SP-F Suffers Loss to Cranford in UCT Quarterfinals

The ninth-seeded Scotch Plains-Fanwood varsity softball team has played very well at times this season, and they were hoping they could carry their positive play into the Union County Tournament quarterfinals against top-seeded Cranford.

But the Lady Cougars came out with a five-run first inning and never looked back on their way to a convincing 16-1 victory at Flanagan Field in Linden on Saturday.

Cranford senior righthander Kelly Hardman improved to 10-2 on the season, tossing a one-hitter in five innings of work, as Scotch Plains fell to 9-14.

"Right now, there were no bright spots today," said Scotch Plains coach Jess Hulnik. "We didn't play like we needed to play. We didn't do what we needed to do. There have been bright spots, but they weren't today." 

The Raiders started playing the Cougars Friday night, but the game was stopped at 6:25 p.m. by the home plate umpire because of thunder and lightning. Cranford had scored eight runs in the bottom of the first for a 8-0 lead over Scotch Plains at that point. The Raiders had a runner on second – Aysia Peterson, who was hit by a pitch – in the top of the second when their game was halted.

Scotch Plains will get another chance to turn the tables when the Raiders visit Cranford again on Tuesday in the first round of the state tournament.

"Hopefully, we'll approach it the first time we played them as opposed to today," Hulnik said. "We'll just have to see what happens. We'll get on the bus, have a little chat, and then go from there."

Back in early April, the Lady Raiders almost pulled off the upset when they lost 4-3 to Cranford in the Cougar Classic Tournament. They're hoping to play that well when Tuesday rolls around.

"We need all nine players who step on the field to play well," Hulnik said. "They need to step up and play like they're capable of playing."