1. Immaculate Heart (10-0)
Forget the North Jersey record of 99 career pitching wins, it’s becoming pretty clear that IHA’s Steph Thomas, under the allowance of coach Anthony LaRezza, is gunning for the state record of 112 career wins. She has already pitched on back-to-back days five times in two weeks, including games against Passaic Tech, St. Mary and Hackensack. Last year, a few of those kinds of games went to Rachel Pollard – who is batting .480 right now by the way (15-for-31, 3 doubles). But through 10 games this year, Thomas has thrown 59 of the 61 the possible innings — with 85 strikeouts and five shutouts. A 30-win season is possible for Thomas, considering the Blue Eagles will be Bergen County and Non-Public A favorites. 30 wins ties the record of 112; 31 breaks the state record. Thomas also leads IHA in hits, with 18, and is batting .530. Angelina McGuire has emerged as the Blue Eagles’ top run producer, as the senior centerfielder has a team-best 18 RBIs, 14 runs and six extra base hits (2 doubles, 2 triples, 2 home runs). A pair of freshmen – Reese Guevarra and Reagen Jones – are a combined 22-for-46 (.478) with 23 runs and 15 RBIs.
2. Indian Hills (8-0)
Senior pitcher Devin Durando is on fire. Our newest Athlete of the Week (well, sort of new. She won it once last year too) is averaging almost two strikeouts per inning (96 Ks in 50 innings pitched) and has allowed only two runs and 13 hits all year. And you could argue that Indian Hills, to this point, has played the toughest schedule in North Jersey. Durando’s seven wins have come against No. 5 Northern Highlands (4 hits, 15 Ks), No. 22 Paramus (2 hits, 9 Ks), High Point — considered among the best in the state (9 IP, 3 hits, 21 Ks), No. 11 Ridgewood (2 hits, 14 Ks), No. 23 and rival Ramapo (1 hit, 11 Ks), No. 18 Park Ridge — who was undefeated at the time (1 hit, 11 Ks), and lastly, Demarest (no-hitter, 15 Ks). Aside from the strikeouts from Durando, Indian Hills continues to be one of the best defensive teams around with Maddie Levine limiting opponents’ aggressiveness on the basepaths from behind the plate, SS Nicole Leocata and 2B Nicole Mellone forming a sure-handed tandem up the middle and Karley Jo Greulich patrolling center field.
3. Immaculate Conception (5-0)
Check out some of these video game-like numbers for Immaculate Conception through five games: Ali Moran is hitting .830 (15-for-18, 12 runs, 8 RBI, 4 2B, 1 3B, 1 HR), Andee Lupica is batting .630 (10-for-16, 8 R, 4 RBI) with a .710 on-base percentage, Lea Georgatos is hitting .560 (10-for-18, 10 runs, team-best 10 RBI), Ashley Cantone is also batting .560 (9-for-16, 6 runs, 5 RBI, 3 doubles) and Gabby Slade is hitting .530 (8-for-15, 7 runs, 8 RBI, 3 steals). Those five, along with pitcher Sarah Piening (who is 4-0 with 65 strikeouts in 22 innings and has allowed just two hits this year), will all be back next year too. In fact, Immaculate Conception has just one senior on this year’s roster. The Blue Wolves have the potential to become a dynasty in Non-Public B over the next few years.
4. DePaul (4-2)
Since suffering back-to-back losses to Mount St. Dominic and No. 1 Immaculate Heart, the Spartans have won two straight — both shutouts against Clifton. Freshman Amanda Ayala remains the Spartans’ leading hitter, batting .550 (11-for-20) with 10 runs, two RBI and three steals. In the two wins against Clifton, Ayala went 6-for-9 with five runs scored. Ashley LaGuardia has recorded every decision for DePaul, going 4-2 with 45 strikeouts in 33 innings while allowing six earned runs.
