Segich gets one in the park, Douglas goes yard as O.C. improves to 11-7
OCEAN CITY — Macky Segich’s in-the-park home run and Brooke Douglas’ booming homer over the center-field fence were part of a five-run third inning that lifted the Red Raider girls softball team over visiting Williamstown on Thursday.
After winning three of the next four games through the weekend, Ocean City moved to the top of the Power Points rankings in South Jersey Group III.
The scoreless game May 4 broke open in a big way in the bottom of the third inning after Douglas pitched herself out of some troubling situations early when Williamstown put runners in scoring positions.
“Backtrack to the day before when we played Atlantic County Tech,” head coach Carrie Merritt said. “(Brooke) kind of had a couple of rocky first innings so I pulled her out and had Jessica Mooney come in. Brooke moved over to third and Mooney shut ACIT down.
“I wanted (the Williamstown game) to make a real point to Brooke. ‘You’re fine. You’re a great pitcher and you’re going to come back today and you’re going to work through this.’ And she did that,” Merritt said.
“I’m not going to deny the first couple of innings they got some base-runners on and were threatening … and sure enough she found a way to battle through and our defense did a couple things that helped her. And then she was able to cruise along a little bit more,” Merritt added. “I was really proud of her fight. Having two freshmen, they’re young on the mound. I love that they are able to work through that and (Douglas) found a way to keep moving on.
“And then when she hit that home run, that just had to feel good. That was like the icing on the cake for her.”
That home run put the exclamation point on the third inning.
It got going when catcher Lyla Ginzberg reached first base on a single. Taylor Robinson came in to replace her as the base-runner. That’s when Red Raider hits leader Segich stepped up and slammed a shot deep into the outfield. She and Robinson began racing around the bases. Robinson came home for the first run with Segich hot on her heels.
“When Macky Segich hit that in-the-park home run, that’s when life started opening up,” Merritt said. “Macky hit that and almost lapped Taylor Robinson on the bases. She was moving. It was a fun play. I was like, ‘Taylor, you need to go! You’re going to get lapped!’”
Segich not only leads the team in hits with 34, she also leads in runs scored (22) and RBI (15).
The next two Red Raider batters made nice contact with the ball but both flew out.
With two outs, Mooney got on base with a walk. When Gabby Bowen hit the ball deep into the outfield, Mooney raced all the way home, pushing the led to 3-0.
Bowen ended up on second base. That’s when Douglas hit her towering shot over the fence to bring both of them home for the 5-0 lead.
“I think my favorite thing about what we’re doing right now is we’re finding ways to make things happen,” Merritt said. “It’s not always pretty, but we’re making things happen. I think that’s a sign of a team that’s progressing.”
After the Betty Howell Tournament at Oakcrest High School over the weekend, the Ocean City girls softball team now sports a record of 12-7, a far cry from last season when they won only five games.
“Being a superstitious former athlete and now very superstitious coach, it makes me nervous to say; however, for this point in the season, I am liking where we are at this moment. The pitching looks great, the defense is solid,” the coach said after the Williamstown game. “The past couple of games the bats have started to come alive. We have really been lagging in that area. We have some great hitters, we just couldn’t make things fall.”
Mooney topped 100 strikeouts for the season last week and now has 116.
The Red Raiders followed up the Williamstown game by winning three out of their next four, beating Wildwood Catholic 12-1 Friday — Bowen had a home run — Absegami 8-6 and Camden Catholic 7-6 in the tournament. Douglas earned her season-leading fifth home run against Camden Catholic. (The girls lost to Vineland 11-3 in the tournament.)
Ocean City leads the National Conference and is 8-1 in its division.
“OLMA is the only team we lost to in the division, so I know for me personally I would like to come back with a vengeance on that one and really finish our division with all wins,” Merritt said.
The girls had Atlantic City on Monday, faced Mainland on Tuesday and host Our Lady of Mercy Academy at 4 p.m. Wednesday. After the weekend’s games, Ocean City overtook Moorestown atop the South Jersey Group III Power Points rankings with 338. Moorestown (11-3) was second with 326 and Hammonton (6-10) third with 277.
“We’re moving up in power points and we’re staring down a playoff spot very soon,” Merritt said. “As I tell the kids, we need to keep our foot on the gas.”
By DAVID NAHAN/Sentinel staff
