Mustangs put focus on winning state title
BY SHAWN LAYTON
Staff Writer

ISELIN - The top-seeded John F. Kennedy High School softball team fell a game short of reaching the title game with a 1-0 loss to No. 5 South Plainfield last week in the Greater Middlesex Conference Tournament semifinals.

While its quest for a county title came to an end, Kennedy is still very much in the hunt for a North Jersey Section II Group 3 title.

Kennedy was scheduled to square off against Scotch Plains in the semifinals of the Group III state tournament earlier this week with a potential rematch against South Plainfield in the finals. South Plainfield advanced to the semis with a quarterfinal win over Millburn and was scheduled to meet the other semifinalist Mendham on Tuesday.

"I don't have the words to describe the disappointment we felt after losing to South Plainfield," Kennedy head coach Nancy Cuntala said. "We had opportunities every inning, but we just didn't execute when we had our chances."

Kennedy's Allison Greaney and South Plainfield's Jennifer Little battled in a classic pitchers' duel. Greaney scattered seven hits, walked one, and struck out eight while Little scattered eight hits, walked two, and fanned eight.

South Plainfield broke the scoreless tie with two outs in the eighth inning behind Kelly Downes' RBI double.

"South Plainfield didn't do much offensively the entire game," Cuntala said. "You have to give them credit for stepping up and taking advantage when the opportunity presented itself."

While Greaney and Little's pitching lines look nearly identical, Little consistently battled through jams to keep her opponent scoreless and record the win.

"She pitched a great game," Cuntala said. "She pitched with runners on every inning and always kept her cool. We hit balls right at people and none of our hits were clustered, which is a credit to South Plainfield and Little's pitching."

Kennedy reached the semis with an 18-0 mercy-rule win over Dunellen in the quarterfinal round and followed this win with a 1-0 victory over Morristown in the quarterfinal round of the North Jersey Section II Group 3 tournament.

Greaney gave the team another solid pitching performance to record the win. She allowed Morristown just four hits while walking none and striking out 11.

Kennedy went ahead in the first inning behind Becky Castelucci's two-out RBI single that plated Carly Jimenez. Jimenez reached base on a single and was moved into scoring position on a sacrifice.

"Greaney pitched an excellent game," Cuntala said. "Fortunately she was able to shut Morristown down the whole game and the one run was enough for us."

The Mustangs are looking to make a second trip to the sectional finals in as many years. The team lost in last year's final to Allentown, 3-0. Allentown eventually went on to win the group title as well.

"The girls have to put Saturday's disappointment behind them and see that a championship is still out there for the taking," Cuntala said. "After Scotch Plains knocked our baseball team out of the state tournament we now have the opportunity to uphold the honor of our school with a win."