5. Northern Highlands (5-1)
The Highlanders jump into the Top 5 after an impressive first two weeks, which featured three wins against Top 25 teams (Ridgewood, Ramapo, River Dell), another win against an Emerson team that is right on the brink, and a closer-than-it-looks 7-1 loss to No. 2 Indian Hills. I remember how impressed I was with Sasha Brown towards the end of last year, and in Saturday’s 3-1 win over River Dell, she was great again, going 3-for-3 with two triples. Coach Chris Broking called her Highlands’ best clutch hitter. Just last week she had a go-ahead three-run HR against Ramapo, a bases-clearing three-run triple against Hackensack and the aforementioned performance against River Dell. She’s hitting .478 (11-for-23) for the year with 12 RBI and 2 HR, and in his AOW nomination for Brown, Broking wrote: “[She is] a coach’s dream that has this coach depressed because I only have her for this year.†Pitcher Katie Duncan was great as well against RD and really stepped up in the sixth after an infield error put the game-tying run on third and go-ahead run on second, with just one out. I mentioned in my story how she called a team huddle to settle everyone down before getting out of the jam with a 2-1 lead still in tact, but this quote was cut from that story… “She got them focused again,†Broking said. “I didn’t even need to go out there. She took control of the situation being a veteran player. That was a great test to see how they would respond to some adversity.â€
6. Pascack Valley (7-0)
So, I headed to Pascack Valley on Monday for a story I’m doing set to run in Wednesday’s paper, so I don’t wanna give away too much on here (the team was highly entertained by Alex Pleasic and Jenny Schneider‘s photoshoot though… and Olivia Beattie almost swallowed a bee during baserunning drills). I will say that the undefeated Indians are really looking forward to their matchup with No. 2 Indian Hills on Wednesday. I saw Pascack Valley and Indian Hills play last year on April 16, when the Braves won, 1-0. That was the beginning of Indian Hills’ 26-game winning streak. Pleasic threw a three-hitter that day, and remembers that game well. PV had the tying run on 3rd in the 7th and came about as close as you can come to tying it at 1. The highlight of this season, so far, for the Indians was their 4-0 win over two-time defending league champion Old Tappan last Wednesday, 4-0. Pleasic fired the complete game shutout with 8 strikeouts and is currently 4-0 on the mound, while Schneider is 3-0, and both are run producers in the middle of the Indians lineup. Schneider is tied for the team lead in RBIs with Kaitlin Unger with 7, and Beattie has added a pair of home runs and five RBIs.
7. Pequannock (5-1)
Last week, Pequannock lost to Butler, 3-1, who was unranked at the time, then had a wild 11-10 win over Saddle Brook, which was No. 4 at the time. So, we kept the Panthers right at No. 7 in this week’s poll. In that win over Saddle Brook, Pequannock led, 6-1, after two innings, then allowed nine runs in the third to go down, 10-6. The Panthers tacked on two in the fourth, one in the fifth and two in the sixth to come out with the 11-10 win. Carly Klimek went 3-for-4 with a HR, three RBI and two runs scored, Cassie Coviello and Rachel Pierson also both homered, Melissa Tahan went 2-for-3 with two RBI and four runs and Christina Brizek went 3-for-4 with two RBI.
8. Saddle Brook (8-1)
After surviving a few close calls through its first seven games (vs. Becton, Weehawken and Hasbrouck Heights), Saddle Brook dropped its first game of the year to Pequannock, 11-10, on Saturday — the second game of a doubleheader at the Blue and Gold Tournament. Katie Garbarino is off to a great start offensively, already driving in 16 runs with a double, triple and two home runs, freshman Morgan Santora has added 9 RBIs and Lorena Alvarez has driven in eight runs. The Falcons are 8-1 after Monday’s 10-1 win over North Arlington, though it seems like they have yet to start firing on all cylinders. They’ll have some good tests over the next few weeks with Midland Park, IHA, Immaculate Conception, Ramsey and Pequannock all on the schedule from between now and May 4.
9. Old Tappan (6-1)
Old Tappan moved to 6-1 on Monday with its 16-4 win over Bergenfield. Kristen Farrell went 3-for-5 with 5 RBI and picked up her first win of the year in the circle with eight strikeouts. Danielle Matteo went 2-for-3 with a double. The Knights, the two-time defending Big North National champs, suffered their first loss of the year last week to Pascack Valley, 4-0, and now trail the Indians in the league standings by one game. Those two teams meet again on May 2 in Old Tappan. Julie Rodriguez is leading Old Tappan in RBIs with 9, Farrell has added 8, Matteo has driven in 7 and Emma Nelson has 6.
10. Pascack Hills (3-3)
After two nice wins over River Dell and Westwood to climb over .500, Pascack Hills stumbled against Rutherford on Monday, falling, 5-0. Also, there needs to be some clarification regarding Monday’s notebook item on some of the Cowgirls. It said four girls are approaching the career 100-hit mark: Brianna Musco (99), Erica Aborlleile (92), Kaitlin Listro (90) and Sammy Miller (93). Now, I didn’t just make those numbers up… coach Erin Curatola gave them to me on Sunday. Turns out, the records and stats kept during those four’s freshman year only included in-league stats, so some of them, if not all, may have already exceeded 100. Curatola said she’d get back to me with the correct numbers. As for this season, Miller leads Pascack Hills with 7 RBIs, while Aborlleile has added three doubles, one triple and five RBIs. Prior to Monday’s game, Musco led the Cowgirls with 12 hits and eight runs scored.
