From locked out to the culmination of a great 1988 season

When we last left the Central Regional High School softball team, it was Wednesday, June 8, 1988, and the Golden Eagles had just scored three runs in the bottom of the seventh inning on Stacy Witfill and Monsignor Donovan to win the Ocean County Tournament in dramatic fashion, 3-2, at Toms River High School South.

It was truly one of those moments in time that showed those in attendance what the Golden Eagles' softball program was all about under coach Norm Selby -- the grit of a comeback victory and doing so without the panic that would dull that calmness this club exuded.

And so after the championship was over and the Golden Eagles had received the championship trophy from tournament director and Lakewood High softball coach Dave MacKelvey, you'd thought they'd have a little party on the bus as they immediately went back to Bayville to the school and party some more there, right?

Naaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!!!!

"Selby, you know we should just drive over to Donovan and do a lap around the school with the trophy!" Angel Slack told Selby. Normally, that would be an idea left to the side of the road after being laughed at during the moment. But these two teams were big-time rivals. Selby and assistant coach Gloria Garibaldi prided themselves on the program they built into a winner in the 1980s, first under previous coach Marshall Davenport. Selby and Garibaldi just enhanced it further. Johnny Come Latelys were frowned upon, especially when a new pitcher with Witfill's talent and power shows up at the team's doorstep from St. Rose the year before and automatically transforms a Donovan program that struggled for years into a winning club.

So the idea that Selby's star pitcher threw out there was taken into consideration. Central's bus headed from South up Hooper Avenue no more than a mile and a half to Donovan where -- sure as anything -- Central's bus did the one lap around Donovan's parking lot showing off the trophy, then headed back to Bayville.

Truth is, for all the celebrating these Central ladies wanted to do, they still had one last bit of business to attend to -- capturing the Shore Conference Class B South championship all to themselves. Because of postseason tournaments, which took precedent over regular-season games, the Golden Eagles had one last game to play for the division title against another team Central had a history with -- Manasquan High School, led by longtime mentor Pat Barnaba, who, too, had a ton of talented young ladies on her club, led by leadoff hitter and catcher Chris Hilla and No. 3 hitter and second baseman Amy Faas.

Manasquan would go into the game with a 20-6 record and 9-2 divisional record, the only blemishes being to Central on Central's field and to an up-and-coming Wall team of second-year Tony Vodola. The Golden Eagles were trying to top off the greatest season by an Ocean County softball team, taking a 26-3 record into the game with the losses coming to Wall in the regular season in divisional play, JFK-Iselin in the NJSIAA South Jersey Group III state semifinal round and to Manasquan in the Shore Conference Tournament semifinals.

So that loss to Manasquan was still in the front of Selby's mind as well as his players' minds when they loaded up the bus at 8:15 in the morning on Saturday, June 11, 1988, and headed north to Manasquan to arrive for a 10 a.m. game that would determine if Central was going to win this divisional title by itself or have to share it with both Wall and Manasquan at 10-2 since the Knights' season was over with that 10-2 mark. As for myself, I left my childhood home at 8:40 a.m. to get to Manasquan's field -- which I never covered a game on before -- for the 10 a.m. game. I used to leave way early when I was heading to a school I had never been to before and frankly, I had never covered an event at Manasquan High in the nearly four years I was at the Ocean County Observer. 

I arrived at Manasquan High at about 9:15 a.m., the field located in the back of the school along a street in the back. Neat little set-up. I parked my car a few blocks away from the field (foul balls, windshields, you know what I'm talking about here, don't you?). I walked over to the field and Central was already there, but there was a problem.

The gates were locked to get onto the field from the street and this forced Central players to have to practice outside the fence with simple tossing. You didn't have to ask Norm Selby how he was feeling at the moment -- he was pissed off to say the least. He wanted to start practicing infield/outfield with his players like he had for 29 previous games. Normally, he would take catcher Lisa Wallace with him to the plate and he'd hit grounders to a sound infield of Dawn Boertmann at first base, Dee Boudah at second, and star players Kelly McGowan at shortstop and Michelle Carlson at third. Garibaldi would take the outfielders, hitting fungos to left fielder Alison Duffy, center fielder Sue Faella and right fielder Sue Bitten. Then Slack, who was slated to start this finale to her season and career, would come to the circle and start taking grounders and relays after warming up.

This would be the normal routine. This is what Central Regional would be doing over a half hour before the game. But they couldn't because they couldn't get on the field, and worse, there was no sight of Barnaba and her Big Blue players in the distance of the school. Suddenly, 9:20 became 9:25, then 9:30, then 9:35 and finally at 9:41 a.m., the doors opened and the Big Blue players just casually walked out of the school and to the field.

It was Manasquan's home game, and the umpires were arriving five minutes after Barnaba and her players showed up. Needless to say, none of Central's bunch were too pleased having to wait this long to have the gates unlocked and properly warm up. We were all wondering if this was just a mental game Manasquan was playing in making Central wait to get on the field.

