Indian Hills Takes NJSIAA Softball Championship

With three outs standing between them and a state softball championship, the Indian Hills Braves knew what had to be done: play tough defense. 

With junior pitcher Devin Durando leading the way, Indian Hills withstood a two-out rally and defeated Wall, 4-2, in the NJSIAA Group 3 championship game at Toms River High School North on Sunday. 

"It feels great to end this way for our seniors," said Karley Jo Greulich, the sophomore third baseman who squeezed the throw from shortstop Nicole Leocata for the game's final out on a force play on Wall's Sydney Canessa. "I knew she was going to make the play. It was an awesome feeling when the ball was in my glove."

Canessa and catcher Dani Petrone had burned Indian Hills (32-3) earlier in the game, scoring Wall's runs in the bottom of the fourth inning. Canessa, who was 3-for-4, doubled, then stole third and scored on a pair of wild pitches by Durando, and Petrone homered.

The pair have been Wall's spark throughout the state playoffs, igniting a seventh-inning comeback against Nottingham that carried the Crimson Knights (25-5) to the Central Jersey Group 3 championship. And when Canessa and Petrone reached with two outs, it seemed Wall was poised to rally again.

Indian Hills scored a run in the second inning when Nicole Paiotti drilled a two-out double to plate Kristen Waters, who had singled. The Braves added three runs in the top of the fourth. Shelby Allen doubled and Leocata singled to give them runners on first and third. Julia Ferraro singled, scoring Allen for a 2-0 lead, then Greulich grounded to short, which plated Leocata. Waters then singled, scoring Ferraro for the insurance run.

Greulich said when she saw the shortstop playing back she knew the runners would be going and that they'd have a chance to score on her at-bat. And they had been preparing for the outside pitching of Wall freshman Jackie Howarth. 

"Coach told us to be ready for that, and it was right there," she said.

With the 4-2 lead after the bottom of the inning, Greulich said the Braves trusted Durando to get the job done. 

"We knew our pitcher had it," she said. 

Durando, who finished with 13 strikeouts and gave up 5 hits, bore down and got out of two-on jams in each of the last three innings. But it wasn't until she induced the grounder by Katie Kilgallen that she -- and the Braves -- could celebrate.

"It's an awesome feeling," Greulich said.