I think every Top 25 team except for the Dirty Dozen (that’s Midland Park) played on Wednesday… there were two major school records broken in Indian Hills and Rutherford by Nicole Paiotti and Julie Sosnicki… Passaic Valley, Northern Highlands and Wayne Hills upset current Top 25 teams… West Milford quietly has won seven of its last eight and improved to 9-4… Ramsey won another wild one, 2-1, over Westwood in eight innings, getting two runs in the bottom of the 8th to win it, capped by a Sarah Novak RBI hit. … DePaul also won in walk-off fashion, with a home run from Victoria D’Addario, against Holy Angels in a 1-0 win. … But, really, there was one team outside the rankings that stole the show Wednesday and sent shockwaves throughout North Jersey.
Paramus Catholic — one of the hottest teams in North Jersey right now — shocked No. 1 Immaculate Heart, 1-0, getting one heck of a performance from junior pitcher Samantha Buse to end the Blue Eagles state-best 44-game winning streak. The Lady Paladins’ ace — who has battled through shoulder issues that caused her to miss most of last season and missed school because of sickness on Monday and Tuesday — decided to give it a go on Wednesday and fired a complete game two-hitter to extend Paramus Catholic’s winning streak to six straight after a 1-5 start.
“This is the type of moment I will never forget and will remember forever and I have my team to thank for that #pcsb,†Buse tweeted Wednesday night.
“It was just a great, great softball game,†Paramus Catholic coach Frank Baldino said. “I asked Samantha how she felt [Wednesday] and she said, ‘I’d like to try and see what happens.’ And it worked out. She pitched an outstanding game. … She’s a tough kid. She’s not big in stature, but she’s big in heart. That’s for sure.â€
Paramus Catholic pushed across the lone run of the game in the second when senior first basemen Janelle Marchesani doubled and later scored on an RBI single from Samantha Held.
“We had a tough start against some really good competition [including an 11-0 loss to IHA on Opening Day]. We had some injuries here and there, and at one point we were 1-5 and I sat them down as a team and talked about it. I told them we’re not a 1-5 team. We’ve put it together recently and the kids have responded very well, †said Baldino, who coached Ramsey to a Bergen County record 51 straight wins from 1991-92.
The North Jersey record is 67, set by Clifton in the late 1990s. The New Jersey record is 75, set by Whippany Park, which ended in the sectional championship in 1991 (Quick side note: Some blame Delbarton’s prom for ending Whippany Park’s 75-game streak back in ’91. Two key WP players attended Delbarton’s prom the night before the loss. One ended up making a critical error in a 4-2 loss to Mountain Lakes. Whippany Park went on to win the next 30 games, going 105-1 over a 106-game span.)
But back to PC: “They’ve persevered and been persistent to win six in a row,†Baldino said. “I knew we were better that what our record showed, but we stayed the course and [Wednesday] we sort of put it all together, defensively for sure. We got great pitching from Sam, great defense behind her and we were able to push that run across and make it hold up.â€
As for IHA, what an incredible streak that was — the second-longest in Bergen County history. Not only was it 44 straight, but it came against some of the best possible competition possible, and included a perfect 32-0 season. You can count on the Blue Eagles using Wednesday’s loss as motivation going forward. And they’ll no doubt be trying to make a statement on Saturday against Immaculate Conception. To everyone involved, congratulations on a streak that’s not likely to be matched any time soon.
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The second biggest upset of the day came from Wayne Hills (9-6), a team playing very well right now and on a five-game winning streak after defeating No. 9 Fair Lawn, 2-1. The Patriots came back from a one-run deficit when they struck for one run in each the fifth and sixth innings, as Emma Noschese and Sophia Lewin each provided one RBI. Noschese also got the win. As for the Cutters, they suffered their second straight one-run loss this week [after a 1-0 loss to West Milford on Tuesday] and third in five days [after a 3-2 loss to Ridgewood on Saturday]. Fair Lawn still sits tied in the loss column with Lakeland (who also lost Wednesday) atop the Big North Independence Division with two losses. But Passaic Valley, and now West Milford, are each one game back — both with three division losses. Gonna be some big division games coming up the next few weeks in this division.
Staying in the Big North Independence, Passaic Valley‘s Kate Kallert was dominant in Lakeland during Wednesday’s 5-0 win. She took a perfect game into the seventh, before having it broken up on a leadoff bunt single from Jen Stoll. Lancers coach Laura King said it was “the best pitched game [she’s] seen in years.†Kallert struck out 12 for the Hornets, now on a seven-game winning streak after a 2-3 start. A potential Passaic County Tournament semifinal with top-ranked DePaul would be a must-see matchup. PV had DePaul on the ropes last year, up 4-1 with two outs in the seventh, before an error led to a Spartans comeback and eventual 5-4 10-inning win. Kallert is throwing as well as anyone in North Jersey right now and 1B Jada Fields, with five home runs on the year, is one of the biggest threats at the plate. She hit a ball at fenceless-Lakeland Wednesday that would have been a no-doubt HR at most fields, but was caught for an out. PV is a dangerous 4-seed.
Jumping over to the Big North Freedom, where Northern Highlands stayed red-hot, upsetting No. 20 Ridgewood, 3-2. The Highlanders struck for three runs to take a 3-0 lead in the sixth, getting two RBI from Sarah Gunderson and one from winning pitcher Katie Duncan. They might not win the Freedom, currently sitting in fourth place at 2-4, but they could be a scary team come tournament time. Highlands has now won six in a row and is 8-5 overall.
