May 28, 2010
Hoboken falls in N2,G1 final
Hoboken's Ashley Barron slides to stop a relay throw from the outfield.
Click Here for photos from Whippany Park at Hoboken.
By Jason Bernstein
Editorial Director
HOBOKEN – It’s an all-too familiar ending for the Hoboken softball team. For the third-straight season, the Red Wings’ season came to an end one win short of a section title.
Hoboken’s season ended with a thud dropping a 13-2 decision to Whippany Park in the North 2, Group I final yesterday at JFK Stadium.
“When the wheels fall off, they fall off,” Hoboken coach Carmine Ronga said. “I’ve never seen our team decompose so fast in all elements of the game.”
The top-seeded Red Wings (20-5) would find themselves down 4-0 before coming to bat. Three of those runs were unearned as a result of a Hoboken throwing error.
Despite the early hole, Hoboken remained in striking distance as they cut the deficit down to three when Amanda Spano scored on a wild pitch in the second inning. After a rough first, Hoboken starting pitcher Yaritza Santiago had settled down, limiting the third-seeded Wildcats (20-8) to just three hits over the next three innings.
But it would all come crashing down for Santiago and the Red Wings in the fifth inning as the first four Whippany Park hitters reached base. After another Hoboken throwing error plated one run, Jill Hall’s RBI bloop double just beyond the reach of Nicolette Martinez would make it 6-1. Hannah Muccerino and Taylor Trifiolis followed with run-scoring hits to put the game out of reach.
“Up until the fifth inning I still thought it was a game and it is at 4-1,” Ronga said. “It just comes down to we didn’t execute.”
Whippany Park continued to pile up the runs as they scored once in the sixth on a Casey Reggiani homer and added four more runs in the seventh.
In the circle, Reggiani found her groove after struggling with her grip early on as she retired nine straight batters during the middle innings. The junior limited Hoboken to just two runs on six hits and two walks. She struck out seven.
“She did get stronger as we went along,” Whippany Park coach Todd Callaghan said. “As the game went on I think she adjusted and started hitting her spots better.”
At the plate, Reggiani was 2-for-3 with two RBI and a pair of walks. Sarah LaFerrara was 4-for-5 with two runs scored and Casey Bartholomew was 2-for-3 with a double. Hall added three hits, two runs and two RBI in the victory.
Santiago, one of just two senior starters for the Red Wings, struck out four batters in the loss. Hoboken added a run in the seventh when Renee Zabaleta tripled in Samantha Rotondi.
“I am very proud of my team,” Ronga said. “We had a great season, 20-5”
The win was Whippany Park’s third-straight tournament win over a Hudson County foe. They defeated Secaucus 4-3 in the quarterfinals last Thursday and topped High Tech 7-4 in Tuesday’s semifinal. Whippany Park now faces Wood-Ridge in the Group I semifinals on Tuesday.
The Wildcats’ win ends a three-year stranglehold Hudson County had on the North 2, Group I title. Hoboken defeated Secaucus for the crown in 2007. High Tech won the title in 2008 and 2009, topping the Red Wings in the final each time.
Whippany Park's Briana Cetrulo (left) and Casey Reggiani celebrate after the last out.
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
6 |
7 |
R
13
2 |
||||
| Whippany Park Wildcats (20-8) | 4 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
4 |
1 |
4 |
||||
| Hoboken Red Wings (20-5) | 0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
||||
| Hits: Hoboken 6; Whippany Park 17 | |||||||||||
| RBI: Hoboken: Renee Zabaleta. Whippany Park: Jill Hall (2), Hannah Mucerino (2), Casey Reggiani (2), Jenn Sanislo (2), Carly Bartholomew, Taylor Trifiolis. | |||||||||||
| W: Casey Reggiani | |||||||||||
| L: Yaritza Santiago | |||||||||||