CHAMPS: Tuesday night, Indian Hills was awarded the No. 2 seed in the upcoming Bergen County Tournament. Wednesday, the Braves celebrated by clinching the outright Big North Freedom Division title with a 9-0 win over Ridgewood. (Photo submitted by Angelo Paiotti)
Lots of champions were crowned on Wednesday… First, Indian Hills, Ramsey and Old Tappan all clinched outright division titles, while Lakeland earned at least a share of theirs. Ramsey clinched the outright Big North Patriot title with a 1-0 win over Mahwah; Indian Hills clinched the Big North Freedom title with a 9-0 win over Ridgewood; Old Tappan captured the outright Big North National title with a 5-2 win over Pascack Valley; And Lakeland earned at least a share of the Big North Independence with its 5-4 win over Fair Lawn.
The star for Ramsey on Wednesday was pitcher Jess Juhlin. She fired a complete game four-hit shutout against a good Mahwah team in the 1-0 win. The Rams pushed across the lone run of the game in the third when Melanie Consiglio led off the inning with a single, then Nicole Mazzella later followed with a one-out RBI double through the gap. In a tough division featuring the Thunderbirds, Pascack Hills, River Dell and Westwood, this year’s division title was well-earned for the Rams and coach Chris Caserta said the team was “ecstatic†after the win. They overcame the big losses to graduation and haven’t missed a beat, despite a major overhaul on the varsity roster.
The story out of Indian Hills’ division-clinching win was Nicole Paiotti breaking another record in the Braves’ 11th straight victory in the 9-0 win over Ridgewood. One week after breaking Indian Hills’ career home run record, Paiotti broke the Braves’ career hit record of 149 on Wednesday. Julia Ferraro homered and drove in four, Nicole Leocata doubled and drove in two and Kristen Waters, Shelby Allen and Lindsay Pagano all added one RBI. Indian Hills will get the winner of Teaneck/Dumont in the BCT first round on Saturday.
As for Old Tappan, Mary Wiley snapped a 1-1 tie in the 6th with a two-run home run to propel the Golden Knights to the outright division title with their 5-2 win over Pascack Valley. Wiley finished with three RBI, while teammate Alexa Smedberg went 3-for-4 with a pair of runs. Old Tappan, the No. 11 seed in the BCT, will take on No. 22 Bergen Tech in the first round on Saturday.
And finally, Lakeland. The Lancers earned at least a share of the Big North Independence title with their 5-4 win over Fair Lawn, avenging an earlier-season 2-1 loss to the Cutters. Lakeland pitcher Jen Stoll was in almost the same situation she was in the first time these two teams met — clinging to a one-run lead in the 7th — and she finished the job on Wednesday. One inning prior, Stoll singled home Carly Nichols, who put together a great at-bat and reached with a one-out walk, to give the Lancers a 5-4 lead. Nichols, a freshman, was a mid-game substitute and ended up scoring the game-winning run. Sophomore catcher Allie Yoffee blasted a two-run home run in the first to give Lakeland an early 2-0 lead. Fair Lawn struck for four runs in the second, then the Lancers tied it up with two in the fifth. One run scored on an error on a misplayed single to right from Yoffee and she later scored the tying run when Nicole Mahoney reached via error.
The other major highlight from Wednesday was Westwood beating Pascack Hills, 4-2. If there was ever a scary 29-seed in the BCT, Westwood is it. Dana Klarer got the win Wednesday, and also doubled and drove in two runs for Westwood. Cassidy Rooney added one RBI.
Another score that popped out on Wednesday was Saddle Brook’s 8-7 win over Lyndhurst in eight innings. Gina Gravina hit the game-winning home run in the top of the eighth to propel the Falcons to to their 15th win of the year. It says something about the Bears, though, to give Saddle Brook such a good game. Lyndhurst, the No. 14 seed in the BCT, has Pascack Valley on Saturday then would likely see No. 3 Immaculate Conception in the second round.
One thing I saw on Wednesday was that North Bergen was awarded the No. 1 seed in the upcoming Hudson County Tournament. NB is the defending champion. Secaucus got the No. 3 seed. That’d be a great final if those two teams met. I’ve had like four different coaches this year tell me how good they think Secaucus is. Everyone always first mentions Danielle Roesing and Julia McClure, but the Pats have other quality players, too, like Lauren Guillen, Kendall Caruso and Kimberly Alfonso.
Other real quick notes… IHA beat Clifton, 10-0, in five innings. Steph Thomas got the win, tripled and drove in three; Ally Vergona doubled twice and drove in two. … Midland Park just keeps winning and improved to 16-1 with a 10-0 win over Palisades Park. … Passaic Valley stayed alive for a share of a division title with a 1-0 win over West Milford, fueled behind another great performance from Kate Kallert. … Ramapo picked up a nice 7-4 win over Northern Highlands, and congratulations to JK McAvoy for signing with Furman. … Wayne Hills beat Kennedy, 14-3, and now are 12-7 this year. The Patriots were 4-6 after the first 10 games, but have won eight of their last nine. Can they keep it going and shock Passaic County today by upsetting No. 1 DePaul in the PCT quarterfinals?
Big North Division Champions
Big North Freedom — Indian Hills (outright champs)
Big North National — Old Tappan (outright champs)
Big North Patriot — Ramsey (outright champs)
Big North Liberty — Will be decided May 16 between Bergen Tech and Clifton
Big North United — IHA clinches outright title with win over Holy Angels on May 9
Big North Independence — Lakeland can clinch outright title with win over Wayne Valley on Friday… Winner of Lakeland/Passaic Valley on Friday can earn share if Lakeland loses
Big North American — Dumont (outright champs)