11. Ridgewood (5-3)
Ridgewood was a few spots higher in the rankings before suffering a 4-3 loss to West Essex at the EDSAF Tournament on Sunday. I’m not too familiar with West Essex, but Essex county teams are always usually pretty strong and they currently have a 4-3 record. The Maroons led that game, 3-0, until West Essex struck for four runs in the bottom of the fifth. Ridgewood outhit them, 9-5, but made 4 errors. The loss was a bit of a surprise, since Ridgewood had been playing well heading into the game, going 4-1 in its previous five games — suffering its only loss in that span to Indian Hills, 1-0. I haven’t seen Ridgewood play yet, but from what I’m hearing Nicole Parks had continued to pitch very well (allowed the only run of the game against Indian Hills on a foul ball sac fly) and is one of the Maroons’ top run producers.
12. Ramsey (4-1)
Here comes Ramsey, winners of four straight after Monday’s 13-0 win over Dwight-Morrow, getting two RBIs a piece from Nicole Mazzella and Christina Esposito. Those two were the stars in the Rams’ 3-1 win over Mahwah last week. Mazzella went 3-for-3 against the T-Birds and Esposito made two sweet diving catches in right field, much to the dismay of Mahwah’s Alyssa Baldi, who was robbed of a base hit in both instances. “Christina is like the heart and soul of this team,†coach Chris Caserta said. “If she ain’t diving, she’s not playing… something’s wrong if she’s not going after it like that. That’s how she plays. She loves trying to get outs for us.†Pitcher Katie Olson entered the game in relief of Jess Juhlin in the fourth and tossed four innings of one-hit with three strikeouts. The two combined on a three-hitter.
13. Mahwah (5-2)
Since suffering a 3-1 loss to Ramsey last Friday, Mahwah has bounced back with two straight wins against Rutherford (who just beat Pascack Hills, 5-0) on Saturday and Ridgefield Park on Monday. As I mentioned in Monday’s notebook, senior All-County pitcher Danielle Iacovo thought she might have torn her meniscus on opening day, but doctors believe it’s tendonitis. She has started the recovery process and hopes to be back on the mound in a few weeks. Also, my apologies to Danielle Fisher for mistakingly putting the wrong name in Monday’s notebook (if you’re wondering where the name Shannon Clare came from, she was the opposing pitcher for Rutherford in Saturday’s game). Fisher, in fact, tossed a great game against Rutherford in the 5-1 win, as the sophomore fired a complete game two-hitter with nine strikeouts. She and Nicole Curley will handle the pitching duties while Iacovo is sidelined. Offensively, Anna Nielsen leads the Thunderbirds with 10 RBI.
14. Fair Lawn (5-1)
What a great win over New Milford on Sunday at the EDSAF Tournament, 7-4 in nine innings. Danielle Sibilio, who made it into our Player of the Year watch this week, delivered the go-ahead RBI in the top of the 9th with a two-out RBI single to score Emily Klion and put the Cutters up, 5-4. Nicole Hegybeli followed with a two-run double to score Sam Colca and Sibilio. Fair Lawn’s three-run ninth-inning rally all started with two outs and no one on. Also, Fair Lawn trailed, 4-2, in that game in the top of the 7th before plating two runs to send it to extras. Hegybeli finished with 3 RBI, Sibilio had 2 and Emily Klion added 2 RBIs as well. Sibilio, by the way, is batting .619 (13-for-21) with three doubles, one triple, three home runs and 12 RBIs on the year. With its 12-1 win over Lakeland last week, Fair Lawn has taken control of the Big North Independence at 4-1 in league play. Emily Klion and Brittany Meerholz have combined for the Cutters’ five wins on the mound.
