After starting season 2-12, Perth Amboy softball rallies for GMC Invitational title

SPOTSWOOD — Perth Amboy captured the championship it didn't want to win on Monday.

Make no mistake, the Panthers were euphoric and celebrated their 6-4 come-from-behind victory over J.F. Kennedy for the Greater Middlesex Conference Invitational Tournament title with all the fervor and passion one might expect.

But there was a sour after taste to this title because Perth Amboy would have preferred to have not participated in this tournament at all, having set its collective sights on the GMCT, which was won by South Plainfield on Saturday.

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“It’s so bittersweet, I don’t believe that we belong here,” said Perth Amboy coach Patty Bennett, who accepted that its two, one-run losses to Edison left it in fourth place in the GMC Blue Division and the 17th seed in the 16-team GMCT field. “Coming into this I knew we were going to take it. It was up to them. What is sad is I believe we belonged in the GMC, but we came on too late in the season.”

This was quite an unusual contest inasmuch as, despite yielding four runs, Perth Amboy’s Nicole Cepeda and Brianna Estevez combined for a no-hitter. Five walks and a hit batter in succession provided the Mustangs with a one-run advantage for most of the contest.

“I knew I was going to do my job once I stepped on that mound,” said Estevez, who took over in the second with the bases loaded and one out in the second and promptly walked in a run. “I wasn’t going to let the other team and us being down dictate how I was going to pitch. I was going to go out there and I was going to dominate until the very end and I was going to take that W in the circle.”

Top-seeded Perth Amboy (12-11), which lost eight of its first nine outings, had to rally for three runs in the sixth inning to extend its winning streak to five games. Estevez, who was intentionally walked in her first two at bats, drove in the tying run with a single and scored the go-ahead run on a throwing error after Edith Luciano was caught in a rundown between third and home.

“I was getting ready and warming myself up for that possibility of me being able to hit as well, getting my mind mentally and physically ready,” said Estevez, who was fearing another intentional walk as she waited in the on-deck circle in the sixth. “Knowing that I had girls on base I just wanted to put the ball in play any type of way that I could contribute, whether it was moving the runners. I wasn’t worried about me, myself, getting a hit.”

Kennedy (7-14), which has won five out of seven, put runners on second and third with one out in the seventh but Estevez clamped down with her fifth and sixth strikeouts in relief to close out the affair.

She also had to face her former teammate and close friend Marialys Ricourt in the seventh, a nerve-wracking proposition in itself.

“It was hard. Yes, she is my best friend, but I’ve got to do my job on the mound,” Estevez explained. “At the end of the day, she’ll always be my friend and we’ll cherish this moment being on the field together.”

The Mustangs’ Courtney Paulikas spotted Perth Amboy three runs without a hit in the first inning, then blanked the Panthers for four frames before the winning rally in the sixth.

“It was 4-3 for a long time, we finally started getting some hits and then stellar and smart base-running,” said Bennett, who started her No. 3 pitcher because she figured it would be tougher for the White Division opponent to adjust to.

“We were 2-12 on May 2 and these kids just kept coming to practice, hearing our message, believing in each other, really enjoying playing softball and it’s just been a great experience,” said Kennedy coach Maureen Gallagher, noting all but two players return. “We really want to build on what we’ve established and the culture and I’m just really proud of them for showing up for each other and showing up for Kennedy.”

This is the second GMCIT title for Estevez, who won it with Ricourt as freshmen. She, too, would have preferred the limelight of the GMCT.

“It was in the beginning,” she said of the disappointment of not being selected for the big tournament. “We wanted to have the experience of playing against really good pitching, if we want to get better. Taking that opportunity of being in the Invitational bracket, being the No. 1 seed, we knew that we were going to take it, no matter what. I’m just glad that we were able to come here and win a title.”

This article originally appeared on MyCentralJersey.com: After starting season 2-12, Perth Amboy softball rallies for GMC Invitational title