By Bob Badders - Senior Writer
TOMS RIVER -- Winning state titles is not something that is expected at Mater Dei, it's something that is dreamed about. Heading into Saturday, the Seraphs had few championships to their credit as a school and none for the softball team. As one of the smallest schools in the state and the smallest in the Shore Conference, Mater Dei is a perennial underdog. Not any more.
With the softball team's first ever NJSIAA state title on the line, the Seraphs put the finishing touches on the best season in school history by blasting four-time defending champion Montclair Kimberley Academy, 11-2, in the Non-Public B title game at Toms River North. The Seraphs' offense exploded with 11 hits and 11 runs against the Cougars with senior right-hander Sara Cline leading the way both in the circle and at the plate. She allowed two runs over seven innings with two strikeouts and went 2-for-4 at the plate with two doubles and five RBI.
"This is even more unbelievable than the last game," said Cline in comparison to knocking off St. Joseph-Hammonton in the Non-Public South B final when the Wildcats were ranked No. 1 in the state. "We came in knowing they had won four in a row and to win, it's just unreal. In my senior year I would have never thought something like this would happen. Not a year ago, or two years ago and not even two weeks ago."
"It's never been done before and just to be a part of it is extremely exciting," said junior centerfielder Danielle Murphy, who went 3-for-3 with three runs scored. "In the beginning of the season I knew we could do great things but coming this far is just unbelievable."
The Seraphs have played plenty of close games against the top teams in the state this season. They took Non-Public A champion Red Bank Catholic to nine innings before losing 1-0. They beat Wall 1-0 in the Monmouth County Tournament semifinals and then beat St. Joseph-Hammonton to win their first sectional title. Mater Dei knew it had what it took to play and win a tight game, but Saturday's contest was completely the opposite of what everyone expected.
The Cougars, known for their hard-hitting lineup led by Andrea Huelsenbeck, took a 1-0 lead in the top of the first when Huelsenbeck delivered an RBI double. A 1-0 deficit in softball can be daunting in most games. This wasn't won of those games. The Seraphs answered in the bottom of the first when senior third baseman Tess Gagliano scored from third on a play where she was caught off third base by the catcher but scampered home when the throw to third got away. From there it was all Seraphs.
They took the lead in the third inning when the first five batters reached base and helped forge a 5-1 advantage. Gagliano, who reached base three times and scored three runs, was hit by a pitch to start the inning. Murphy followed with a single that moved Gagliano to third and senior shortstop Lauren Florio walked to load the bases. Cline then came through with her first big hit of the day, a booming double to deep center field that plated two runs for a 3-1 lead. Senior catcher Erin Carroll completed the barrage with a two-run single for a commanding four-run lead.
"I was really surprised we were scoring that much, but our bats were hot," Cline said. "We were finding the ball and putting it in play. We had been having trouble doing that lately so to come through was big."
"When we took the lead off Sara's double all the sudden you could see we believed we could hit and score runs, and everything started to take off," said Seraphs head coach Jeanne Dickinson.
The bats remained hot in the fourth inning when Gagliano walked with one out and Murphy doubled to put runners on second and third. Florio then singled through the hole between third base and shortstop to score Gagliano and extend the lead to 6-1. Cline grounded out to second to plate Murphy for her third RBI and a 7-1 advantage.
"After winning the game to get here we all felt a lot more comfortable," Murphy said. "When the bats got going they couldn't stop us."
In the fifth inning, Huelsenbeck singled, went to second on an error, then to third on an error and scored on another fielding miscue to cut the Seraphs' lead to 7-2. The response from Mater Dei was quick, however. Senior rightfielder Lauren McKeown led off the bottom of the fifth with a single, was moved to second on a sacrifice bunt by Maggie Fermo, advanced to third on an error and scored on a wild pitch with a brilliant head-first hook slide.
The lead was pushed to 11-2 in the bottom of the sixth inning. Murphy doubled again to lead off the inning and went to third when Florio singled for her third hit of the game. Florio moved to second on defensive indifference and both her and Murphy scored when Cline ripped her second two-run double of the game. Two batters later, McKeown grounded to first to bring home Cline for an 11-2 lead.
The anticipation built heading into the top of the seventh as the Seraphs were just three outs away from making school history. After allowing a leadoff single, Cline got out No. 1 on a force out at second. Florio then made a nice pickup at shortstop and threw to first for the second out. The game and Mater Dei's dream season ended fittingly. Huelsenbeck hit a hard line drive to right that looked to be her fourth hit of the game. But McKeown, who already had two outfield assists in the game, used her strong arm to fire to first and nip the runner to set off the biggest celebration ni the program's history.
"As the underdogs we thrive on the insult, on the fact that everybody always counts us out," Cline said. "It's incredible. It's like, Mater Dei just won a state title? It's confusing and amazing at the same time, it's indescribable. I couldn't have picked a better way to end my career."
"They will have a lot of good memories from high school but this is something they will never forget," Dickinson said. "I always made references to them about my 1984 team that went 20-2, made it to the Shore Conference Tournament semifinals and to the state (sectional) final. They always asked me if they were as good as 1984. They're better and I couldn't be prouder."
Box Score
Montclair Kimberley Academy (19-8) 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 - 2 9 4
Mater Dei (22-4) 1 0 4 2 1 3 X - 11 11 6
Doubles: (MKA) Andrea Huelsenbeck 2;
(MD) Danielle Murphy 2, Sara Cline 2.
WP: Sara Cline (21-4)
LP: Molly Herforth (13-6).
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