Staying in the Big North Freedom, Indian Hills senior catcher Nicole Paiotti blasted her 12th career home run in Wednesday’s 10-0 win over Paramus, moving her into first place all-time in program history. The previous record of 11 was held by 2012 graduate Ashley DeYoung. Paiotti also doubled and drove in four on Wednesday, and Devin Durando got the win, striking out nine. Indian Hills (11-2) has won seven in a row — five coming against current Top 25 teams.
In the Big North National, Pascack Valley kept pace with Old Tappan (who also won Wednesday) atop the division standings (both now 5-1 in league play) after its 2-1 win over Demarest. Pascack’s Olivia Beattie had the game-winning RBI on a suicide squeeze bunt to score Michelle Orden for the winning run in the top of the seventh. Beattie finished 2-for-3 and Jenny Schneider improved to 5-1 in the circle after a five-hit, five-strikeout performance.
Going back to the Big North United, DePaul‘s Victoria D’Addario blasted a game-winning walk-off home run in the bottom of the seventh to propel the Spartans to a 1-0 win over Holy Angels. Ashley LaGuardia threw another two-hit shutout for DePaul, now winners of seven straight. As for Holy Angels, it has to be the best 2-11 team in the state. It seems like they play everyone close. … Just looked it up. Yes, Holy Angels has seven losses by two runs or less — to IHA, Paramus, Butler, Indian Hills, Northern Highlands (twice) and now DePaul. They also have a three-run loss to Paramus Catholic.
Two real close games in the Big North Patriot. First, Ramsey‘s magic continued Wednesday in a 2-1 win over Westwood. Sarah Novak delivered the game-winning walk-off hit in the bottom of the eighth, as the Rams overcame a one-run deficit and struck for two runs in the inning. Christina Esposito also added an RBI in the eighth for Ramsey (12-2), now winners of eight straight. Westwood’s Dana Klarer must be pretty darn good to hold the Rams to four hits over eight innings, though, after what I saw from the Rams Tuesday night. Ramsey coach Chris Caserta said after Tuesday’s win that someone always seems to get a big hit when the Rams need it. Wednesday, it ended up being Novak and Esposito. It wasn’t #RipCity like Tuesday night, but Ramsey will take the wins any way they come, as they continue to hold off Mahwah atop the division.
As for Mahwah, the T-Birds held off River Dell, 5-4, getting a run in the bottom of the 7th for the walk-off win. Not sure how it scored, but I heard Anna Nielsen had a solo home run, so maybe that came in the 7th to win it. Danielle Iacovo got the win with 10 strikeouts, as Mahwah improved to 7-4 overall and 4-2 in the division, 1.5 games back of Ramsey (one in the loss column). Mahwah will travel to Ramsey on May 1.
- No. 2 Immaculate Conception (15-0) is now the last remaining unbeaten team in North Jersey after IHA and Butler (who lost to Pequannock, 7-0, on Wednesday) both fell. Andee Lupica got the win Wednesday after IC beat Wood-Ridge, 7-0. Lupica struck out 12 and Samantha Krakower had a home run.
- No. 13 Rutherford‘s Julie Sosnicki both the school career strikeout record of 618 Wednesday in the Bulldogs’ 10-0 win over Lodi. She struck out 10, giving her 624 career Ks and picked up her 64th career win in the process, tying another school record. Both records were previously held by 1991 graduate Allison Weist. Ally Paskas had another five RBI on Wednesday.
- One team that quietly just keep winning is No. 22 Lyndhurst. The Bears defeated Harrison, 3-0, on Wednesday and it was their fifth straight victory after a 7-3 setback from Bergen Tech 10 days ago. They’re 10-2 and atop the NJIC Liberty, one game ahead of New Milford. Casey Zdanek is the name that always pops up, but judging from our database Zdanek, Grace Tomko, Julie Schneidenbach and Jennie Tellefsen all have double-digit RBI totals this year.
- No. 7 Park Ridge won its first game after Emily Kline‘s injury, 10-0, over Palisades Park, to improve to 12-2. I’m pretty sure Kline showed up for the game (Park Ridge softball tweeted out a photo of Kline with the whole team). Of course, she was wearing shades. She seems to be doing fine and in good spirits. Martina McGee and Alexis Criscuolo each had 2 RBI Wednesday and Erica Huber got the win with 8 strikeouts.
- Since its 9-1 loss to Immaculate Conception on April 9, No. 5 Saddle Brook won its 6th in a row Wednesday and improved to 11-1, beating Becton, 13-3. Alexia Russo and Lorena Alvarez both homered and combined for 7 RBI, while Ashley Russo added 3 RBI. Danielle Archibold got the win with 12 strikeouts.
- No. 9 Ramapo kept pace with Indian Hills in the Big North Freedom (both now 5-1 in league play) after cooling off Hackensack on Wednesday, 9-3. Alyssa Incantalupo had 3 RBI and five others provided one RBI for the Raiders. Sophie Nochta threw a four-hitter while striking out five.
- And one final walk-off win: Tenafly‘s Mara Pattison hit a game-winning single to short left center to score Jackie Koles to give Tenafly a 7-6 win in 8 innings. One inning prior, Sofie Check hit a clutch game-tying two-run home run with two outs to tie it at 6, scoring Jackie Clifford. It was Tenafly’s third win of the year.
- Teams that definitely don’t like when I’m around: Park Ridge, Secaucus and Lakeland… a combined 0-6 when I’m at their games… and 29-3 when I’m not.. and two of those losses are from Lakeland down in Virginia.