The Passaic County softball tournament quarterfinals will be held this weekend with the PCT semifinals to be played by Friday, May 9.
Sixth-seeded Hawthorne (9-4) will be at third-seeded West Milford (8-4) on Saturday at 2 p.m. Hawthorne is led by seniors Mallory Noordeloos (CF), Sam Tolomeo (SS) and Jess Ciccarella (P). The Bears (10-4) defeated 11th-seeded Wayne Valley in a PCT first round game on Monday by scoring two runs in the bottom of the seventh on a single by Tolomeo, an RBI triple by freshman right fielder Emily Skinner and a run-scoring single by Noordeloos as they rallied from a 2-1 deficit to win, 3-2. West Milford (8-4), which has won the tournament nine times, the last coming in 2011, will look to seniors Victoria Torp (P), Mackenzie Porch (IF) and Meghan Szymansky (OF) for support. West Milford defeated Fair Lawn, the No. 10 ranked team in The Record’s top 25 rankings, 3-0, in a Big North Conference Independence Division game on Monday.
Also on Saturday in the PCT quarters will be 10th-seeded Eastern Christian at second-seeded Passaic Tech at 2 p.m. Eastern Christian (7-5) is helped by senior pitcher Anita Karr and senior 2B Bethany Kuiken. Passaic Tech (11-4) has a strong outfield, anchored by seniors Ivory Allen, Tamira Easterling and Chaz Wozney.
In the third quarterfinal game Saturday, fifth-seeded Pompton Lakes (10-3) travels to Addice Field to take on fourth-seeded Lakeland at 2 p.m. The Cardinals have a high-powered top-to-bottom lineup led by seniors Sam Keating (P/1B), Jenn Pezzuti (CF), Alex DeBonte (P/1B) and Sara Villalonga (SS), junior C Sam Beazley and sophomore Olivia Galletta. Lakeland (7-4), which has won four straight games, has a strong battery in junior pitcher Jen Stoll and junior catcher Allie Yoffee.
The fourth PCT quarterfinal, ninth-seeded Wayne Hills vs. top-seeded DePaul, will be played on either Friday or Saturday after Monday’s originally scheduled game was rained out. DePaul (8-3), which has won six of its last seven, has two excellent weapons in senior P Ashley LaGuardia and junior 3B Ronnie Vergara. Wayne Hills (6-9), which defeated Eastside, 17-0, in a preliminary round game and Passaic, 8-4, in an opening round game, will be led by senior P/OF Melanie Cieciuch and junior SS Brianna Hulbert.