15. Paramus Catholic (3-3)
Interesting team here. I actually think the Paladins are better than the No. 15 team in North Jersey, but right now it’s just hard to put them much higher. You look at their games played… Loss to IHA, okay, then a 1-0 loss to DePaul and 5-4 loss to Old Tappan — both games that PC could have won, especially the Old Tappan game. Coach Frank Baldino was telling me how he has never seen a team hit more bullets right at defenses in those losses. Then the Paladins rattled off three straight wins over Holy Angels, Jefferson and Cedar Grove to get back to .500. A few breaks though against DePaul and Old Tappan and PC would be 5-1 and certainly in the Top 10. During PC’s three-game winning streak, Olivia D’Amato went 10-for-14 with four RBI and two runs, Samantha Held went 6-for-10 with two RBI and two runs, and freshman Julianna Longo went 5-for-9 with three runs and three RBI. Throw in Heather Ronchi, Alyssa Neal and Steph Triola near the top of the lineup and Victoria Soohoo towards the bottom (went 2-for-3 with a deep RBI double in the same I saw against OT) and Paramus Catholic, like last year, could be a dangerous team come tournament time.
16. New Milford (5-1)
New Milford fell from the ranks of the unbeaten on Sunday, falling to Fair Lawn, 7-4 in nine innings, after taking a 4-2 lead into the seventh. Earlier in the week, in a 6-1 win over Demarest, Danielle Laube ripped a pitch off her left ankle, but I saw her Saturday in Emerson and she said she was hoping to play Sunday (not sure if she did or not). Either way, she didn’t seem worried about it, which is good news for the Knights, after Laube opened the year hitting .454 with five home runs and 11 RBI. Carly Lesko has added two doubles, one triple, one home run and six RBIs and Emily Sailer has provided one double, one home run and seven RBIs.
17. River Dell (4-2)
After suffering two straight losses to Pascack Hills and Northern Highlands last week, River Dell got back on track on Monday with its 12-0 win over Cliffside Park. Pitcher Cathy Antonelli fired a 14-strikeout no-hitter and Julie Montone added three hits, including a home run, and three RBIs. In the 3-1 loss to Highlands on Saturday, River Dell was one hit away in the sixth inning from taking a 3-2 lead before NH pitcher Katie Duncan wiggled out of the jam, which included a one-out lineout to third from River Dell’s Kayla Rosado. Antonelli pitched well in that game too, allowing just six hits — three to Sasha Brown. Alexis Krasas (8 RBI) and Jordyn Rocca (7 RBI) are the team’s leading run producers through six games.
18. Park Ridge (7-1)
Though Park Ridge fell to Indian Hills on Saturday, 4-0, the Owls were right there with the Braves for much of the game. It was 2-0 in the 7th before a couple of hits and errors allowed the Braves to double their lead. Prior to the 7th though, Park Ridge played some great defense (Kelly Hansen made a heck of a catch in left field in the second inning that saved a run and prevented a possible Braves rally) to keep the game competitive. Pitcher Erica Huber, in relief of Emily Kline, came on in the third inning and got some big outs with runners on in big spots in her five innings pitched. On Monday, Park Ridge moved to 7-1 with a come-from-behind 4-3 win over Holy Angels. The Owls trailed, 3-1, after three innings but tied it with two runs in the fourth and scored the go-ahead run in the bottom of the sixth. Mel Dulberg, Martina McGee, Angela Rivera and Cam Layne all drove in one. Huber picked up the win.
19. Midland Park (4-2)
After a 4-0 start, Midland Park has suffered two straight losses to Park Ridge last week and, most recently, Emerson on Monday, 3-0. The loss to the Cavos bumped the Panthers into third place in the NJIC Patriot, behind Park Ridge and Emerson. After playing Hawthorne Christian today, Midland Park will have some interesting matchups against fellow Group 1 schools up next with New Milford on Wednesday and Saddle Brook on Saturday. Amanda Parker currently leads Midland Park with 11 RBI.
20. Dumont (6-0)
The Huskies made their debut in the Top 25 this week, then improved to 6-0 on Monday with a 13-2 win over Roselle Park. Lindsey Gray has been lights out in the circle, including that 23-strikeout performance against Ridgefield Park in an 11-inning 2-1 win. She has also been one of the most productive players in the lineup too, driving in seven runs, while teammate Jen Sweeney has added a team-best nine RBIs. Great test for Dumont coming up on Wednesday when it takes on No. 13 Mahwah.
21. Butler (6-0)
So, we really had no idea where to place Butler in this week’s Top 25. They were unranked last week, then beat Pequannock, 3-1 (huge win), and remain one of the few undefeated teams in our coverage area. Are the Bulldogs for real? Morris County coaches seem to think so, as Butler received the No. 1 seed in the upcoming Morris County Tournament for the first time in program history at the seeding meeting last night. Last year, they reached the tournament quarterfinals before losing to eventual champion, Whippany Park. I saw Butler play once last year and they were very young (four freshmen started) and pretty good. Now they’re one year older and one year better, and are off to another great start. Sophomore pitcher Larissa Spellman has been terrific, tossing a one-hitter against Pequannock with 11 strikeouts. A few days earlier, she tossed another one-hitter with 18 strikeouts in a 6-0 win over Glen Ridge.
