Lady Highlanders Capture Union County Varsity Tournament

The wait is finally over for Gov. Livingston. 

The Lady Highlanders, led by a solid pitching performance from Jordan Robbins and a timely offense led by Samantha Frungillo and Paige Murphy, earned an 8-1 victory over Westfield in the final of the 36th Union County Tournament Saturday afternoon at Kean University in Union. 

The county championship is the fourth overall and first since 2001 for top-seeded Gov. Livingston (21-2). Westfield, the seventh seed, was appearing in its first UCT final since it won the event in 1998. Gov. Livingston bowed to Cranford, 5-4, in last year’s final. 

“This means a lot to us,” said Frungillo, a senior first baseman. “Last year I was out with an injury and couldn’t contribute so this is huge.” 

Gov. Livingston, which has now won 14 straight games, snapped a scoreless tie in the fourth when it broke through against Westfield’s freshman right-hander Elena Scarano. Frungillo doubled on a 1-0 offering by Scarano scoring Jenna Kulback, who had reached on an error with one out. Gov. Livingston, which outscored its four UCT opponents, 39-4, flexed its muscle by striking for three runs in the fifth inning and four more in the sixth. 

Jackie Grossman led off the fifth with a walk and Paige Murphy followed with a one-out single. Grossman came across to score on a grounder hit by Alexa Katz. An error on the play allowed Murphy to come in to make the score 3-0.

Stephanie Cataldo then hit a two-out RBI double for the final run of the inning. 

“Even though Westfield was the seventh seed we didn’t take them for granted,” said Cataldo, who finished 2-for-4. “We really wanted this today.” 

The Lady Highlanders put the game away when it increased its lead to 8-0 in the top of the sixth. 

After Bari Grossman reached on a fielder’s choice and Jackie Grossman walked, junior Kelly Goense drove both in with a double to deep left center. Murphy (2-for-4) added an RBI single and Mckenzie Liss (1-for-4) added an RBI double.

Jackie Grossman finished 2-for-2 with two walks and two runs. Robbins, who improved to 14-1, allowed just six hits with two strikeouts and no walks. She totaled just 64 pitches and allowed just one earned run in the sixth as Cali Chambliss doubled and scored on an error. 

“I knew we would score eventually,” said Robbins, a sophomore right-hander. “So I just had to do my job.” 

Robbins’ counterpart, Scarano, had pitched brilliantly in her two prior Union County Tournament starts, hurling a six-hitter against second-seeded Johnson in the quarterfinal round and a three-hitter against third-seeded Cranford in the semifinal round last weekend. 

“They’ve done a nice job this season,” said ninth-year Gov. Livingston coach Rick Iacono. “They have a nice young team in place.” 

NOTES: Despite being the top seed for the tournament, Gov. Livingston was the official ‘away’ team for the championship game due to a coin flip conducted before first pitch. … Gov. Livingston’s other UCT championships prior to Saturday came in 1997, 1999 and 2001. … Gov. Livingston finished the season 3-0 against Westfield. The Lady Highlanders won at home, 10-2, on April 6 and at Westfield, 3-1, on May 3. … Gov. Livingston, which won the Union County Conference Watchung Division title with an 11-1 record, will begin defense of its NJSIAA Central Jersey, Group 2 title on Tuesday, May 24 when it hosts Summit at 4 p.m. 

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