If it was, all it did was fuel Central further. And needless to say, the game didn't start until 10 minutes after 10. Manasquan pitcher Debra Swaney started and got two groundouts and a strikeout in the first. In the bottom of the first, Hilla led off with a single and Barnaba decided to shake things up by having Hilla steal second. But Wallace put a perfect throw to McGowan to throw her out.

This was key because both Amy Burns and Faas singled to put runners on first and second immediately after the caught stealing. But the shaky Slack got a forceout of Melissa Metuch's grounder to Carlson at third and struck out Denise Aromando to end the inning.

Maybe those early jitters were out of the way. Soon, though, Slack was back on the mound after Central's middle of the lineup went groundout, popout and foulout to end the second.

Big Blue third baseman Jenny deCastro singled and moved to second on a wild pitch. That was followed by a walk to Katy Hoos (Manasquan had some interesting last names on its roster) and an infield single by designated hitter Kim Lockenmeyer to load the bases.

Uh-oh. Maybe the mental games of before the first pitch were playing tricks on Slack and her teammates. Slack settled down, though, to strike out No. 9 hitter Stacey Schilling. But that meant Hilla was back up. She looped a 1-2 pitch into center field to bring in deCastro. Burns hit a comebacker to Slack, who threw to Wallace to get Hoos at the plate, but Faas walked on four pitches to bring in the second run to make it 2-0. Slack got Matuch to pop out to end the inning, but the Golden Eagles were down to 2-0.

And to a casual viewer of the game such as myself, something didn't seem right or feel right with Slack. It turns out she wasn't 100 percent for the game. Selby told me after the game, "Angel was pitching with a 102-degree temperature. Gloria knew she was ill and we just sent her home Friday. She wasn't doing us any good practicing with us on Friday, so we told her to get the day's rest and come back today."

It may have been short-sighted for Slack to be out there trying to pitch her guts out when she wasn't at her best, but nonetheless, there she was trying to secure Central's first outright Class B South title ever and first outright divisional title in seven years.

After going six up and six down, though, there needed to be a wakeup call. Faella began the top of the third inning with an infield single. After Boertmann popped out, No. 9 hitter Boudah forced Faella at second base.

There was two outs, but at least it was back to the dangerous top of the Golden Eagles' lineup. Carlson, who was building an impressive softball resume as the cat burglar-quick third baseman and an eight-game winner in the circle as the backup pitcher, while also being the quintessential "do-everything-to-get-on-base" leadoff hitter, dropped a two-out bunt on an unsuspecting Big Blue infield and beat it out for an infield hit.

This brought up Duffy, a solid junior leftfielder. She hit a grounder that shortstop Matuch should have just swallowed up and stepped on second base for the forceout of Carlson. But she may have seen Carlson barreling into second base with her speed and for one second took her eye off the ball. The bobble and error allowed the bases to be loaded for No. 3 hitter Wallace.

Like Duffy with older sister Dee, Wallace had an older sibling who had enjoyed success in previous years as Lynn Wallace played center field for the 1986 team that won both the NJSIAA South Jersey Group III and Ocean County Tournament titles like this '88 team did.

Swaney threw a first-pitch ball. Wallace nearly lost the next pitch to her.

"Ping!" The sound still resonates to this day as Wallace nailed the delivery and put a laser shot to the right-center field gap on a fenceless field. Boudah, Carlson and Duffy all scored and suddenly, it was Central holding the 3-2 lead. Wallace would tell me after the game, "I was just looking for a base hit. I just wanted a hit. (Swaney) threw it right down the middle. I had been coming under the ball and (Selby) had his eye on it. I had to keep my hands in and back."

If not for Bitten hitting a rope right at third baseman deCastro, the inning would have gone on.

Suddenly, the fans on the Central side of the field along the back street were excited. And Slack further got them excited by finally having a 1-2-3 inning in the third.

Soon, though, the Big Blue would be back to the plate. Slack got Lockenmeyer on a strikeout and Schilling on a groundout. But that meant Hilla was back to the plate. One swing could change the game from her. And it did. Hilla sent a booming triple over Faella's head and suddenly, the Big Blue were in business again. Burns walked and stole second, but still, all Central needed was one out to get out of the inning.

It didn't happen as Faas hit a grounder to Boudah, who booted it for an error to allow Hilla to score the tying run. Slack got out of the jam by inducing Matuch into a foulout to Carlson, keeping it at 3-3.

Suddenly, I thought, "Oh, great. There goes the momentum!" For all the successes I had seen of Selby's Golden Eagles over the years, I had seen their failures, too. But with this team, I never had that "Oh, no, it's all starting to go downhill" feeling, even with Slack throwing with a 102-degree temperature, Carlson still dealing with the aftermath of a badly hurt thumb in the final week of the season, McGowan dealing with a hurt arm, Bitten having to nurse a slight knee injury and Faella sporting a toothache she had no time to take care of, all according to the coach.

Yet, all these young ladies with the physical troubles were out there trying to win that outright divisional title in the final game of the season on this sunny, blue-sky Saturday morning as Bitten and Slack were playing their final games in Central uniforms. 