22. Paramus (2-2)
Paramus has only played four games in two weeks (for comparison, IHA has played 10), beating Hackensack and Ramapo and losing to Indian Hills and Ridgewood. There’s not much else to really report on, but the Spartans remain a team to keep an eye on. Their biggest test this week will be on Saturday when they take on Old Tappan.
23. Ramapo (2-5)
Ramapo coach Leslie Stephen reached career win No. 400 on Saturday in an 8-5 win over Jefferson. I talked to her for a bit Sunday night and she spoke about how she really doesn’t want the attention on herself, but rather all the great players and great kids she’s seen grow up throughout the years. A lot of them texted her ‘congratulations’ after reaching 400 and she would respond with, ‘If it wasn’t for you, it wouldn’t have been possible.’ She talked about how special it was to win three Bergen County titles in a row from 2006-08 (still the only public school to ever accomplish the feat) and how that 2006 team went 29-2, won the county and Group 3 state titles and was named the No. 1 team in New Jersey that year. She was glad that there was only about 15 minutes to celebrate her individual milestone before Ramapo had to go get ready to take on Pope John in the second half of a double header. In win No. 400, Alyssa Incantalupo drove in three runs, Casey Altamuro added a pair of RBIs and Melanie Psota got the milestone win on the mound against a Jefferson team that came in undefeated (and recently got the No. 4 seed in the Morris County tournament).
24. Hawthorne (5-1)
Three-sport star Mallory Noordeloos has led the way for the Bears through the first two weeks, with six extra base hits (four doubles, two triples) and a team-best 10 RBI. After taking down Rutherford and Garfield last week, Hawthorne now sits atop the NJIC Colonial as the league’s only remaining unbeaten team. Jessica Ciccarella has been a two-way threat for the Bears, going 5-1 on the mound, while driving in nine runs through six games.
25. Passaic Tech (7-1)
Passaic Tech went 3-1 in four games last week, suffering its only loss to No. 1 Immaculate Heart, 12-2. The Bulldogs are atop the division in the Big North Liberty (4-0), a half game ahead of Passaic, who PCTI has already beaten, 11-0. Tamira Easterling (1 double, 1 triple, 4 home runs, 12 RBI), Jenna Turkousky (1 triple, 3 home runs, 10 RBI) and Amirah Chaney (1 double, 1 home run and 9 RBI) have been pacing the Bulldogs’ offense through eight games.
* * *
No. 26 right now (and trending upward again) is probably Rutherford (4-2), especially after Monday’s 5-0 win over Pascack Hills. Natalie Else homered twice in that win and drove in three. Amanda Pendleton is 4-1 on the mound and fired a four-hitter in the win over Pascack Hills.
No. 27 goes to Emerson (5-3), who just took down Midland Park, 3-0, on Monday. Mary Kelly, Veronica DeStefano and Mary Riker all had RBIs while Katie Falotico tossed a five-hit shutout. The Cavos’ three losses are all to ranked teams — No. 5 Northern Highlands, 8-5 (a game that was tied 5-5 in the 6th), No. 18 Park Ridge, 6-4, and No. 10 Old Tappan, 10-0.
West Milford (4-3) comes in at No. 28, after two recent wins over Lakeland, 16-6, and Passaic, 4-0. The Highlanders have been up and down through two weeks, with losses to Passaic Valley and Wayne Hills, but took No. 14 Fair Lawn to nine innings before falling 3-2, 10-runned Lakealnd, and beat a hot Passaic team on Monday. Mackenzie Porch leads West Milford with 8 RBIs.
No. 29 is Lyndhurst (7-2), whose lone two losses are to Passaic Tech, 8-5, and a pretty good Kittatinny team (they are 5-2), 2-0. Jenn Tellefsen continues to perform on the mound and at the plate, going 7-2 and adding three home runs and 13 RBIs through nine games. Grace Tomko has added three doubles, one home run and 10 RBI and Monica Laverty has provided two doubles, one home run and 9 RBI.
And No. 30 could be a few different teams – Lakeland (3-2), Demarest (2-5), Passaic (6-3), Pompton Lakes (5-2), Secaucus (5-2), Wood-Ridge (5-2), or even Westwood (1-7), who just beat undefeated Fort Lee on Monday.