Sunday, May 15, 2011

Mangan's Homer Leads PC to Upset

    Sunday, May 15, 2011
 BY RONALD P. CLARK
 The Record
 STAFF WRITER
WASHINGTON TWP. — It all happened in one inning.
After only one hit through its first seven at-bats, sixth-seeded Paramus Catholic (17-5) exploded with a five-run third inning en route to a 6-1 upset over No. 3 Immaculate Conception (22-2) on Saturday in the Bergen County softball tournament quarterfinals at Immaculate Heart.
"It's very important that we contribute one through nine," Paramus Catholic coach Frank Baldino said. "We just can't rely on one or two people in the lineup to hit. We've been working on just getting good, solid contact and working on things that will manufacture runs."
Paladins junior Brittany Mangan (Gold) led off the third with a solo home run. The hit seemed to ignite the Paladins' bench, sparking a flurry of hits.
"I think it just got us started," said senior outfielder Lauren Milligan (Gold), who went 3-for-4 with three singles. "Britt really needed that home run and we all just fed off that energy."
Senior Erin Trippi, Milligan and junior Christina Gonzalez hit consecutive singles to load the bases. After a fielder's choice kept one run from scoring, Trippi scored on a wild pitch and freshman Alyssa Neal hit a two-run double to make it 4-0.
Another run scored on an error, and what was a scoreless game now was in the Paladins' control.
"Other games, we haven't been hitting as much," Neal said. "But [Saturday] we really just broke through and hit a lot."
The Paladins were steadied by a brilliant pitching performance by freshman Samantha Buse, who pitched a complete game, allowing one run on four hits.
"She was sort of like the driver of the bus," Baldino said. "She's not just going along for the ride."

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