here and we’re going to win.”

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Although they split their two regular-season games, and were awarded the two top seeds in the tournament, the teams’ output yesterday could not have been more disparate.

The Tigers (18-4) rapped out 15 hits, four for extra bases, and all nine batters delivered at least one hit. Old Bridge (19-5), which had a nine-game winning streak snapped, managed only one hit off Erin Townley - a bloop single down the left-field line leading off the third inning by Emma DiMartini.

“It was a whole team effort, I can’t say it was just me pitching that one-hitter because our defense absolutely killed it today,” said Townley (14-3), who struck out three, walked three and said she was blissfully unaware that she fired a one-hitter until informed after the game. “When we score those (early) runs, the team is excited, and we carry that excitement into the field so I know that we’re going to be a little more sure-handed in the field.

With 15 hits, Oller wasn’t the only Tigers player who shined at the plate. Sophia Alvarez and Kelsey Geurts each had two singles and a double, with Geurts driving in two runs.

Oddly, the Knights did not hit a ball on the ground until Gianna Velez smashed a grounder off Townley’s foot in the seventh inning, which the junior calmly collected and threw to first for an out.

South Plainfield played error-free softball and combining that with the 15-hit attack and one-hit pitching proved to be insurmountable.

“I knew that we needed to jump out and I wanted more, but the two-run lead was good and we built on it,” said Panzarella, whose team’s 10-run win was the most lopsided in the GMCT final since, at least, 1985, and, perhaps the tournament’s 50-year history. “I’m impressed with the way we hit the ball today. I’m so happy for them because we’ve really played well this year. I think if we play good defense and she pitches well we’ll be in the game.”

This was the fourth GMCT title for Panzarella, in his 43rd season at South Plainfield, and he admitted he was nervous before the contest.

“It’s unbelievable. We’ve won four state championship and a lot of sectionals, but this is the hardest because you’re playing all size schools,” Panzarella explained. “It means a lot to me and it means a lot to the program.”

Old Bridge also fell behind 2-0 in its semifinals win over St. Thomas Aquinas, but held the Trojans scoreless for the remainder of the afternoon in securing a 7-2 victory. The Knights hit the balls hard all afternoon with 11 fly balls to the outfield, including the final out, which center fielder Gabby DiCencia corralled with a diving grab.

“We hit the ball fairly well at some points, they were playing us really deep, but we didn’t adjust the way that we needed to,” Old Bridge coach Angela D’Amico said. “They’re a good team, they’re a good hitting team and we knew that we would have to hit today, if we wanted to win. We just got out-hit. Hat’s off to them, they did a good job and they executed and got the job done.”

This article originally appeared on MyCentralJersey.com: NJ Softball: Oller leads So. Plainfield over Old Bridge in GMCT final