Steinert finishes off Wall

WALL TWP. >> For the fourth time in the last five times the tournament has been played, the Steinert High School softball team has advanced into the Central Jersey Group III sectional final.

Picking up on a game that was suspended the day before, Steinert completed a 5-3 victory over Wall Township on Thursday.

Steinert will (18-4) will now play at Colts Neck (23-1) on Saturday for the sectional title. The game between Steinert and Colts Neck is scheduled for 11 a.m.

When the game was stopped on Wednesday, Steinert was ahead by the score of 4-2 and was batting with two outs in the fifth with nobody on base.

Steinert had taken a 2-1 lead in the second when Bella Truelove doubled, pitcher Isabella Bonacci singled, Ceara O’Neal stroked an RBI double and Wall committed an error.

Steinert added two more in the third on back-to-back home runs by Kelsey Smith and Truelove, whose homer was a monster blast in the 260-feet range.

When the game resumed on Thursday, Wall cut into the lead and make the score 4-3 after five innings. Steinert, however, was able to add an important insurance run in the sixth when Julia Hannawacker came through with an RBI fielders’ choice.

Pitcher Izzy Bonacci then finished off Wall from there to complete a seven-hitter in which she struck out nine. Truelove and O’Neal each finished with two hits to drop Wall to 19-7.

Steinert (18-4) 022 001 0 - 5 7 1 Wall (19-7) 100 110 0 - 3 7 3 WP-Bonacci. LP-Coppola. 2BNardone (S), Truelove (S), O’Neal (S), Betz (W), Glendenning (W). HR-Truelove, Smith (S)

COLTS NECK 4, ALLENTOWN 1

COLTS NECK >> The Redbirds almost pulled off a big upset and took the lead into the sixth, but Colts Neck (23-1) was able to score four times in the bottom of the inning.

Skyler LaFisca threw very well in defeat for Allentown with a five-hitter. Ava Metzger got the win with a three-hitter and 13 strikeouts. Cassidy Relay had two hits for the winners, who will host Steinert in the sectional final Saturday. Andie Murray had two of the Allentown hits.

Allentown (15-7) 000 001 0 - 1 3 0 Colts Neck (23-1) 000 004 x - 4 5 0 WP-Metzger. LP-LaFisca.