The Golden Eagles had a threat in the fifth inning as Duffy singled and Wallace walked, but Bitten popped out to first base to end the inning. Other than a deCastro single with one out in the bottom of the fifth, Slack navigated out of possible danger with a flyout by Hoos and a foulout by Lockenmeyer.

With all the hurts and aches Central players were dealing with, it probably was best to avoid extra innings at all costs. And the girl with the bum arm at shortstop took matters into her hands.

McGowan had delivered the game-winning hit that ultimately captured Central's first state sectional title in 1986 when she was a freshman. She was about to help put the ribbon on this amazing season. On a 1-1 pitch from Swaney, She blasted a shot over Hoos' head and didn't stop running until Selby put the hands-up stop sign at third base.

The triple was a nice start to the sixth. All Central needed to do now was get a bat on the ball and avoid a Big Blue glove to get McGowan home. The Golden Eagles had struck out just twice in the game against Swaney. Sounds easy, right?

It was! Slack hit a grounder away from danger as first baseman Burns got the ball, but had one play to Faas covering first for the out. McGowan crossed the plate and Central had a 4-3 lead.

With one out in the sixth, Hilla finished out a superb high school career for herself with her fourth hit of the game, a single to left field. But there were no thoughts of trying to steal again on Wallace. Burns flied out to Faella and her achy tooth and Faas hit a comebacker to the girl with the 102-degree temperature.

Central put two runners on base with one out in the seventh, looking to expand on the lead, but Swaney got Bitten to pop out to Matuch and McGowan hit a grounder to Matuch, who tossed to deCastro at third for the forceout and final out of the inning.

All it left was Slack to get the final three outs of the game, the season ... and her career. Matuch hit a grounder at Carlson, who swallowed it up and fired to Boertmann at first for the first out. Aromando hit a line drive, but at Boudah for the second out. All that was left was deCastro, who had touched Slack for two hits on the day.

And she hit the ball again -- but this time to the wrong player. Right at Carlson. She gobbled that grounder, too, and fired to Boertmann for the final out of the game.

Central had held on for the 4-3 win and could now add Shore Conference Class B South champions along with their titles of NJSIAA South Jersey Group III, Ocean County and early-season Pemberton tournament champions.

They ended the year with a 27-3 record, breaking the county and program record of 26 wins established by Selby's first team in 1981. Slack ended her year at 19-2, striking out five Big Blue hitters, walking three, scattering eight hits and giving up two earned runs.

There were hugs and happiness from the Central young ladies, though with all that was ailing Central on this day, I'm not sure how much partying they wanted to do. 

Over the years, Selby always told me about the pride he ran his program with Garibaldi. They were never "girls" to him. They were "young ladies." And he could not have been prouder of how his "young ladies" handled the adversity on this Saturday morning, especially being locked out of a softball field so they could warm up before the game.

"That's the kind of kid we had here at Central this season," Selby started off telling me after the victory. "If they had a 2 p.m. appointment somewhere, they would get to that appointment at 2:25 p.m. They put up the time to practice and put up with me and G (Garibaldi). They had to put up with that and more."

These Golden Eagles were always devoted to the love of softball and the chance to do something special -- like this '88 group was.

It was an early day for me. I got to the Observer just after 1 p.m. and wrote the story, did some other things around the office and went home for the rest of that day.

But it was a wonderful morning, which started in that bizarre fashion of Central not being able to get onto a field to practice. Mentally, that could have ruined most good teams that the other team didn't want you to have your regular routine. Maybe it was miscommunication, too, but even 33 years later, I highly doubt that.

Central and Manasquan were, at times, very bitter rivals.

And that's what made the last game of the 1988 season -- even a regular-season game -- a special one, played by a group of special players who made it their business to not share anything with any other team that day.

The capper to a long-awaited great season

So many things could have conspired to make the 1989 Toms River High School East softball season yet another season of heartbreak and failure.

Whether it was the first coach of the program, the late Gail Halbfoster, or her successor, Rick Dispoto, or his successor before the 1988 season, Debbie Dietrich, the history of Toms River East softball was one of disappointment.

Sure, there were plenty of fantastic seasons in which the team would win the Shore Conference Class A South title. The Raiders did that five times between 1983-88. But when it came to postseason play, the Raiders had never gotten far enough to claim a title of any kind. As a matter of fact, the only time in the first nine years of the program the Raiders played for a tournament championship was 1987 and they were shocked by Lacey High in the final, 7-5, the Lions being the last of 10 seeds in the Ocean County Tournament that year.

The 1988 Raiders won the Class A South title under Dietrich in her debut year as coach with assistant Diane Morrissey helping her. But Margie Egrie-led Atlantic City would beat the Raiders on the Raiders' home field in the South Jersey Group IV tournament. In the Ocean County Tournament, it was Toms River North taking down the Raiders on the Raiders' home field in the quarterfinal round. And the Raiders would lose to Central Regional, 16-9, in the Shore Conference Tournament quarterfinals at Central as the Golden Eagles were in the middle of a 27-3 season under coach Norm Selby.

