After sitting out the first inning due to not warming up after an ankle injury scare; Izzy Bonacci returned in all her glory in the second to pitch Steinert past Middletown North in the Central Jersey Group 3 championship game. Jeff Granit photo

Izzy Bonacci appeared she might be knocked down and got right back up. Her Steinert softball team definitely got knocked down and also responded instantly.

With everybody taking a punch and surviving, the top-seeded Spartans defeated second-seeded Middletown North, 7-3, in Friday’s NJSIAA Central Jersey Group 3 championship game.

Steinert will host South Jersey champion Burlington Township Wednesday in the Group 3 state semifinals.

In avenging a loss to the Lions in the 2019 sectional final; Steinert (20-4) won its fourth CJ 3 title in the last six tournaments, and first since 2018 when it won the Tournament of Champions. It was the first crown in three tries for coach Jenn Melker, whose team reached the final each of her first two years at the helm.

“It feels sooo good,” said Melker, whose team rallied for five runs in the sixth to win it. “Three in a row, and finally. And we did it at home so it feels even better.”

Steinert can added the CJ 3 trophy to the Mercer County Tournament hardware it won two weeks ago.

“I’m so happy, it’s such a good feeling,” said third baseman Ceara O’Neal, who had a home run, two RBI and two runs scored. “Losing last year was a fire under us. We knew what it felt like to be on that end. We didn’t want to be on that end again.”

The game started in precarious fashion for the Spartans. Bonacci, the team’s No. 1 pitcher, rolled her ankle in pre-game drills and was unable to warm-up. Paige Schultz took her place while Bonacci played first base, and got out of a bases loaded jam in the first.

Down but not out, Bonacci warmed up as her team hit in the bottom of the first and took the circle in the second while Schultz went to first.

“I’m so happy for her,” said Schultz, who would go on to be a hero at the plate. “I’m glad she’s OK and she’s healthy and it worked out. She did a phenomenal job.”

Aside from one bad inning, Bonacci was stellar as she allowed three runs, four hits and one walk while striking out 10 in six innings.

“What a fighter,” Melker said. “A little hiccup in the beginning, come back, get a little warm-up and her first nine pitches were all strikes. Right there I knew she was gonna have a day, I knew she was right there. And that was amazing with Paige, knowing there was pressure and it was fantastic that she got out of that first inning.”

Asked about the junior hurler, O’Neal said, “She’s awesome. She’s so awesome. She kicked it into a new gear. It was literally awesome. That’s the only word I can think of.”

After the awesome one came back from adversity; so did her teammates. With Steinert up 2-0 in the top of the sixth, North’s Mal Shelvin singled, Maya Yesalonis walked and Grace Gomez lined the first pitch she saw over the centerfield fence for a 3-2 lead.

Now it wasn’t just Bonaccci, but the whole team that had to get off the mat. If there was ever a time to sulk, this was it.

“That’s not this team,” Melker said. “I knew their energy wasn’t done, I knew they wanted it. They know it’s at their home and they knew they were gonna come back. All it took was a little focus and don’t feel like it’s all on you. It’s one hit at a time, it takes the entire team. Trust each other.”

“We knew we had energy,” O’Neal said. “We were different than before in the dugout. We were all up, we were all loud.”

Avery Kontura, who was 2-for-3 with a triple and two runs scored, opened the frame with a single and O’Neal, who already had a sacrifice fly and homer to provide the 2-0 lead, walked.

“Ceara’s smart,” Melker said. “That’s what discipline is about; she’s not eager after she hit a home run. She wasn’t trying to drive the ball over the fence again,she was just working to get on base.”

Asked about getting the first two runners on in the inning after the stunning North home run, O’Neal said “It was very important that we showed them right away we would come back.”

Steinert then got a break when Bonacci’s fly ball was dropped to load the bases.

That brought up Schultz, who had trouble solving Middletown’s Mal Shelvin her first two at-bats. In the first she struck out, in the fourth she fouled off a ton of pitches before lining out to right. With the game in the balance, she again fouled off a few offerings before lining a two-run single up the middle past a drawn-in infield to give the Spartans a 4-3 lead.

“That’s Paige,” Melker said. “She doesn’t let those big moments get her under pressure.”

“I think I was just working to make the adjustment,” Schultz said. “I finally did and it felt really good to come through for my team. I’m just glad I helped get it going.”

Katie Simonka, who had struck out twice, helped keep it going by also figuring Shevlin out and delivering a two-run single. After a strikeout, Addison Hassan capped the uprising with a two-run single.

“It felt so good,” Schultz said of the rally. “We work for each other all the time. That really boosted our energy and momentum.”

Bonacci took it from there, allowing a leadoff single before getting three straight outs and fanning the final two to end it in style. The loss ended a stellar season for the young Lions (18-11) who return six starters next year.

“We had three good senior leaders, one junior, a sophomore and four freshmen running around out there,” North coach Chris Hoffman said. “You’re bound to have that one bad inning, and we had it in the sixth inning. Steinert’s a good team, they hit the ball all year and have come up big. The better team won today. I’m happy for them. We hope to get back and see them again in next year’s finals.”

As for the Spartans, they feel their moment is now.

“I think we were all hungry and we had a good group of girls who were really excited to go get it this year,” Schultz said. “I’m really excited. Super excited to keep going and play well. I think we all believe in ourselves and work really well as a team.”

And they also have the ability to stare down adversity in several different ways.

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