Patriots' clutch play leads to a GMCT title
BY MIKE McDONALD
Staff Writer

This past Memorial Day weekend will certainly go down as one of the most memorable weekends for the Colonia High School softball team.

The Patriots, coached by Ann Cyrana, won a thrilling, eight-inning Greater Middlesex Conference Tournament semifinal game over Bishop Ahr on Saturday, then came back to knock off top-seeded Sayreville on Monday to collect the team's first GMCT title since 1990 on Monday.

The Colonia team seemed to take on a "never quit" mentality all weekend, as they continued to battle two of the top teams in the GMC.

"Everyone contributed. We play really well together as a team," said Cyrana.

Colonia was able to win Saturday's game against Bishop Ahr by doing all the little things that winning teams are able to do, like scoring two runs without getting a hit.

The Pats also perfectly executed a double-steal, and were extremely patient at the plate - most notably displayed in a 10-pitch walk with two outs in the eighth by Meghan Donoghue. It was her walk (which came after fouling off four pitches) that opened the door for Kate Pischetola, who hit a rocket to the Bishop Ahr second baseman, which could not be handled, and allowed the winning runs to score.

PHOTOS BY MIGUEL JUAREZ staff Above, Colonia's Kate Pischetola gets set to fire the ball to first base during the Patriots' win over South Brunswick in the GMCT quarterfinals on May 24 in South Plainfield. At left, JFK's Cristine Parker catches a fly ball during a win over South Plainfield.

Defensively, Adrian Rastocny pitched the best game of her young career, as the sophomore hurler struck out 10 batters and walked none.

Unfortunately an all-Woodbridge GMCT championship game never happened as John F. Kennedy lost to Sayreville, 1-0, in the other semifinal game on Saturday. Kennedy, which finished its season at an impressive 22-5 mark, just couldn't plate a run, while Sayreville was able to score the winning run in the seventh inning with a walk and a sacrifice fly.

Although it wasn't an all-Woodbridge matchup, the title game was still action-packed.

Colonia, who trailed by a score of 2-0 until the fifth inning, managed to tie the game in that inning, before scoring two more runs in the sixth inning. What made the two-run rallies most interesting was the fact that all four of the runs were scored with two outs.

What made the Patriots clutch play even more surprising was the fact that Colonia, during the season, was 2-7 in games decided by less than three runs.

The hero of the tournament was the senior, Pischetola. Although everyone on the team contributed in the postseason, it was her hit that kept Colonia in the game and kept the team's season alive. After she watched Sayreville pitch around Brittany Moore with two outs in the bottom of the fifth to put runners on first and second, Pischetola took an 0-2 pitch and drove the ball to knock in both runners, thus tying the game.

Then, in the sixth, it was Amy Ullrich and Tierney Markou who drove in Colonia's third and fourth runs of the game, while Rastocny kept Colonia in front with her magnificent pitching. After allowing two early runs, the team's star pitcher settled down and did not give up another run.

But as Cyrana said, everyone contributed the Pats' memorable run through the tournament, one which saw them knock off the top three seeds in succession down the stretch.

Kayla Santos and Jackie Torres both had successful sacrifice bunts, which proved to be pivotal to the team winning games. Amanda Reilly and Nicole Aquila were pinch runners who came around to score the two key runs in the championship game. Meghan Donoghue drew the key walk, which opened the door for Pischetola to drive her in and score the winning run in the win against Bishop Ahr. Brittany Morgan had a key single in the game against Bishop Ahr. Amy Ullrich's bloop single put Colonia up 3-2, a lead the team would never relinquish in the championship game. Tierney Markou drove in the team's fourth run of the championship game with two outs. Moore's reputation as a prolific slugger led to her being pitched around, which opened the door for Pischetola to drive her home.

Put it all together and you have a well-deserved championship for a team that did all the little things at the perfect time.