High Point (26-1) won the first state title in the history of the Sussex County program when senior Jamie Christensen delivered a two-out, two-strike, RBI single to center field in the bottom of the 11th.
Christensen's hit scored Carly Satter, who had reached base on a fielder's choice and advanced to second on a passed ball.
"I felt like we outplayed them," said Kingsway senior Kelsey Dominik, who pitched a seven-hitter with 10 strikeouts and one walk. "It seemed like we had more chances, but we couldn't score."
Dominik and High Point sophomore Allyson Frei engaged in a stirring pitchers' duel before a large crowd. In a pressure-packed atmosphere, neither team could score as the game stretched over nearly three hours on a hot afternoon.
"You just had to keep going back out there," said Dominik, the Temple recruit who was named Gatorade state player of the year last week.
Kingsway (27-4) had plenty of chances to score. The Dragons generated six hits, including two by freshman No. 9 batter Isabella Bradian, and also worked six walks.
In all, the Dragons stranded 16 runners.
"We made some baserunning mistakes, but these are kids," Barchuk said.
The Dragons had the bases loaded with one out in the seventh and couldn't score.
A runner was thrown out at the plate in the ninth.
They started the 10th and the 11th with a runner on second, under the international tiebreaker rules.
But they couldn't score either time.
"We worked all season up to this, and we came up just short," Kingsway senior catcher Katie Dickson said. "We all worked our tails off, and we wanted to win so bad. But we didn't get the win."
Barchuk said it was a successful season for the Dragons.
"I'm very, very upbeat about it," Barchuk said of the season. "We won Tri-County. We won South Jersey. These girls came here to win this game, but we just came up a little short."
Kingsway 000 000 000 00 - 0 6 0
High Point 000 000 000 01 - 1 7 2
WP: Allyson Frei. LP: Kelsey Dominik. 3B: HP–Carly Satter.
Contact Phil Anastasia at 856-779-3223, panastasia@phillynews.com,
or on Twitter @PhilAnastasia. Read his blog, "Jersey Side Sports," at www.philly.com
