Burkett knocked down; New Jersey scores 5 in fifth.

Byline: Brendan Hall

WORCESTER - For Chuck Fluet's softball squads, the game plan usually calls for taking the first strike. But sometimes, his players are just too eager to hit the ball.

Burkett didn't execute the game plan in the second game of pool play of the Senior League Eastern Regionals and were trumped by a more patient squad from New Jersey.

Cumberland, N.J., took advantage of a handful of walks to turn a 1-1, fifth-inning tie into an 8-1 final at Rockwood Field. New Jersey improved to 2-0 in the tournament, while Burkett fell to 1-1.

Burkett will face DuBois, Penn., today at 4 p.m. New Jersey will play Milford, Del., tomorrow.

"I thought this pitcher (New Jersey's LeAnne Miller) was very good," Fluet said. "But for us to make contact - we were hitting the ball right at them. I tell them to take a pitch, they like to take a swing. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't."

New Jersey drew four straight walks to start the bottom of the fifth inning, bringing in the winning run in the form of Shayna Perella. That prompted a rotation in the field - starting pitcher Kelly Fluet to right field, right fielder Kristen Poti to left, left fielder Catherine Lucy-Meagher to third, and third baseman Toni Scola to the mound.

Four more New Jersey runs came in after the pitching change as Miller singled home Desiree Rivera, followed by another walk to bring home another run. Janell Rodriguez then hit a two-run single for the 6-1 score.

New Jersey added two more in the sixth with RBIs from Rivera (single) and Ariel Bruno (reached on error). In all, New Jersey drew six walks in their final two innings.

Fluet said that righty Kelly Fluet's arm has been sore for two weeks, but he didn't use it as an excuse.

"Normally I would have taken her out and brought in Toni earlier, but Kelly's our number one on the team," Fluet said. "She thought she could still do it, so we gave her the ball."

Kelly, however, will be in right field today, after getting plunked twice - the second on the underside of the forearm on her already-sore pitching arm. She drove in Burkett's lone run, in the top of the first, when she plated Caitlin Brosnihan on a single for a 1-0 lead.

Cumberland answered in the bottom of the first, when Bruno turned her leadoff bloop single in shallow right into a double. She then advanced to third on a passed ball, and beat the tag at home on a wild pitch.

Burkett struggled at the plate after scoring a run, drawing 17 pitches from Miller in the first inning. And while they only struck out twice, they didn't register a hit from the third inning on. Still, the team didn't feel downtrodden by the loss.

"Their hopes are up. No one's down," Fluet said. "That's what's good about this team."

New Jersey coach Gary Woodruff, meanwhile, was taken aback by his team's eight-run output, considering the team's youth - only two players are 16 years old.

"Burkett understands the game, and did a lot of things right," Woodruff said. "It was 1-1 late...this game could have ended up 2-1 in 10 innings, the way these two teams play."

ART: PHOTO

CUTLINE: Burkett's Colleen Olen slides into third, but New Jersey's Alysa Romero got the throw in time to make the tag.

PHOTOG: T&G Staff/JIM COLLINS