DiMeglio’s homer exemplifies Spartans’ clutch program
If freshman Gia DiMeglio never gets another hit in a Spartan uniform, she will still forever occupy a cherished place in the annals of Steinert softball lore.
This was the most lasting impression from a memorable afternoon of softball when four area teams competed in the New Jersey state semifinals on Thursday.
As it turned out, Steinert (21-4) is now the only one of those four still standing after DiMeglio’s incredible three-run blast in the bottom of the seventh inning propelled her team to a thrilling 4-2 victory over Burlington Township in a Group III semifinal.
Incredibly it came with two outs and two strikes on DiMeglio. Incredible because according to Steinert’s statistics, No. 9 batter DiMeglio had only four singles to show for the entire year and it would be a good bet some of those were bunts.
What the home run also did was exemplify how this Steinert program has shown an uncanny ability to come through in the clutch. The Spartans on Saturday will be playing in their fourth state championship game in the last six seasons and are shooting for a third title in that time frame.
While it was a rally for the ages for Steinert on its home field, it was also a very difficult loss for a Burlington Township (18-4) that was fresh off its first sectional title in program history.
An impressively large contingent of Township fans showed up for this one and were delighted with the way their team led the entire game. The entire game, that is, until the very last pitch that left many in the crowd staring at the field in disbelief of what had just happened.
Led by its excellent junior shortstop Tyler Douglas, look for Township to rise significantly when The Trentonian publishes its final rankings in two weeks.
In the meantime, it must be remarked Township’s loss was part of a disappointing day overall for Burlington County. The biggest blow, of course, was Bordentown’s outstanding 24-2 season coming to an end when it lost to Haddon Heights and its freshman phenom fireballer Sophia Bordi, 3-0, in a Group II semifinal.
Bordi ended up striking out 19 and getting the win when Bordentown suffered a defensive breakdown in the top of the eighth inning.
It was a tough way to go for the Scotties, whose only other loss was to the state’s top-ranked Donovan Catholic in the finals of the Hammonton Tournament. It was especially rough on the seniors, who will never get to experience the joy of winning a state title despite being part of what was clearly one of the best teams in the entire state.
The other area team to fall on Thursday was New Egypt, which plays in the Burlington County Scholastic League, but is actually located in Ocean County.
The end of the line for Central Jersey champion New Egypt came in a 5-0 loss to Clayton in a Group I semifinal. It was certainly no disgrace there because a Clayton team coached by the personable Joe Moore was the defending champion and is one of the strongest Group I teams since the New Egypt powerhouses that produced five state titles.
Although Bordentown and Burlington Township came up short, there was the sense Burlington County softball made a bit of a comeback this year. A Northern Burlington team that had a nice run in the C.J. Group IV bracket and Lenape (17-3) were two more examples of Burlco teams that impressed this year.
On the other hand, other than Bordentown in 2019, no Burlington County team has made a state final since Florence way back in 2007. This stands in stark contrast to Mercer County, which has now advanced at least one team to a state final every year since 2011. During that span Mercer County has produced eight state champions with Robbinsville leading the way with five. Steinert was also the Tournament of Champions winner in 2018.
Impressive stuff for sure, although nothing will ever top the 2006 season. In that year Notre Dame (Parochial A), Allentown (Group II) and New Egypt (Group I) all won state titles and Steinert was second in Group IV. What’s more, Peddie was an absolute powerhouse that year and won its state title.
And this doesn’t even include whatever was going on in Pennsylvania where Pennsbury was in the midst of its incredible string of seven straight district titles and Conwell-Egan was mowing down the opposition behind the pitching of one of the area’s all-time greats in Angel Bunner.
Before heading off to Auburn, Bunner set school records that still stand in shutouts (38) and strikeouts (818).
In any event, although there have been more bountiful years for area teams in the New Jersey state tournament, this year was pretty darn good.
Not to be forgotten was the way Notre Dame gave Donovan Catholic all it could handle and was furious after the game because of a critical out call on a tag
play in which the Irish felt there was no tag at all.
PENNSY UPDATE
In addition to Steinert, three area Pennsylvania teams are still alive and are scheduled to begin state tournament play on Monday. Pennsbury (Class 6A) and Conwell-Egan (Class 2A) will open at home while the site of the game for Villa Joe Marie (Class 4A) has yet to be announced.
For the first time, many of the first round games of PIAA states will be played on the home fields of the higher seeds. This suggests the PIAA is either too lazy to find neutral fields or thinks it might take in more money in ticket sales by having one of the teams host.
Although Pennsbury came up short on Thursday in the district final against North Penn, it hardly means it was a bad thing in terms of the Falcons’ state title hopes. For some reason winning the District 1 Class 6A title almost seems like a curse as there’s been a long history of teams that won it and then stumbled in states.
Perhaps it’s because winning District 1 Class 6A is as tough or
even more difficult that winning the state title. As such, taking a second in the district often works out in a team’s favor.
No one knows this better than former Neshaminy coach Dave Chichilitti, who just finished up a strong 17-4 season in his first year as the Bristol coach. In two years when his Neshaminy teams finished second in the districts, they went onto the state championship game in one season and the semifinals in another.
Similarly, North Penn is the defending Class 6A state champion and last year it didn’t even make the district final.
Pennsbury will play at home on Monday against District 3 runner-up Manheim Township and Conwell-Egan will host District 11 champion Williams Valley, the team that just knocked out Bristol.
Villa Joe, meanwhile, will take on District 12 runner-up Science Leadership of the Philadelphia Public League. Yes, this is the same Science Leadership that two weeks ago listed one of its players as having 42 hits in 44 at bats.
Show mercy Villa Joe, show mercy.