Brave Invitational final to be played Saturday

Freehold Township will be looking to join Manalapan as the only two-time winners of the Brave Invitational Softball Tournament this Saturday, when the tournament resumes at Manalapan High School.

Rain postponed the championship game, originally scheduled for April 15.

Before the postponement, the first round and semifinals were completed and Freehold Township and Manchester were left standing.

Manchester, the fifth seed in the eight-team tournament, beat host Manalapan, the top-seed and defending champion, 4-3 in a five-inning game.

Breanna Steins’ three-run home run helped the Hawks recover from an early 3-0 deficit to catch and pass the defending champions. Hurler Stacy Slovak threw a three-hitter, keeping the Braves at bay and keeping her team in the game.

The Hawks started the tournament against Raritan and beat the fourth seed 4-1 behind freshman Nicole Webb. She not only tossed her own three-hitter, but was 3-for-4 with the bat, scoring a run.

Freehold Township opened play with a 10-0 shutout over Holmdel. Meagan Hennessy and Julie Saporito combined on a one-hitter. The third-seeded Patriots then played the second seed Monroe (last year’s losing finalist) in their semifinal.

The Pats were on fire in this one, building a 16-2 lead in the fifth inning, when rain stopped the contest (had it been a boxing match, it would have stopped much earlier by a referee).

Because the game was so one-sided, it was not resumed at the point it was stopped (the Pats had the bases loaded and no one out in the top of the fifth) and Freehold Township advanced to the final to meet Manchester.

The Hawks will be seeking their first tournament title while the Patriots, the ’97 winners (when it was the Mustang Invitational) will be going for the second crown and joining Manalapan as the only two-time winner.

With Hennessy pitching so well and Patriot hitters like Melissa Elsbree, Jamie Marangelli and Pam Zaranka starting to pick it up and join Hennessy, Saporito and Kristen Tozzi, the Pats are the choice to win on Saturday.

But with pitching being 90 percent of softball and a pair of solid throwers like Slovak and Web on their side, the Hawks figure to keep it close and then hope to make the big play just as they did against Manalapan when Steins’ home run turned things around.

Game time is 1 p.m.