But one of the centerpieces of that 1988 Golden Eagles team was about to tip the scales in East's favor in the Fall of 1988. Michelle Carlson was moving with her family out of Bayville into Toms River and though she told yours truly over the years she never planned on leaving Selby and the Golden Eagles' program, that it wasn't going to work semantically. Her parents weren't going to get her in a car and drive from Toms River to Bayville every day, so she was having to enroll in classes at Toms River East as a junior.

And once Dietrich found out about this, she suddenly realized her very good team, which had won 20 games the year before, was about to become better. The all-important battery was established with catcher Kathy Hawtin and pitcher Kim Tompkins beginning their third year together on varsity. Jennifer Brown was back at first base, junior Christine Grice was returning to second base, Cristy Iorio, like the battery, was now the Raiders' established shortstop, and Carlson was going to fit in perfectly at third base, moving Grice from the hot corner to second. The outfield featured seniors Kathy Higley in right field, Sally Ballantyne in left and junior newcomer Jeannine Zarillo in center field. Cheryl Stump would take the pressure off Tompkins ever hitting by being the designated hitter (designated player now).

The Raiders started the 1989 season at 18-0, the second-greatest start behind Toms River South's 19-0 start in 1976. But Greta Jannsch stymied East in the circle down at Southern Regional High and handed the Raiders their first loss of the season, 6-3. The Raiders, though, would not be deterred to win yet another Class A South championship.

First up was the state tournament -- yes, the state tournament was FIRST!! The Raiders won a dramatic, come-from-behind victory over Toms River South for their first-ever state tournament win -- yes, it took all these years to WIN A STATE TOURNAMENT GAME for the program. But in the following game, a gamble in center field by Zarrillo on a low-sinking line drive proceeded to go behind her on East's fence-less outfield and two runs scored -- the only two runs Washington Township needed to beat the Raiders, 2-0.

Uh-oh!! Here we go again!! All I kept thinking was "please don't let arguably the greatest Raiders team assembled go down in flames, too."

Stump delivered a pair of run-scoring doubles in the opening round of the Shore Conference Tournament on Memorial Day, May 29, 3-1. Over a week earlier, the Raiders began the Ocean County Tournament run with a quarterfinal victory over Brick, then defeated Lacey in the semifinals, 8-3, to advance to the final for the second time in three years.

But on May 31, the Raiders were hosting Lacey again, this time in the Shore Conference Tournament quarterfinals. And coach Mike Shern had his Lady Lions ready. They took a 1-0 lead on the old East field which is now a soccer and lacrosse field on the side of the gymnasium. East threatened with Hawtin on second and one out. Grice hit a screaming liner that was ticketed for the left-center field gap. In what I still consider the greatest catch I've ever seen on a softball diamond, left fielder Janene Spitaletto dove to her right and caught the ball while sliding o n East's rough outfield turf. When she got up, she fired the ball into second base to complete the double play as Hawtin was heading back to the dugout thinking she had just scored the tying run.

Lacey built a 3-0 lead going into the sixth. But an error off a steal attempt of third base by pinch-runner Cindy Himpele allowed her to come home and an RBI infield hit by Ballantyne brought home Zarrillo to make it 3-2 going to the seventh.

That was the first time all year I started to feel that "Raider magic." In the bottom of the seventh, Hawtin walked, Grice beat out a sacrifice bunt for a hit and an error by pitcher Patty Brilly on a Higley grounder loaded the bases with no outs. Left-handed hitting Stump came up. On a 1-1 pitch, she drilled a drive into left-center field to score both Hawtin and Grice and complete a 4-3 victory. I watched Raiders players jump up and down in elation and angry and sad Lions players come off the field in dejection.

That was Lacey's win and East was having nothing to do with it.

One night later with the glow of that victory very much apparent, East arrived at Wilbur Thompson Field in Lakewood to play a back-and-forth drama with rival Toms River South, who the Raiders had beaten three times during the season, for the county championship. In a game that saw Tompkins get a line drive back at her face by South's Emily Dupignac, but the blow of that ball hitting her was dulled by her putting her glove up in time, the teams battled to 8-8 by the bottom of the seventh inning.

Once again, though, the "Raider magic" prevailed. Hawtin walked, stole second, took third on a single and once again, it was Stump playing hero by hitting a high chopper to second baseman Marti Seaman, who did not have enough time to throw Hawtin out at the plate as East celebrated its first-ever tournament title, beating the Indians, 9-8.

And once the Raiders won that first important championship in program history, everything else fell into place for what would be the finale. The Raiders came back on Monday, June 5 to take down Wall, 8-1, in the SCT semifinals at Toms River South.

Now one game was left. It was the Shore Conference Tournament final on Wednesday, June 7, 1989, and the last team left standing was Red Bank Catholic. The Caseys were having a really good season at 19-3. The heart of the Casey team was the top of their batting order -- shortstop Megan Zusi leading off, right fielder Jen Gross batting second, pitcher Ellie Traino hitting third and center fielder Kim Harter batting cleanup. Traino, undeniably, was the Caseys' best player, a tall talent at 5-foot-10 who could bring it hard on opposing hitters.

By now, though, these Raiders were confident. The 25-2 record they came into the game with spoke volumes. But, of course, there was one more demon Dietrich, Morrissey and her Raiders needed to turn back -- one of the two losses the Raiders suffered was on this Southern Regional field.

