Old Tappan rides big inning to North 1 Group 3 title by Chris Iseman of The Record
WEST MILFORD — For five innings, NV/Old Tappan couldn’t break through.
The Golden Knights were making solid contact, but West Milford was cleanly fielding every ball put in play.
So as the innings passed, the Knights tried to stay positive in their dugout. They pushed aside frustration. They instead believed that eventually, their hits would come.
“We just tried to stay confident and make tiny adjustments and just asked the kids to keep believing in themselves until we break it open,” coach Melissa Landeck said.
Then the top of the sixth inning arrived. Everything changed.
NV/Old Tappan scored six runs in the inning and added two more in the seventh as the No. 5 Golden Knights defeated second-seeded West Milford, 9-5, in the North 1, Group 3 final on Tuesday.
It capped a remarkable run through the section for the Knights, who shut out top-seeded West Essex in the semifinals.
“Hats off to them,” Landeck said of the Highlanders. “Their pitcher made some great pitches. Their defense made every play. We had to earn every base we got, every hit we got.”
Julie Rodriguez again was strong both in the circle and at the plate for the Knights. The UCLA-bound senior hit a long solo home run over the left-field fence in the third inning.
That was Rodriguez’s second hit after she led off the game with a single.
Those were NV/Old Tappan’s only hits through the first five innings.
West Milford had taken an early lead when Jessica Utter reached on an infield single in the first and scored on Jessica Perucki’s sacrifice fly.
Paige Masiello then hit a two-run double in the second to give the Highlanders a 3-0 lead. And in the circle, Masiello was shutting down the Knights as her defense made the plays behind her.
But NV/Old Tappan found the holes in the sixth.
The inning began with West Milford intentionally walking Rodriguez. Then Sinead Albelli singled and Cynthia Gordon each singled to load the bases.
An RBI single from Sydnie Weinberger cut the Knights’ deficit to one run.
Lindsey Germano then came through with the big hit, knocking a two-run single to right to give the Knights a 4-3 lead.
“I felt like it was definitely our time to come through,” Germano said. “I knew that we were going to be able to do it. That inning we were able to string the hits together and find the holes in the field. ”
Megan Weis kept it going with a two-run double to left and Calista Zahos hit an RBI single to give Rodriguez a three-run lead when she went back into the circle.
“At that point, it just really took a turn,” Rodriguez said. “I feel like they had the momentum in the beginning of the game and they thought they had it in the bag with three runs right off the bat. But we really shut them down right away. We took the momentum right out of their dugout.”
Abbie Porch led off the bottom of the sixth with a single and later scored on an error.
The Highlanders added another run in the seventh on Kayla Yuhas’ RBI fielder’s choice with one out.
But Rodriguez got a groundout to end the game and seal the title.
The Knights’ patience paid off.
“I always trust my team to get it done,” Rodriguez said, “and today they really did that.”