Sterling Defeats Top Seed to Claim Title

The top two teams of the South Jersey Group 2 softball tournament were on a collision course when the battle for the sectional title began. The number one seeded Lady Hawks from Haddon Township were hosting a very familiar opponent in the Lady Knights from Sterling. During the regular season, the Hawks were able to defeat their Colonial Conference opponents twice and they were looking for the sweep. Sterling would use this opportunity to put enough runs on the scoreboard and finally defeat Haddon Township when it really counted. The Knights rally during the fifth inning gave them a lead and they never looked back. Sterling would defeat the Hawks by a 9-4 score and claimed a well deserved title.

The Hawks didn’t waste much time scoring runs as they jumped ahead 2-0 when Amanda Sabatini’s knocked in the first runs of the game. This time, Sterling would respond during their top half of the second inning when Sammi Giambri stroked a two-run double to even this game up. Three innings later, the Knights took advantage of their situations and expanded their lead to 5-2. Starting pitcher Paige Cauley had a three run advantage and she did her part in keeping it that way. Sterling added onto their lead during the seventh inning which was highlighted by Stephanie Hulme’s two-run double. Haddon Township would score two runs during the last inning, but that rally would come up short allowing the Lady Knights to celebrate their title game victory.