Waterman and Kampf each homer in win over South Amboy

By Walter J. O’Neill, Jr.

Shore Regional junior Dylann Lawrence struck out 13 South Amboy batters and went 3-for-3 at the plate in the 10-0 Shore Regional win.

The regular softball season is over and the Blue Devils of Shore Regional finished the at 10-2 which was good for second place in the Shore Conference C North division. Now it’s time for the NJSIAA state playoffs and the Devils are the fifth seed in the Central Jersey, Group 1 bracket.

Friday afternoon, the Blue Devils hosted the Governors of South Amboy, who were the twelfth seed. It was not much of a contest as Shore Regional scored six of their game-high 10 runs in the bottom of the first inning. They added two in the second and one run in the fourth and fifth innings to take the 10-0 victory.

“For the second straight year, we have advanced to the Central Jersey, Group 1 sectional quarterfinals. It is also the second consecutive year we will face returning champion New Egypt,” said David Porta, head coach of the Blue Devils.

With the dominating win over South Amboy, Shore Regional has an overall record of 16-8, which Porta says is the most victories since at least 2008. “Today we had Dylann Lawrence who not only struck out 13 batters over five innings, but at the plate she went 3-for-3 batting,” said Porta.

Blue Devil bats were alive in that opening round of the playoffs. Sophomore Ayden Kampf hit a home run and then a triple which drove in Angela Christopher for the game-winning 10th run in the fifth. At that point Shore Regional had a 10-0 lead and the NJSIAA mercy rule was invoked, making the game official. It was the seventh home run of the season for Kampf, who now has a total of 16 over her two years on varsity.

Also getting a big home run was Peyton Waterman, who is also a sophomore. It was her fourth homer of the season and her career. She finished the game going 2-for-2 with one single, one homer, one run and two runs batted in.

“We have really had a breakout season this year. It was the first time in 17 years that we qualified for the Shore Conference Tournament. Four years ago, our team hit leader had 29. This year, we have seven separate girls with 30 or more hits, three of them are already over 40 hits on the season,” said Porta.

Those seven girls are Angela Christopher, Olivia DeFonce, Dylann Lawrence, Kelsey Orth, Ayden Kampf, Peyton Waterman and Mary Hennelly. “All these girls were voted onto the Shore Conference C North All-Division team as recognition of them being the best at their positions,” added Porta.

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Orth, another very skilled sophomore, is batting .462 this season and has 40 hits and 42 RBI. Kampf is right on her tail with 40 hits and 41 RBI. Among the Shore Conference hitters, Kampf is right there at the top with a .494 batting average and her seven home runs.

Porta also gave high marks to Hennelly who plays first and Waterman, who is the Blue Devils catcher. Both are batting .500 with a combined 66 hits between them. DeFonce, junior, is just one away from reaching 100 career hits. Lawrence, also junior, is on track to reach 100 next season as she has 87 as of the win over South Amboy.

“Something really impressive is that Angela Christopher has been voted as the C North Division player of the Year. Angela has been a starting centerfielder for us all four years, and she is crushing it this year,” said Porta. Christopher has a .545 batting average with 42 hits, 47 runs, 35 RBI, 12 doubles, three triples and 4 homeruns. “She is one of the best players in the entire Shore Conference and absolutely deserves the distinction of player of the year.”

And we have to give praise to Coach Porta. He was named the C North Division Coach of the Year. It is an honor that he has earned for two consecutive seasons. “I am very humbled by this honor but also very proud of this distinction because it is 100% a reflection on the girls, their production and play on the season, and my coaching staff of Erik Mazur and Luke Ecklof who have helped us achieve the success we knew we could have this year,” said Porta.

June 2, the Blue Devils will travel to New Egypt and face the fourth seed in the quarterfinals. These two teams played back on May 3, when the Warriors crushed the Blue Devils 15-4.

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