I was at the game covering it as I was expected to as the softball writer for the Ocean County Observer, finishing up my fifth year of covering high school softball. I am a Toms River East graduate so I knew a lot about the program and the players in general. A good amount of them were seniors on this team and were graduating with my sister that June.

Well, Asbury Park Press softball writer Theresa Shevlin arrived at Southern moments after I had gotten there and she was an unabashed RBC grad. This made for interesting coverage. I sat up top of the small bleachers along the first-base side, Theresa sitting along the first row. She looks at me and tells me she thinks this is going to be her alma mater's day and they'll break through against the top-seeded Raiders.

I looked at her, smiled and said, "No chance."  Traino needed to be better than excellent to keep this Raider lineup down. And after the first three batters in the Casey lineup hit groundballs to Iorio (two of them) and Carlson that they turned into outs. I was pretty confident on what the outcome was going to be. In the first, Ballantyne got a base hit, but Traino got Iorio and Brown to fly out to end the inning.

In the second, that got tested though, when Harter hit a grounder that swallowed up Brown for an error. One out later, Karen Taylor bunted her up to second, but in what would be her last game as a Raider, Tompkins got Dana Jack to pop out to Iorio.

In the bottom of the second, Grice singled with one out. Traino struck out Higley, but Stump walked to put runners on first and second and bring up No. 9 hitter Zarrillo. Ever since that line drive in the Washington Township game went under her glove allowing the only two runs of the game to score, she had beaten herself up for the mistake. Now, Zarrillo had a chance to redeem herself in the first huge moment of the game.

And, oh, did she ever do so. On a 1-2 offering from Traino, Zarrillo drilled the ball over Harter's head. I'm guessing Harter did not think a No. 9 hitter could launch a rocket over her head. She was proven wrong. Grice and Stump scored and Zarrillo landed a third with a triple.

Zarrillo's shot had practically opened the cork to the champagne and the soon-to-be celebration. Still, to this day, it's one of the biggest clutch hits I've ever witnessed.

But the inning was not over yet. Leadoff hitter Carlson was hit by a pitch and openly took second base. Ballantyne hit a grounder at Jack, who muffed it for an error, allowing Zarrillo and Carlson to score to make it 4-0.

In the third inning, Kim Dollinger singled. RBC put the hit and run on with No. 9 hitter and designated hitter Melissa DelPresto at the plate. But DelPresto popped up to Brown, who only had to step on the base to complete the double play. Zusi flied out to Zarrillo and suddenly, RBC looked like a confused team down 4-0 and East was a confident team which could sense the blood in the water.

In the bottom of the third, Hawtin and Grice started the inning with singles. Grice beat out a close play at second on a Higley grounder to load the bases. But things started looking bad for East. Stump struck out and Hawtin was thrown out at home trying to score on a passed ball (the backstop on Southern's old field wasn't too deep in those days).

So with two outs and runners on second and third after the out at the plate, Zarrillo stepped up again. On a 2-1 pitch, she drilled a shot to left-center field for a single that brought in Grice and Higley and it was 6-0.

Meanwhile, Tompkins settled into a groove. She retired five of the next six batters in the fourth and fifth innings, but with two outs in the fifth, Dollinger doubled. With Liz Ryan at 1-2 in the count, RBC thought it might be a good time to catch the Raiders sleeping. Pinch-runner Nicole Gross took off for third, but Tompkins was fully aware of what was happening and fired to Carlson, who chased Gross back to Grice, who caught the ball and made the tag for the third out.

These Raiders could simply do no wrong. Traino, who the next time I would see on a softball field was in some professional league in the mid-1990s that ESPN2 used to show the games, the same league that also had Michelle Carlson playing in it, kept the deficit to 6-0 heading to the bottom of the sixth, hoping to give the Caseys one more chance in what was already a humbling experience. Traino got Stump to line out to open the inning, but her personal kryptonite, Zarrillo, was up again. She drilled another single to left field to be 3-for-3 for the game.

Carlson worked out a walk. An error by Traino trying to throw out Zarrillo at second moved the runners up a base. Ballantyne hit a grounder that they tried to get Zarrillo again at third, but she beat the play back to the base, loading the bases for Iorio. Iorio singled to center to score Zarrillo and Carlson, and when Traino committed another error on the play, that allowed Ballantyne to come home from first to make it 9-0.

The story of the '89 East season was almost finished. Traino helped finish it for East when she threw a wild pitch to Brown on the first pitch of the at-bat, allowing Iorio to scamper home with the 10th and final run of the game.

And it was over -- East had the emphatic 10-0 victory over the Caseys and their first-ever Shore Conference Tournament. Tompkins finished her career in terrific fashion, allowing three hits, walking one batter and striking out three to finish her season at 26-2 like the team. Both she and Zarrillo were the stars of the capper to one of Ocean County's greatest seasons.

