Tri-Cape stars win Softball Carpenter Cup they didn’t get to finish a year ago
By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News
PHILADELPHIA – As strong as they looked on their first day of last year’s softball Carpenter Cup, the world will never know if the Tri-Cape All-Stars were strong enough to have won it all.
This year there was no doubt.
The scrappy Tri-Cape Stars won their second Carpenter Cup title in 10 years Wednesday beating Jersey Shore in the title game 2-1 at FDR Park with a run in the bottom of the seventh. They went 5-0-1 in the event.
Pennsville coach Beth Jackson, one of five coaches on the Tri-Cape staff, felt they had a strong team last year. They went 3-0 the first day, but were sidelined for the playoff round by COVID protocols and never got a chance to seal the deal.
This year they went 5-0-1 in the tournament and won the championship game on Emma Douglas’ walk-off RBI single with one out in the bottom of the seventh.
“That was very awesome,” Jackson said. “I didn’t think about it until the girl who runs it came up and was like, ‘Making up for last year’ or something like that. I didn’t even think about that, like it wasn’t even a thought with what had happened last year.
“It’s great to kind of redeem it. It’s always nice to win, but just seeing all the different kids together. Some of them you hear their names but you don’t actually get to see them play, they play against each other all year long and now they’re playing together to win and they do, it’s always so awesome.”
The players were aware of what happened last year. They didn’t mind picking up the gauntlet.
(They) talked about the COVID situation and how it was really unfortunate last year because they obviously did really good and had beat the team that won it all,” Woodstown infielder Tulana Mingin said. “So I guess this year when we finally got the opportunity to play the whole thing, it was just really important to show we were really good.”
This year’s championship team had some serious Salem County flavor. There were three players – Mingin, Pennsville’s Bella Farina and Schalick’s Taylor Sparks – and two coaches – Jackson and Schalick’s Rick Higinbotham. All made major contributions.
Mingin was a really tough out on Day One, batted .550 for the tournament with 20 runs and a 1.225 OPS and played a key role in the championship-winning rally. Sparks batted .313 and was flawless in the field. Farina batted .333.
The champs opened Wednesday’s bracket round with a 7-0 combined shutout by Liz Martin (Cedar Creek) and Ava Fisher (St. Joe’s of Hammonton) over Olympic Colonial, then came from behind to beat Mercer County 5-3 in the semifinals and then took out Jersey Shore.
They fell behind in the title game, too, but tied it in the fifth. Buena’s Cami Johnson and Mingin got the seventh-inning rally started with back-to-back singles, then Our Lady of Mercy’s Douglas lined a ball over the infield to bring Johnson home with the winning run.
“I knew we had to score a run that inning,” Mingin said. “I knew if we didn’t score we’d have to go to the international tiebreaker, so I was just determined to get on base. Once I got on I knew we had a really good shot because Emma was hyped up and I knew she could score us.”
Once Johnson crossed the plate with the winning run, it took a brief moment to register. The coaches in the dugout knew and were all motioning the players to go out and celebrate. They did, striking a ‘T’ pose that has become their trademark.
T for Tri-Cape. T for table-setters. T for The Champs.
The team will be recognized at the Phillies’ July 18 game against Milwaukee.
Updated June 22
Riverview Sports News 