SOFTBALL
NorthJersey.com
EAST HANOVER − Camryn Sward watched for years as her older sister Peyton repeatedly made plays for Hanover Park softball. The Peyton even guided the Hornets to the Group 2 state final in 2022. With her older sister watching in the crowd, Camryn had a heroic moment of her own on June 11.
The sophomore's sacrifice fly in the bottom of the ninth inning scored junior Fiona Wang to give Hanover Park a 5-4 win over Jefferson in the Group 2 state semifinals on June 11.
"It just means so much," said Sward. "I saw her do everything and used it as inspiration. It's nice to have a chance at our own state championship like she did and follow in her footsteps."
Wang worked a leadoff walk to begin the Hanover Park ninth inning and reached second base on a passed ball. Wang made it to third base on a groundout by Gabby Carlucci to set the stage for Sward.
"I was just shocked," said Sward. "I knew that I hit it and watched it get caught. I turned and saw her score and just ran with everyone."
Jefferson (24-6) scored in the top of the first on a sacrifice fly by Kailey Strauch, but left the bases loaded in the frame. In the bottom of the inning, Tara DeFazio's RBI triple to left field tied the game at one. DeFazio later scored on a wild pitch to give the Hornets a 2-1 lead.
"[Kama Skrek] found her rhythm and she's really good," said head coach Sergio Rodriguez. "We didn't get another hit until that seventh inning. She did a phenomenal job of keeping us quiet for most of this game."
Jefferson answered right back with an RBI single from Gianna Licursi to tie the game at two in the top of the second. The score remained tied until the top of the sixth when Hanover Park intentionally walked Kama Skrek to face Madison Manco. Manco laced an RBI single, followed by Strauch hitting an RBI single of her own for a 4-2 Falcons lead.
"We play the toughest schedule in the state for a reason," said Rodriguez. "We are built for this. The game does not speed up for us and that mattered in a game like today."
Turning point
With three outs remaining in their season and trailing 4-2, Hanover Park rallied to score twice and force extra innings. Olivia Franco's RBI single scored Brooke Damurjan. As the ball skipped away at home plate, Sward scored from first base on the play to tie the game at four.
"I just made contact and tried to do my job," said Franco. "I saw the runs score and knew I was able to get it done."
Game ball
Wang began the Hanover Park rally with a double, the first hit for the Hornets since the first inning. Wang scored one of the two runs that tied the game and forced extra innings. The junior also would work a walk in the ninth inning that resulted in her scoring the winning run.
They said it
"We have never used age as an excuse when we lose or to prop ourselves up when we win. We don't have a senior. We return everyone next season, but we have been very fortunate with this group and know that nothing is guaranteed." - Rodriguez.
"We just had to keep the energy up. We knew we had that when we scored two runs in the first and we needed it again to score two in the seventh." - Sward.
Up next
Hanover Park (18-10) will face Gloucester City at Ivy Hill Park in the Group 2 state final on June 13. The Hornets last reached the group final in 2022 but have never won a group title in program history.