It was also East's breakthrough to what would be an amazing 26-year career for Dietrich, now Debbie Schwartz, as head coach. Now Donovan Catholic's head coach, Schwartz's Griffins won the overall NJSIAA Tournament of Champions title in 2019, exactly 30 years to the day East won her first-ever title as coach in the OCT final over Toms River South.

East players rightfully celebrated this amazing 26-2 season, but realized this would be the last time they would be together. But it was a longer ride home than expected. I remember heading back onto the Garden State Parkway, but traffic came to a standstill due to an accident miles up the road. I got to the Lacey Township rest stop and just took a walk to the northbound-side of the Parkway to see how long the traffic was. Suddenly, I see a Toms River bus coming up on right side. One of the East players asked what was going on and I told them there seemed to be an accident up ahead. We had about a three-minute conversion before the bus could move up a little more. 

I eventually got back to the Observer to write the story and continue working on the Lacey-Middletown North girls soccer championship in the SCT. Lacey would win that championship, 4-2.

I had one more final thing to do and that was write about the All-County team for softball in which Carlson, Tompkins, Higley, Ballantyne, Hawtin and Stump made first team.

That 1989 season ended in a way a great team's season should win -- a title-game victory. That '89 East team was special ... and found its way out of possible pitfalls of its past to prevail as a two-time tournament champion.

When I told Theresa Shevlin that RBC had no chance to beat East, I meant it. It wasn't small talk.

These East Raiders were committed to putting an exclamation point on what was a great year.

Dejection one day, viewing a sectional title the next

The night of Thursday, May 29, 1986 would be one of the most humiliating days of my life.

For months, I had planned on this as a special  night -- I was to graduate from Ocean County College in my hometown of Toms River, N.J., getting my associate's degree. This was a big night for myself and my parents and sister. Just two years earlier, I had graduated a proud Raider at Toms River High School East.

Now I was to graduate a proud Viking from OCC. It was a beautiful, sunny 74-degree night in Toms River on the campus and the hour or so long ceremony was full of pomp and circumstance, just like any  graduation ceremony would be. 

The ceremony ended and so it was time to go back to the media center at the other end of the campus to collect my actual degree that I got in journalism. I hand in my gown and mortarboard, just like I did two years ago at East. I get handed my diploma to tuck inside the soft, leathery (not the actual leather, mind you) case that they hand you during the ceremony. I know the drill.

Instead, there's a white folder waiting for me with my name on it. And there inside the folder is not the diploma with my name on it. Instead, there's a neatly typewritten piece of paper that explains why it isn't my diploma.

I didn't read it all the way through, but the word "fail" and "biology" came up on it. There was no diploma. The toughest course I had in my so-called last semester at OCC tripped me up from continuing on. I should have followed my instincts and taken chemistry -- where numbers are involved and I'm so much better in that regard!

But no! I'm hard-headed and wanted to not take the easy way out. I struggled with biology in high school, so I should have known better. But I passed by the end of the year there. College biology was not as basic as high school biology, though, and once you slip down that bunny hole of struggle, you have a hard time recovering.

So swallowing the words that I was not graduating was tough enough. Now I had to go tell the family waiting outside to celebrate.

Let's say they didn't take the news that well. We went straight home where it was explained to me that I was a failure in the family and that whatever I was doing from this time on I would have to pay for myself.

OK, I'm exaggerating when it comes to the first part -- I held down a full-time job while going to college at the Ocean County Observer. That was full-time working every day, even if it was as a correspondent. But the second part was partly true -- to get my degree and move on to Monmouth College in West Long Branch where most of my credits were transferrable I would have to pay for the course I would take during six weeks of summer school at OCC.

I rarely told a soul of what happened that humiliating May 29, 1986. More on the aftermath later.

I think I made one call to work to find out if Lacey beat Wall in the Shore Conference Girls Soccer Tournament to advance to the championship game and keep its unbeaten season going. The Lady Lions did.

I went to bed early that night, disappointed by what had transpired hours earlier. But what to do about it would have to wait until the following Monday.

By 8 the next morning, another sunny and beautiful day in the upper 70s, dad had gone to work in Asbury Park, probably still fuming over his son's failure to graduate properly. My sister had gone to school and I was left with mom. Mom was always the easy-going one who put things in perspective far better than any of us could. She, too, knew there was no reason to remain upset and that nothing could be done until after the Memorial Day weekend ended.

I had a state tournament softball game to cover in southern New Jersey that early afternoon and wanted to go to our county mall a half an hour before going on the road to a high school I had never been to before.

Breakfast eaten and newspapers read from what I missed in local sports the night before, I was off to the mall at 10:30 a.m. I was there for one reason -- I was to stop into Camelot Records, located on the eastern end of the mall by Sears. They knew me by name at both Camelot and Listening Booth, the other record shop on the west end of the mall. There in the cassette aisle was what I was looking for -- Peter Gabriel's "So" cassette. It was locked up in that orange contraption to trap thieves from stealing from the store that a single key could unlock it out of its case.

I, like millions of American music fans, became fascinated by the first single release from that Gabriel album (the first one I ever bought by him) called "Sledgehammer." And for the next hour and half while I was on the road to Hammonton High, taking Route 70 west into the Route 206 circle and going south until finding the high school, I resisted hitting rewind and replaying "Sledgehammer" repeatedly. But I listened to the tape from start to finish and found it to be one of the most fascinating cassettes I ever bought -- not really a bad song in the bunch.

