High Point wins first H/W/S softball title since 2014

Grace Meyers of High Point had a day she won’t soon forget.

The senior righthander totaled 168 pitches, twirling a four-hitter with 14 strikeouts and also delivered a two-run single in the top of the 10th inning to help deliver the sixth-seeded High Point softball team to a 5-3 victory over fourth-seeded Phillipsburg in the championship game of the Hunterdon/Warren/Sussex Tournament on Tuesday, May 12, at the Phillipsburg Athletic Complex in Phillipsburg.

The championship is the third overall for the Lady Wildcats in the tournament’s 16-year history. High Point, which last appeared in the final two years ago, won the event previously in 2012 and 2014.

High Point and Phillipsburg each scored a run in the first and second innings, respectively, and the game remained knotted, 1-1, through eight innings.

Daphne Mathews (2-for-5, beat out an infield single with one out in the ninth and came into score on a hard-hit single by Karli Matthews (2-for-4, double, walk, RBI) that was played for an error in the outfield as High Point took a 2-1 lead.

Phillipsburg answered with a run with two out in the bottom of the frame to tie the score, 2-2.

Joelle Lucatorto (2-for-5, double, walk, run, stolen base, run) hammered a one-out RBI single in the top of the 10th and was followed by Meyers, who delivered a two-run single to right to extend High Point’s lead to 5-2.

Phillipsburg, benefitting from the runner on second base due to international tie breaker rules, loaded the bases but Meyers induced an RBI ground out and another ground out to end the game and earn High Point’s first title in 12 years.

The nearly three-hour contest was a culmination of a tournament that saw the Lady Wildcats defeat 11th-seeded Hackettstown, 10-0, in the second round, third-seeded Pope John, 7-5, in the quarterfinals and second-seeded North Hunterdon, 6-4, in the semifinal round.

Meyers, who was named the tournament MVP, finished with 41 strikeouts in 30 innings in going 4-0 in four starts.

High Point (15-5), under the direction of head coach James Seck, was scheduled to conclude its regular season slate with a home against Whippany Park on Thursday, May 21 at 4:30 p.m.

Outdoor Track

Daniel Elston won gold in the pole vault with an effort of 13-6 and Gabriella Vega was second in the triple jump (34-3.25) and pole vault (9-0) to pace the High Point outdoor track team at the NJSIAA North Jersey, Section 1, Group 2 championships on May 15-16 at Vernon Township High School.

Vega was also fifth in the long jump with an effort of 17-4.5 and Gianna Kimkowski placed sixth in the pole vault with an effort of 8-0.

Also placing in the top six for the High Point boys were Brendon Lehman, who was third in the 100-meter dash (11.13) and fifth in the 200-meter dash (22.44) and Giovoughni Dureny, who was third in the pole vault (13-0).

The overall Group 2 championships are scheduled at Northern Burlington High on May 29-30.