Cougars Tennis Rolls Past North Brunswick; Softball Falls by One to Rutgers Prep
Nicholas Mistretta
MHS ’79 Cougar Sports Correspondent
Montgomery’s boys tennis team turned in a dominant performance against North Brunswick, while the Cougar softball team came up just short in a high-scoring one-run loss to Rutgers Prep.
The boys tennis team swept all five courts to defeat North Brunswick, 5-0, improving to 10-4 on the season.
Montgomery controlled the match from the top of the lineup through doubles play, dropping only nine games across five courts.
At first singles, Wilson Dee defeated Vaibhav Chari, 6-3, 6-2, giving the Cougars a strong win at the top spot. Ethan Qian was even more dominant at second singles, defeating Krupesh Thakkar, 6-1, 6-0. At third singles, Luca Couto-Frignani completed the singles sweep with a 6-1, 6-0 victory over Youssef Elokr.
Montgomery’s doubles teams were equally efficient. At first doubles, Srikar Bavigadda and Arjun Poddar defeated John Lara and Thomas Naumann, 6-0, 6-1. At second doubles, Shaury Kulhari and Amogh Mutyala topped Ojas Karandikar and Kyle Sehgal, 6-0, 6-2.
The win kept Montgomery moving in the right direction as the Cougars continue a strong spring campaign.
On the softball diamond, Montgomery nearly overcame a midgame surge by Rutgers Prep but fell, 7-6, despite collecting 10 hits.
Rutgers Prep opened the scoring with a run in the first inning, but Montgomery answered with one of its own in the bottom half. After a scoreless second, Rutgers Prep pushed across two runs in the third to take a 3-1 lead.
The Cougars responded with their biggest inning of the game, scoring five runs in the bottom of the third to move ahead, 6-3. Montgomery’s offense was powered by several contributors, including Nicolette Shackelford, who went 3-for-4 with two runs scored and a stolen base. Ryane Riddell added two hits and a run, while Alex Winer went 2-for-3 with a double, two RBIs and a stolen base.
Grace Gandolfo had a hit, an RBI, a run scored and a stolen base, while Maggie McGlynn added a hit, an RBI and a run. Allison McKnight also had a hit and scored for Montgomery.
Rutgers Prep answered in the fifth inning with four runs to regain the lead, 7-6. From there, Montgomery was unable to push across the tying run over the final three innings.
Rutgers Prep was led offensively by Cali McCoy, who went 3-for-4 with three runs scored and a home run. Gianna Bowman added two hits and three RBIs, while Kate Dougherty had a triple and drove in a run.
Montgomery pitcher Matilda Suh went the distance, allowing eight hits and seven runs, three earned, while striking out nine and walking one. The Cougars’ defense committed six errors, contributing to four unearned runs in the loss.
Dougherty earned the win for Rutgers Prep, pitching seven innings and allowing six runs, four earned, on eight hits.
The loss dropped Montgomery softball to 12-10, while Rutgers Prep improved to 9-11. Despite the result, the Cougars continued to show production throughout the lineup, outhitting Rutgers Prep 10-8 and putting together one of their strongest offensive innings of the season in the third.
Photo Credit: Nick Mistretta/headlinenewsmontgomry.com