Thursday, April 17,
2008
By
Rich Barton
NJS.com Staff Writer
ORADELL – When a softball team succeeds,
it is generally the pitcher that receives most of the credit.
It’s understandable as pitching is so much the driving force
in a softball team’s success, but someone has to catch those
pitches and call a game in order to put that pitcher in a position
to succeed.
Led
by right-hander Jessie Shevins, Tenafly is off to its best start
in years. However her battery mate, Brigette Cohan, has flown
under the radar as just another piece to the puzzle. But with
River Dell threatening in the fifth inning with two runners on
and one out, Cohan showed that she is more than a role player;
she showed that she is a difference-maker.
Cohan’s
snap throw picked the runner off of third and it helped Tenafly
get out of the inning as the Tigers held on to stay undefeated
with a 4-2 win at River Dell High School.
“This
game was important because (River Dell) will fight until the last
inning,” said Tenafly head coach Megan Williams. “It
comes down to one pitch, one batter, and it could have gone a
completely different way. We did well and we made the plays we
had to. This is a Tenafly team that is mature now and can handle
the intensity that River Dell always plays with.”
Tenafly used
aggressive baserunning to set the tone and take the lead in the
top half of the first inning. Amy Pfund singled to lead off the
inning and moved to second on a wild pitch. Jules Barrett then
followed with a hot shot up the middle. River Dell second baseman
Kiara Besonia knocked it down and threw out Pfund, who tried to
score from second. On the play, Barrett alertly moved up to second
when the throw went home. After a groundout, Barrett raced home
on a wild pitch to make it 1-0.
River Dell
tied it in the second inning when Alexis Yotka reached in an infield
single and was brought home on an RBI single from Stacey Kufel.
The game did not stay tied for long with Lady Tigers answering
back quickly for three runs in the third.
Pfund started
things off with her second base hit of the game off of River Dell
right-hander Chloe DeSanctis. A single from Cohan brought her
home to put Tenafly ahead for good. Megan Birch drove Cohan in
with an RBI single, and then took advantage of some wildness from
DeSanctis. She threw three wild pitches over her next five pitches.
On the third wild pitch, Birch broke for the plate and just got
under the tag of River Dell catcher Erin Cameron, giving Tenafly
a 4-1 lead.
DeSanctis
did not get rattled by her one bad inning. In fact, the freshman
single-handedly kept her team in the game. She did not allow a
runner past first base over the final four innings. The Hawks
had quality scoring chances in each of the final three innings,
but could only come away with one run.
Erin Chalk
reached on an error and Meghan Lustenberger singled to put runners
on the corners with one out. Normally it is Shevins who ends scoring
threats with her overpowering fastball. This time, it was Cohan
who used a fastball of her own to throw a curve at River Dell.
Chalk took a big lead off of third and Cohan threw behind her
and Tenafly third baseman Michelle Koles slapped on the tag.
“It
wasn’t a set play, I trusted that Michelle (Koles) was going
to be ready,” said Cohan, a senior. “(Chalk) took
a big lead, she’s aggressive, and we’re both trying
to score runs. I was just in the moment and I knew Michelle would
be there.”
River Dell
kept trying to make things happen and used a two-out rally to
score in the sixth. Catherine Cioffi singled and went to second
when Liz Trass drew a walk. A throwing error on a ground ball
allowed Cioffi to come home and cut the lead to 4-2.
The Hawks
had one last shot in the seventh with two on and cleanup batter
Yotka representing the winning run. Yotka hit a smash down to
third, but it was right at Koles who snared it and stepped on
the bag for the final out of the game.
“We
had certain opportunities that we didn’t cash in on,”
said River Dell head coach Mike Garibell. “You have to take
some kind of positive out of a loss. The positive thing is that
we can hang in there with a good team like Tenafly. We had a good
pitching performance, we got on base, we just didn’t cash
in.”
DeSanctis
scattered seven hits, walked one, and struck out four in taking
the loss for River Dell (4-3).
Shevins allowed
five hits, walked four, and had 13 Ks for Tenafly (9-0). Koles
and Ana Brown also had hits for the Lady Tigers. Tenafly is one
of just two undefeated teams left in Bergen County (Ridgewood
being the other). They have passed every test they have faced
thus far. But with teams like Indian Hills, Rutherford, and a
much-improved Fort Lee coming up in the next two weeks, the Tigers
still have plenty to prove.
“It’s
really exciting that we’re on this streak, but we have a
long way to go,” added Cohan. “I’ve never beaten
(River Dell) on their home field, so this is a nice senior moment
for me. I don’t think we expected anything coming into the
season, but it’s been one win after the other and we just
want to keep it going.”
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