As threatening thunderstorms held off last Saturday, the WHS softball team took the UTC final by storm and emerged from the game at Memorial Park in Linden with a 5-2 victory over Governor Livingston.

Starting at bat as the guest team on a neutral field, WHS had a strong first inning. With two players on base, senior Shannon Schaefer doubled allowing both Chambliss and Ferraro to score. “It was intense, I mean I was really nervous because this was our last county game and you always want to come out with a bang,” commented Schaefer after the game. The team sure did come out with bang, entering the bottom half of the first inning with a 2-0 lead.

The two teams battled it out during the second and third innings until WHS gained a run at the top of the fourth. With senior Tri-Captain and pitcher Elena Scarano on the mound and totaling six strikeouts by the fourth inning, WHS was doing well both offensively and defensively. “We had a really good defense for the entire game which kept everything solid and our offense was really awesome too,” said Scarano.

The Blue Devils seemed to be unstoppable, but GL fought back offensively, turning up the heat in the fifth by snatching up two quick runs to make the score 3-2. With a dwindling lead, victory remained questionable until an impressive diving catch in left field made by senior Rebecca Kaufman ended the inning. “Just making those really crucial plays in the outfield, like Becca Kaufman making great catches out there… things like that just really make a difference,” explained Scarano.

In the sixth and seventh innings the girls stepped up their game, scoring two more runs and shutting down the GL offense to make the final score 5-2. “When the other team started hitting and getting on base more, we definitely wanted to answer back and get those runs to shut them out,” said Schaefer.
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“We’ve already beaten [GL] twice before, that being said I think that today we proved that we are the better team,” said Coach Caitlin MacDonald. The Union County champions will continue on with their season, playing in the first round of Sectionals tomorrow at 4 p.m. at home.