Georgetown wins Senior Softball World Series
Entering the Senior Softball World Series, Georgetown manager Craig Kormanik knew he only had starting pitcher Taylor Wroten through the quarterfinals. When Georgetown beat the Central team from South Bend, Ind., to advance to the semifinals, he and the team knew they couldn’t let her go just yet.
The coaches and Wroten’s parents worked out a deal to keep her in Roxana for two more games, and it all paid off, as Georgetown fed off Wroten’s strong pitching to win the World Series with a 4-0 win over Asia-Pacific in the championship game Aug. 6.
“I got the World Series and now I’ve got vacation,” said Wroten, who was set to head out of town at 6 a.m. Monday. "I can't believe that we did this.”
Wroten and her Georgetown teammates did not allow a single run after advancing into the knockout rounds of the tournament. She had only one strikeout in the championship game, but mixing up her collection of pitches kept the Asia-Pacific batters guessing the whole game.
“She is definitely one of Delaware’s premier pitchers, and we were lucky and fortunate enough to have her on the team,” Kormanik said.
After playing a tight contest through the first four innings, Georgetown finally broke the scoreless tie in the top of the fourth. After Sierra Livingston got on base via an error, Kelsey Kormanik singled to move her to third base. Then with two outs, Asia-Pacific pitcher Kaith Ezra Jaladoni mishandled a grounder off the bat of Kara Powell, allowing Livingston to score.
Georgetown solidified its lead in the top of the sixth inning. Jakayla Sample stepped up to the plate to lead off the inning and unloaded a deep home run over the left field fence. It was the dagger that ended Asia-Pacific’s hopes to win the title.
“I just knew I couldn’t go for the rise ball,” Sample said. “That’s what she was getting everyone with. I just had to go up there and wait for my pitch. I finally got it, so I took it.”
Georgetown added two more runs in the inning to pad the lead with only six outs left.
This was the second time Georgetown had faced Asia-Pacific in the World Series. On Aug. 3, the two teams battled it out for nine innings before the team from the Philippines finally pushed a runner across the plate for a 1-0 win. Ezra Jaladoni had 18 strikeouts in the game, most thanks to her deathly rise ball. Kormanik promised if the two teams faced again, his batters would be ready.
“We adapted and we were able to connect,” he said, praising his players’ patience at the plate.
Ezra Jaladoni recorded only four strikeouts in the second meeting.
“We came out here with a vengeance,” Wroten said. “We wanted it more than they did.”
