East Windsor 12-Year-Olds in State Finals

Take a bow, members of the East Windsor 12-year-old softball team. You deserve it.

Oh, wait a minute. You already did.

East Windsor rallied for four runs in the bottom of the sixth to defeat Hammonton, 7-6, on Friday night to earn a spot in the state final on July 17.

"The parents were just going crazy," East Windsor Manager Bill Giampolo noted. "After their winning rally, the girls lined up in front of the parents, held each other's hands and took a bow."

It was that kind of a performance.

"We were down 6-3, had two outs and just one runner on base," Giampolo said. "We were definitely worried about losing the game."

A loss would have put East Windsor in a position where it needed to win three games in a row to earn the state title. As it stands now, East Windsor can earn the title with a win on July 17. Even if East Windsor loses, as the only team without a loss in the double-elimination event, it will get another chance at the title on July 18. East Windsor will face the winner of Pequannock and Hammonton for the state title.

In the semifinals on Friday, Sam Castro was pinch running for Kylie Olsen (single) with two outs in the sixth. Angela Giampolo walked and Ally Huelbig singled to load the bases. A single by Holly Bridgman scored a run and left the bases loaded. Nicolette Garthe then delivered a two-run single to center to tie the game.

"That was such a relief," Bill Giampolo said. "At that point, we knew we were at least going to extra innings."

Brighid Douglas made sure extra innings weren't needed with a hit over the center fielder's head to end the game.

"This win is a good sign that this team is resilient and has heart," Bill Giampolo said. "It's not like anyone ever gave up or thought they were definitely going to lose."

East Windsor opened the tournament with a 14-0 win over Lodi, the host of the event, on Thursday.

Sam Dolan tossed a no-hitter on the mound. Dolan also had two hits. Garthe was 3-for-3. Chrissy Mayer also had two hits.

The two victories put East Windsor a win away from where it left off two years ago. This group of girls won the state title as 10-year-olds and couldn't advance any further than that. If it should win either July 17 or 18, East Windsor will head on to the regionals in Bristol, Conn.

"It feels good to be back to this point again," Bill Giampolo said. "You have to go through the whole process again. There's a lot of work involved in getting here. We still have one more game to win, so we don't want to start thinking about the regions yet."

The girls will just take a bow and worry about putting on another great show.