SPORTS

Par-Troy East softball headed to Section 1 final

Lauren Knego
inactive

POMPTON LAKES – The Par-Troy East Little League softball team is headed to the Section 1 final.

Jenna Devens pitched a one-hit shutout as Par-Troy East defeated Pequannock 5-0 on Wednesday night. Par-Troy East advances to the final, which was moved to Saturday at 3 p.m. Pequannock falls into the loser's bracket and its game against Somerset Hills was postponed from Thursday to Friday night at 8 p.m. The winner will advance to the final.

"We really wanted to win because then we don't have to play tomorrow, and we knew that if we didn't win today, we'd get our hopes down for when we play them again, so we needed to win," said center fielder Sophia Leon, who went 3-for-3 with a double and two RBI.

The game was scoreless until the bottom of the fourth inning. With one out, catcher Gabby Gennarelli singled and left fielder-third baseman Rachel Volarich doubled to right field. Second baseman Lindsey DePetris then grounded into a fielder's choice as the third baseman threw home to try to get Gennarelli, who was safe to give PTE a 1-0 lead.

With two outs, Leon doubled to left, which scored Volarich and DePetris and put Par-Troy East ahead 3-0.

"I was thinking there's two outs, I have two strikes, three balls," Leon said of her at-bat. "If it's a ball, it's probably going to turn into a strike, and I need to hit, and I got lucky. It felt really good."

Getting busy in the fifth

In the bottom of the fifth, Par-Troy East's offense struck again. Shortstop Tori Freire led off with a single to first, and right fielder Lil Vidal reached on a fielder's choice as Freire was out at second. First baseman Talie Braga followed with a double to left to put runners on second and third, and Gennarelli hit a two-run double to put Par-Troy East ahead 5-0.

Devens allowed one hit — a single to right by Pequannock second baseman Rebecca Zahner in the top of the third — walked none and struck out 12. For Pequannock, Brielle Toone allowed five runs on nine hits, walked two and struck out four.

Par-Troy East put runners on in the first three innings but couldn't get the runs across the plate, which made the team nervous.

"Especially since we would get runners on third and second and end the inning there, and usually in the first inning we get a big jump," Leon said. "This time we didn't. We were a little nervous and knew it was going to be a tight game."

"I didn't think it would be a really close game, but after we got used to the pitching we got a rally going," said Gennarelli, who went 2-for-2 with a walk, two RBI and one run scored.

Staff Writer Lauren Knego: 973-428-6674; lknego@gannettnj.com

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