Raritan Falls One Win Short of Final as Allentown Walks Off in Seventh

ALLENTOWN — This time of year, teams must be nearly perfect to continue advancing toward the ultimate goal of winning a state championship. Giving opponents extra opportunities can end a season in an instant, and that proved costly for Raritan as Allentown capitalized late to earn a 4-3 victory and advance to the Central Jersey Group 2 final.

Top-seeded Allentown scored two runs in the bottom of the seventh inning to end Raritan’s season. Trailing 3-2, Riley Daly led off the inning with a single to center field and stole second base during the next at-bat. Following a Raritan error, the Redbirds had runners on first and third with one out when Katelyn Franckowiak delivered an RBI single to center, scoring Daly, and tying the game.

With runners on the corners, Ava Centanni hit a ground ball back to pitcher Lila Houlihan for the second out at first base. Savannah Barry, who had reached earlier on the error, broke halfway down the third-base line, drawing a throw from first baseman Brielle Brosonski to third. Barry then sprinted home and scored the winning run.

“It is not the result we wanted, but it does not take away from our season,” Raritan head coach Marc Rosner said. “We are proud of these girls. There is nobody else I’d want to coach. Whether it is winning or going down, there is no group of girls I’d rather go down with.”

Raritan spent most of the game battling from behind after surrendering two runs in the bottom of the second inning. The Rockets cut the deficit to 2-1 in the third when sophomore Madison Regiec reached on an error, allowing Payton Fleming to score.

“Control the controllables,” Rosner said. “We can not control how the strike zone is going. We can not control if a ball bloops in after a good pitch or if a player makes a really good play. All we can do is control the pitching, catching, hitting, throwing, and every aspect of the game.”

The Rockets threatened in the fifth inning, loading the bases with two outs, but were unable to bring home the tying run. They finally evened the score in the sixth when Brosonski launched a solo home run on an 0-2 pitch with two outs. Earlier in the game, she narrowly missed a two-run homer when a deep drive sailed just foul of the left-field foul pole.

Raritan appeared poised to complete the comeback in the top of the seventh, taking a 3-2 lead after capitalizing on an Allentown error. Fleming advanced to third after a throwing error by the shortstop was followed by another miscue from the first baseman attempting to throw to second. Regiec then drove in her second run of the game, attacking the first pitch she saw and lining a single into right-center field to score Fleming.

“Playing the schedule that we played all season, all year round helped us do that [come back],” Rosner said. “Playing teams out of conference and also our division was very competitive and was a division people kind of slept on during the season. We knew it was going to be a battle for seven innings today.”

Despite the loss, Raritan’s pitching staff kept the Rockets within striking distance throughout the game. Fleming worked the first 2⅔ innings before Houlihan entered in relief and pitched the final four innings. Together, they repeatedly escaped early trouble and prevented Allentown from building momentum offensively.

The Redbirds opened the bottom of the first inning by putting their first three batters on base. Fleming responded by getting cleanup hitter Savannah Barry to pop up for an infield fly before inducing a fielder’s choice groundout. She then battled back from a 3-0 count to record the final out on a deep fly ball to center field.

“Payton [Fleming] did a really good job getting some big outs early,” Rosner said. “Lila [Houlihan] did a fantastic job on the mound today in relief. She did a great job executing big pitches and keeping us in the game to give us a chance to win. I am proud of the efforts we had and the competitiveness.”

Raritan benefited from having three reliable pitchers throughout the season, with none exceeding 80 innings pitched. Houlihan led the staff with 78⅔ innings and 79 strikeouts, while Fleming threw 53⅓ innings and recorded 56 strikeouts. Sophomore Katelyn Ruta, the team’s primary starter a season ago, contributed 49⅔ innings and 48 strikeouts.

“I think having the different pitchers helped us get through the season,” Rosner said. “I think in different parts of the season Lila was very good early and Peyton was consistent all the way through and Katelyn [Ruta] had some really great games and helped us share the division championship with Holmdel by pitching well against Wall.”

Although the Rockets’ season ended one win short of a sectional final appearance, the future remains bright. Raritan started just one senior in the semifinal lineup, catcher Isabella Garcia, and will return all three pitchers along with four hitters who finished the season batting above .400. Still, Rosner reminded his team that postseason success can never be taken for granted.

“You don’t want to take any opportunity for granted,” Rosner said. “We have the core coming back next season, but getting back to the semifinals is not easy. You can get back here and we can go further and have the capabilities of doing that. We just cannot take these opportunities for granted because you never know when they can come and when they might not be there anymore.”