So on this Friday afternoon, May 30, 1986, I found myself at Hammonton High School for a 1 p.m. softball game. Why 1 p.m. on a Friday? Because it so happened that the team I was there to cover that day -- Central Regional High School -- was having their senior prom that night, so coach Norm Selby and athletic director Jerry Golembeski asked for an earlier start, that way the "young ladies" as Selby always called the players on the team could get back home to prepare for their special night.

But since the Observer did not have a Saturday paper, I had all day to cover the story and get home whenever I wanted, This was only my second spring of covering softball, but I had been to enough Central Regional games to know the pre-game drill by now -- Selby hitting grounders to his infielders and assistant coach Gloria Garibaldi hitting fungos to the outfielders, while new assistant coach Phyllis Angellella was watching pitcher Dee Duffy warm up down by the third-base coaching line. She had been part of Selby's first varsity team in 1981 that went 26-4 and came close to winning a South Jersey sectional title, losing in the championship to Lenape in the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association Group IV.

Since Central Regional's population shrunk when Lacey Township High was built to open the following year and took some of the kids from the area, Central dropped from Group IV to Group III. And for the first time since losing in '81, the Golden Eagles were playing for the SJ III title against Ocean City.

The Red Raiders were 18-3 and talented up and down their lineup, a strong-hitting group with a burly, left-handed hurler named Cindy Rau in the circle throwing hard and neutralizing the opposing lineup.

On the other hand, Central Regional came into the game with one very distinct difference to its opponent -- there was not one senior starter on the team. Duffy was a three-year varsity junior and most of the starting lineup were juniors except the left side of the infield where third baseman and sometimes pitcher Angel Slack was a sophomore and shortstop Kelly McGowan was a freshman.

In other words, the expectations were not so high for Central Regional as it was for Ocean City. The Red Raiders were all but expected to win the SJ III title, but come in 1987, that was to be Central's year. After all, you'd think these young ladies from Central Regional would be distracted by the prom being that night.

Turns out, a Norm Selby-coached Central Regional team was finely focused. And the Golden Eagles sent a little message to their opponents they were ready to play from the start.

No. 2 hitter Duffy hit a dribbler that she beat out for a single with one out. Wallace singled to left field to put runners on first and second. That brought up right-handed hitting McGowan in the cleanup spot. She took a 2-1 pitch to the right side of the infield where the ball bounced off the glove of second baseman Laurie Good, who gave it a strong effort to go to her left to make the play. That allowed Selby to wave Duffy home for the first run of the game.

Rau worked her way out of trouble and for the next six innings after that, she was unhittable as she and her and her teammates were in sync in the field.

And while Rau and the Red Raiders were untouchable, Rau giving up three walks in that time, Duffy had her moments in the circle. In the third, the Red Raiders got the equalizing run as Good reached on a forceout, moved to second on a wild pitch, got to third on a Kellie Ross sacrifice bunt and scored on a single to right field by Denise Tauscher.

The fourth inning saw Duffy get into trouble by loading the bases with two outs. This could have been a pendulum-moving moment with Good at the plate, but Duffy -- always the fighter in the circle -- rebounded to strike Good out and end the threat. In the fifth inning, Ocean City put runners on base before Duffy got the third out to thwart the would-be rally.

The game remained 1-1 through the sixth inning, then the seventh. Extra innings were upon us.

So was 2:45 p.m., and the more and more time the game went on, the less and less time there would be to get on a bus, go home to Bayville and prepare for a prom that night in neighboring Monmouth County. By now, it seemed like a rush to get this game done and neither side was yielding to the other.

The Golden Eagles, who were 16-6-1 (they had a tie with Southern Regional during the season) were holding their own against the favored Red Raiders. With the top of the lineup coming up, the moment was right in the eighth inning to do something. So Slack started the inning by doing something the Golden Eagles had not done since the first inning -- get a base hit.

Duffy hit a screaming line drive -- she got a hold of the Rau delivery -- to left field. Shannon Garrity took off and made a running catch for if she didn't, Duffy and Slack could run all day. That forced Slack to scurry back to first base bringing up Wallace.

On a 1-1 pitch, Wallace hit a popup between the Ocean City dugout and the backstop. Catcher Tracy Smith backtracked and reached out just over the dugout fence to make the catch. Smith showed the ball enthusiastically and celebrated her accomplishment of a great catch over the dugout fence.

But she had a problem she totally forgot about -- there was a runner on base. And as soon as Smith caught the ball, Slack took off for second base. By the time Smith looked back to the field with her teammates and coaches screaming in her ear, it was took late. Slack safely landed at second.

Selby would tell me later, "We practice that, though it's not really a familiar play. Obviously, (Smith) did not know the ball was still in play. She made a nice play on it and while she and her teammates were celebrating, Angel took off for second."

