Breaghan Toal entered Thursday’s contest against Lyndhurst with the biggest slump of her career and a lower spot in the Harrison lineup. By the end of the day, the sophomore second base had responded with a performance that neither she, nor her Blue Tide teammates will soon forget.
Toal’s walk-off single in the bottom of the seventh inning gave Harrison its first win over Lyndhurst in six years, a thrilling 11-10 victory.
The game-winning hit to right field capped off perhaps the finest game of Toal’s career as she went 3-for-3 with a home run, walk, three runs and two RBI.
Toal, who followed it up by reaching base two more times in a loss to Ferris on Saturday, is The Observer Athlete of the Week.
The victory snapped a nine-game losing streak Harrison had against Lyndhurst with eight of the defeats decided by eight or more runs.
“(Going in), I was definitely feeling like I needed to recover from the last game (at North Arlington),” said Toal. “This game against Lyndhurst, I knew I was able to prove myself and play better than I did last time.
“It definitely was (the best game of my varsity career) and I hope to continue having games like that in the future.”
“I always had confidence in her,” head coach Keith Mair said. “It was just her gaining confidence back in herself. That was a breakout moment for her.”
Before Thursday’s game, Toal had been dropped to the eight spot in the lineup after going four consecutive games without a hit.
But when she stepped up to the plate in the bottom of the third,Toal hit an inside-the-park homer to trim the Lyndhurst lead to 4-1.
“I definitely was motivated by that. I wanted to get back up in the lineup,” said Toal, who had been hitting sixth most of the year. “Once I hit the home run, I feel like it allowed me to become loose out on the field. It really raised my confidence going up at bat and in all the other innings.
Toal followed the home run with a double and a walk for Harrison, which took the lead with six runs in the fourth inning, then regained it at 10-9 when it plated three more in the sixth.
“After she hit that home run, in every at-bat, you could see the difference in the swings,” Mair said. “She was swinging with confidence.”
Lyndhurst tied the game at 10-10 in the top of the seventh, setting the stage for Toal when she stepped up to the plate with runners on second and third with no outs.
“I knew that I was going to have to bat with two runners on, and I knew I needed a good hit to end the game,” said Toal. “So I was really preparing to hit whatever came close, and I’m glad that I got a line drive to right field.”
Mair could sense a change in Toal after the monster performance.
“Her attitude definitely changed after that game,” Mair said. “The next day in practice, she was in the cage crushing balls. It definitely changed her mind set when she goes to the plate.”
Two days later, Toal was 1-for-1 with a walk, run, RBI and two stolen bases. For the year, Toal leads the team in runs scored with eight.
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Jason Bernstein | Observer Sports Writer
Jason Bernstein joined The Observer as its sports writer in March 2022, following the retirement of Jim Hague. He has a wealth of sports-writing experience, including for NJ Advance Media (nj.com, The Jersey Journal, The Star-Ledger.)