Sports
Lacey Storm Surge To Championship
The 16U girl's fastpitch softball team hosted and won their Summer Storm tournament
The Lacey Storm 16U fastpitch softball team captured the Summer Storm tournament championship Aug 7, beating the Brick Bombers 2-1 at Gille Park.
In their first game, in the second round at , the Storm was trailing 2-1 to the Toms River Tornadoes going into the final inning.
The Storm had its last chance when Alyssa Smialowicz walked into the batters box. She started the rally by smacking a base hit into the gap. Paula Szczypinski sacrifice bunted, moving Smialowicz to second base. Morgan Walizer added fuel to the fire by knocking another base hit into the gap.
Jenna Fleck sacrificed, advancing Smialowicz to third base. The pressure was on Jenna Giesinger, who was down in the count early. Giesinger hit a hard grounder and the ball ricocheted off the Tornado’s second basemen's glove and rolled into shallow center field, scoring two runs.
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The Storm won 3-2 and advanced to the final round against the Brick Bombers.
After the game, manager Frank Santoro told his team, "This is why we never give up, this is why we give 110 percent, for games like this.”
At Gille Park, the championship game got off to a fast start, the Storm took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning. The Bombers then tied it up in the top of the third. The game quieted down from there, as it became a pitching duel. Storm hurler Morgan Walizer silenced the Bomber crowd with three innings of no runs and no hits allowed.
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The last run occurred in the bottom of the fifth inning when Brick had a lapse in concentration. There were two outs and one on first base. A wild pitch advanced the Storm to second base. Then a base hit into deep left field brought the runner home, making it 2-1. The Storm never looked back from there as Lacey captured the championship.
“Everyone in this tournament is evenly matched, there are no huge standouts, and every one of these girls can compete well on any team,” Santoro said.
This was a single elimination tournament and six teams throughout Ocean County competed.
The 16U games were played at Lacey Township High School, Gille Park and Huffy Wallice Park. Seeding took place on Saturday evening, with the Lacey storm being ranked high enough to receive a first round bye.
For more information on this tournament you can visit the team’s website.
