River Dell's Cameron overcomes stumble

The Record
April 11, 2007

By KIMBERLEY A. MARTIN
STAFF WRITER

ORADELL -- Erin Cameron knew she crushed the ball. Now, the only thing left to do was round the bases.

There was just one problem, though.

As the River Dell sophomore looked to make her move toward second, she stumbled over first base. As the Westwood outfielders scrambled to track down the ball, a stunned Cameron stood motionless on the base path for a few moments, as if unsure what to do.

But the sounds of her screaming coach and teammates quickly snapped the catcher back to reality and she took off running.

Despite the momentary lapse, Cameron easily beat the throw home and scored the Hawks' fourth run in a 5-1 victory over Westwood on Tuesday.

"I'm not even sure what happened," said a laughing Cameron, who buried her face in her hands after she crossed the plate. "I tripped, definitely. I stopped. I was kind of embarrassed and I didn't want to keep running. I mean, I knew I had to run. I heard everyone yelling."

The last thing on Cameron's mind when she stepped into the batter's box was hitting a home run.

With teammate Nicole Kufel on first base, Cameron just wanted to make contact. With a two-strike count, she let her bat fly and sent the ball deep into center field.

"I was just screaming at her to get up and keep running because she just froze," said Hawks coach Mike Garibell. "But she got herself back up, tagged first and made it around. She hit a shot. She probably could've run around twice."

"We were all just hoping she'd get up and keep running and not worry about it," said River Dell pitcher Jessica Accardi. "I knew she was embarrassed, but it's all right. Everyone does it. It doesn't matter."

River Dell (3-1) had taken a 2-0 lead in the second on an Accardi single that scored Melissa Gramuglia and Catherine Cioffi.

After Cameron's two-run homer in the fifth, the Hawks tacked on another run in the sixth on Alexis Yotka's groundout to first that allowed Accardi to score from third.

Westwood tried to make a late run when Danielle Babiak laced a triple and stole home to put her team on the board in the sixth inning. But Accardi continued to keep her pitches low and away and didn't allow another run.

"When I see people on base I'm thinking, 'OK, I can't let them get in,' '' said Accardi, who gave up just three hits.

"And when they get in, I get a little angry. ... I was definitely thinking they were going to swing harder and try harder [later in the game], but that just made me throw harder."