SP-F Softball Faces Tough Opponent in Union, Loses 8-0

 The Scotch Plains-Fanwood High softball team was up against it Thursday afternoon, facing, arguably, the best pitcher in Union County in Union senior left hander Amanda Kardys.

That meant Raider junior righty Amanda White had to do her best to match Kardys' zero for zero for her team to have any kind of shot at pulling off an upset.

After yielding an unearned run in the bottom of the first, White had to deal with bases loaded and nobody out. She did a great job of bearing down at that point and retired the next three batters in a row on a foul out, a pop up and a ground out to keep Scotch Plains down by only one run.

It was the brightest moment for Scotch Plains, which went on to fall to Union 8-0 in Union County Conference-Watchung Division play at Union High School.

The visiting Raiders fell to 5-7 overall and 2-2 in the Watchung Division, while Union improved to 10-3 overall and is now 5-0 and in first place in the Watchung Division.

White did not pitch badly at all for Scotch Plains. She limited one of the top three teams in the county to eight hits in six innings. White (5-7) did not strike out a batter, walked one and hit one batter.

While Kardys, who tossed a two-hitter that included 14 strikeouts and no walks, put up seven zeros, White did well to put up three, shutting out Union in the third, fourth and sixth innings, including a perfect sixth on a pop up and two ground outs.

"I think this was one of her better games," first-year Scotch Plains head coach Jess Hulnik said.

Scotch Plains made some nice plays in the field, but committed five errors, including three in the first inning. Of the eight runs White gave up, only four were earned.

"To win games you need to have offense, defense and pitching all on the same page," Hulnik said. "Today, it wasn't there. She (Kardys) was on and we were a little off in some other respects."

Kardys improved to 9-3 this year and now has a lifetime record of 52-18 (.743), which includes a 9-6 mark her freshman season in 2007, a 16-4 record her sophomore year in 2008 and an 18-5 mark her junior year in 2009.

She was the winning pitcher last year in the Union County Tournament and North 2, Group 4 championship games. Kardys is also the winningest pitcher in Union County over the last four years.

Ranked No. 1 academically in her senior class, she will continue pitching on the Division 3 level at Emory University in Atlanta, Ga. Kardys will be enrolled in the School of Medicine there and her major will be pre-med.

"Taking nothing away from Kardys, but I don't feel that we had our best today," Hulnik said.

Scotch Plains got its hits in the first and second inning. Freshman third baseman Christine Monroy hit a hard shot into left field for a single with two outs in the top of the first. Junior catcher Courtney Zyla connected on an opposite field triple to right, with the ball going over the right fielder's head and then spinning away.

Kardys struck out the next three Raider batters after Zyla's triple. She retired eight in a row before a Union infield error and then retired five more in a row before Union's second and final error, which also came in the infield.

Kardys was perfect in the third, fifth and seventh innings, including striking out the side in the seventh.

"I hope that when we see them again we challenge them more," Hulnik said.

The teams will play in Scotch Plains in conference play on May 11 at 4 p.m.

They could also be matched up in a UCT game. The county tournament will be seeded May 2.

Union took the lead for good in the first inning at 1-0 when leadoff batter Heather Baumann - who reached on an infield error - scored as the result of another infield error.

Union No. 3 batter Allie Davis - who went 3-for-4, with three singles - delivered a two-run single in the second to make it 3-0 and then Kardys drove in the fourth run with a single to center. Union's fifth run scored as the result of an infield error.

The Farmers added their final three runs in the bottom of the fifth. Baumann hit an RBI-double for the sixth run and then the final two came in as the result of an infield throwing error.

"The errors are going to happen, but I feel that we're solid all the way around," Hulnik said. "Maybe we got it all out of our system today, I hope."

Monroy made a fine play at third base for the final out in the bottom of the sixth that even drew applause from the Union fans sitting almost parallel to her. On a hard hit ground ball to her left, Monroy moved quickly with her glove, snared the ball and then threw to first for the 5-3 assist. Monroy also did well to catch a couple of line drives at the hot corner.

NOTES: Scotch Plains will next play in the Linden Classic Saturday, which also includes host Linden and Essex County powers Nutley and Montclair.

Linden did not win its first game until Tuesday and entered Thursday's competition with a 1-8 mark, despite having two of its three pitchers back from a 20-10 season a year ago.   

UNION COUNTY CONFERENCE-WATCHUNG DIVISION GAME

SCOTCH PLAINS (5-7)                   0   0   0     0   0   0     0 - 0  2  5

UNION (10-3)                                    1   4   0     0   3   0     x - 8  8  2

PITCHER OF RECORDS:

Scotch Plains - Amanda White, junior right hander (5-7).

Union - Amanda Kardys, senior lef hander, (9-3). 

SCOTCH PLAINS-FANWOOD RAIDERS

(5-7, 2-2 in UCC-Watchung Division)

April 1 (A) Scotch Plains 20, Plainfield 1

Cougar Classic at Cranford's Adams Avenue Field

April 3 (A) Cranford 4, Scotch Plains 3

April 3 (A) Scotch Plains 14, Ridge 4

April 5 (H) Bridgewater-Raritan 16, Scotch Plains 0

April 8 (H) Elizabeth 17, Scotch Plains 6

April 10 (A) South Plainfield 14, Scotch Plains 2

April 12 (A) Scotch Plains 7, Kent Place 4

April 16 (A) Scotch Plains 16, Westfield 7

Villa Walsh Tournament in Morristown

April 17 (A) Park Ridge 7, Scotch Plains 3

April 17 (A) Morristown-Beard 6, Scotch Plains 4

April 20 (A) Scotch Plains 15, Roselle 0

April 22 (A) Union 8, Scotch Plains 0

Overall record: 5-7

UCC-Watchung Division mark: 2-2

Wins: Plainfield, Westfield. Losses: Elizabeth, Union.

REMAINING SCHEDULE:

April 24 Linden Classic

Scotch Plains vs. Montclair, 1 p.m.

Linden vs. Nutley, 1 p.m.

Scotch Plains vs. Nutley, 3 p.m.

Linden vs. Montclair, 3 p.m.

April 26 at Bayonne, 4 p.m.

April 27 at Rahway, 4 p.m.

April 29 Linden, 4 p.m.

April 30 Plainfield, 4 p.m.

May 4 at Elizabeth, 4 p.m.

May 7 Westfield, 4 p.m.

May 11 Union, 4 p.m.

May 13 Rahway, 4 p.m.

May 14 at Linden, 4 p.m.

May 18 at Union Catholic, 4 p.m.

May 20 Roselle Park, 4 p.m.

HEAD COACH: Jess Hulnik, first year

Last year in Linden Classic:

Nutley 8, Scotch Plains 3. Montclair 2, Linden 0.

Montclair 6, Scotch Plains 0. Nutley 1, Linden 0.