It didn't seem like much at the moment, but it gave the next batter -- freshman talent McGowan -- a chance to knock her in. On a 2-2 pitch and after fouling off three two-strike pitches, McGowan delivered a single just out of Good's reach into right-center field, easily getting Slack to third. But when right fielder Lynn Argoe bobbled the ball, Slack headed toward the plate and easily scored the go-ahead run to make it 2-1.

Moments later, it was up to Duffy to finish things out. Three outs and the Golden Eagles were going home with the championship.

But leadoff hitter Lisa Crompton was about to make things uncomfortable. She drove a shot to the left-center field gap on the first and only truly hit hard ball of the day and didn't stop until she landed on third base with a triple. Just like that, the tying run was on base and the Golden Eagles needed to get three outs.

Smith, the catcher who forgot about the runner on base after catching that dramatic foul ball, was up next. She put down what was a safety squeeze bunt attempt. Duffy collected the ball and looked Crompton back to third base. The idea was once Crompton saw Duffy's intentions, she was to take off for home when the throw went to first base.

However, Duffy had another plan in mind. She faked the throw to first baseman Bonnie Evans and instead chased after Crompton, who had already started down the third-base line and was dead meat. Evans threw the ball to Slack, who chased Crompton to catcher Dawn Cosnoski, who got the ball and chased Crompton back to third where she threw the ball back to Slack to nail her for the all-important first out -- and the one that was closest to scoring the tying run.

Only two people I've ever covered in 36 years of high school softball have ever been successful with that fake -- I saw Michelle Carlson do that in the 1990 Ocean County Softball Tournament final for Toms River East and that successful fake by Duffy.

Still, that left Smith in scoring position at second base with one out. Dorann Foglio got under a Duffy pitch and lofted a flyball to center fielder Betty Hester for the second out of the inning. That left it up to Kristie Miller to tie things up or at least keep things going. But on a 1-2 pitch, Duffy rang her up for her ninth strikeout of the game.

And just like that, Central Regional was the unlikely South Jersey Group III champions. Teammates jumped all over Duffy and Cosnoski and after congratulating the foes they just conquered afterward, the cheers and tears began to come out of the straight-laced, businesslike Golden Eagles. 

Selby, the tough-as-nails disciplinarian of a coach, looked at the smiles and the tears and just about lost it addressing the team.

"I wish I can split both these softballs into 17 or 18 different places," he started, holding a softball in each hand and holding back tears. He gave Duffy one of the game balls for her effort that saw her allow five hits and walk five batters beside the nine strikeouts. The other game ball?

"One of these I'm keeping for myself," he said with players laughing.

Duffy was a hero in the win. So was McGowan, a freshman star in the making, who delivered both hits that drove in the Central runs. And this 15-year-old was in tears herself ... tears of joy, though.

The shy McGowan, who was more outgoing three years later when I did a feature story on her as a senior, would say, "It's been hard to be someone that is counted on. But it's worth it."

Selby said that this championship -- the second in Ocean County history after Toms River South's NJSIAA South Jersey Group IV championship in 1976 -- was for the county and not all for Central Regional, though it was a history maker at the time.

"Winning a conference title is nice and winning two Ocean County Tournament titles (at that time) is a joy, but this is the most gratifying win I've ever had," Selby said after the victory. "I think it's time Ocean County gets its due credit in softball."

The team packed up its gear and got on the bus to head back to Bayville. I tallied up my statistics and was going to head back to Toms River, but I was going to stop by the nearby Wawa that I remembered was not far from the high school heading there.

I get into the parking lot and there's Central's bus there. I saw Selby again in the store and we talked again for a few minutes about the team and how special these young ladies (again, it's what he would call the girls who played for him in his 14 years as coach) were. He said he was pleasantly surprised it would be this group that brought him he and the program's first state sectional title. He also talked about how special the ride was to take with both Garibaldi and Angellella.

Turns out the fun part of the ride was only beginning for Selby and his players. On Monday, June 2, Duffy would throw a no-hitter as Central defeated Pinelands Regional to advance to the county championship against 24-4 Toms River South. The very next day, Central would beat Hamilton East, 7-1, in the NJSIAA Group III semifinal for what would be Selby's 100th career victory. The very next day -- the third game in three days and the fourth in six days with a prom put in between, the Golden Eagles defeated Toms River South, 9-5, to win their third county tournament title.

And the following Saturday, June 7, the Golden Eagles played in the NJSIAA Group III championship game at Trenton State College (now The State Of New Jersey), but could not do anything against Pam Froehlich's fastball in a 7-0 loss to Parsippany High School.

Now as for myself, I headed back to Ocean County College that Monday and signed up for six weeks of chemistry classes. Turns out I had a better time with my beloved numbers and mixing things together in class. It also turns out that I met my first girlfriend, a senior-to-be named Mary, in that class that summer. Nonetheless, I got a B grade in the class and got my diploma about 10 days later and was off to Monmouth.

And "Sledgehammer" hit No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 in late July, one of the busiest summers I've ever been involved in during my career.

Turns out May 29, 1986 was a humbling day for me. But everything after that -- starting with the unlikely South Jersey Group III softball championship won by Central Regional -- was more than good.