Sports
Galloway Storm's Season Ends in State Final
The Babe Ruth 14-and-under softball team fell to Willingboro, 5-2.
The Galloway Township Storm won the Babe Ruth 14-under district championship and made it to the State Tournament championship series with outstanding defense, steady pitching and timely hitting.
However, the Storm's summer run ended against Willingboro on Monday night in Egg Harbor Township with a 5-2 loss.
"To tell you the truth I didn't think at first they were going to do
too much, but they proved me wrong by practicing hard and picking up a lot of what I said in practices," Storm coach Joe Pietropola said.
"They came out and won games from behind, they showed character.
They're a good group of kids."
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"It has been hard but it has been fun," Taylor Martin said. "We all
contributed a lot to this team and we are all so supportive of each
other."
The team admittedly didn't play its best against Willingboro, which
advanced to the regional tournament.
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The Storm made too many errors and base running mistakes to overcome a talented team like Willingboro.
"This was really the first game we made a lot of mistakes in the
field," Pietropola said. “Our fielding has been solid in both
tournaments we have played in. This is the first game we didn't field
all that well."
He added: "We made too many mistakes tonight that cost us. It was one of those kind you hate to lose that way, but it happens."
"I guess we just weren't on today," Martin said.
The Storm took a 1-0 lead in the first inning, as Darby Langel scored on an RBI single by Evelyn Rodriguez.
After Willingboro tied the game at 1-1 in the bottom of the second,
Alexis O'Brien put the Storm up 2-1, scoring on a bases loaded walk by Destiny Willis.
The Storm's defense let themselves down in the second inning, as
Willingboro scored two runs on errors to take a 3-2 lead.
Galloway was unable to answer the rest of the game. Twice the Storm
gave up outs, as runners were doubled off on fly outs.
The Storm's Amanda Ventura and Alyssa Brady both had two hits.
Despite the disappointing ending, the Storm were satisfied with their
performance this summer.
"It was a lot of fun," Ventura said. "We all did well and played our best."
