It was not a storybook ending for the Newark Catholic softball team May 29, but the Green Wave played an unforgettable game.
Maplewood (27-2) scored two runs in the bottom of the 14th inning to end a four-hour marathon, grabbing a 6-5 victory in a Division VII regional final at Dalton. The Green Wave (21-10), bidding for their second regional title since 2021, settled for a runner-up finish.
“Tonight hurts. No way around it, but tonight was one of those games where you just sit back and take it all in,” NC coach Mike Justice said via text. “Tonight was like a heavyweight fight with both fighters just trading blows.”
Jahni Whitney’s RBI double in the top of the seventh inning gave NC a 5-4 lead. Maplewood’s Addison Marker, however, tied the game with a two-out solo home run.
The game stayed tied at 5 as the sun set and darkness began to set in. NC’s Joanna Bailey tripled to lead off the top of the 14th and scored on a wild pitch, but Maplewood answered in their half of the 14th with the game-winning runs.
Veronica Bailey pitched the first 8⅓ innings for the Green Wave, striking out 13 and allowing eight hits and three earned runs. Aly Rothweiler relieved and held the Rockets scoreless until the 14th, striking out five and allowing six hits in 4⅔ innings.
“Words can’t describe how proud I am of our girls,” Justice said. “Coaches talk all the time about leaving it all on the field, and tonight was a true definition of that. We literally left it all on the field and competed from the first pitch to the last pitch. V was literally spent in the eighth, and Aly came in and kept giving our offense a chance.”
Joanna Bailey and Whitney led NC with three hits apiece, combining for three RBIs as the Green Wave scored three earned runs off Marker, who had allowed five all season. Veronica Bailey added a triple and a double and two runs, Avery Sullivan a triple and Rothweiler a double.
“The scoreboard doesn’t reflect the heart, grit and toughness this team has,” Justice said.
Johnstown falls in Division V
Johnstown went toe to toe with top-ranked Liberty Union in a Division V regional final, but the Lions used a five-run sixth inning to pull away for a 9-2 victory at Berne Union.
The Lions (26-1), who won the 2024 Division III state championship and finished as Division V runners-up a year ago, scratched out a run in the third inning to take a 1-0 lead, and Emilyn Kanet followed with a two-run home run in the fourth. A two-out, two-run single for Cotie Weaver was immediately followed by Alexis McCoy’s three-run home run in the sixth, sending the Lions ahead 8-0.
“This one hurts, but I think we accomplished more than a lot of people thought. We had a lot of success,” Johnstown coach Mike Triplett said. “Down 3-0 after five innings against a team like that with the way we hit and how our defense is, I thought we were still in it, but we had one bad inning. True to form, we fought to the very end.”
Johnstown (23-7-1) threatened in the first inning against standout right-hander Suzie Shultz as freshman Violet Wentzel flied out to the warning track in center field with two runners on base. The Johnnies finally got on the scoreboard with two outs in the seventh as sophomore Abigail Wood homered to right three batters after twin sister Brooklyn singled off the fence in center.
The Johnnies, who were attempting to reach the program’s fourth state tournament since 2016, graduate three seniors – Addy Zak, Jenna Hochanadel and Katie Blackburn. That trio began their career with a trip to a state with the Johnnies in 2023.
“These seniors put their stamp on this program,” Triplett said. “They were leaders all season. They showed the underclassmen, who are going to take over this program, what it takes to grind and work and achieve. They are going to pass the baton.”
This article originally appeared on Newark Advocate: Newark Catholic, Johnstown drop regional softball finals
Reporting by Kurt Snyder, Newark Advocate / Newark Advocate
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
