Monday, April 21, 2008

By Rich Barton
NJS.com Staff Writer

EMERSON – The thought of Bergenfield making the Bergen County this season seemed improbable at best. However, as they prepared for yesterday’s game against Ridgefield Park, the Bears knew full well that a win would put them in position to do just that. After a couple of lean years at the bottom of the NBIL standings, Bergenfield can finally see the light at the end of a long tunnel and took another step towards a goal that no one outside of a Bears uniform thought was possible before the season began.

Bergenfield scored four runs in the first inning and Kate Lehr took care of the rest. Lehr, who is the No. 2 pitcher for the Bears, came up big in the biggest game of her varsity career to date. The sophomore allowed just three hits as Bergenfield got back to .500 with a 5-2 win over Ridgefield Park.

“This was a huge game for us and we knew we had to start fast,” said Kate Lehr. “Once we were up (4-0), I knew I just had to do my job from there.”

Bergenfield played small ball early, setting up a big inning in the bottom of the first. Brooke Schmelz worked out a walk to start the inning. Jenna Meny and Sam Cain followed with bunt singles to load the bases with no outs.

The Scarlets had a chance to limit the damage when Kim Naas made a nice play to snare a line-drive off the bat of Bergenfield’s Brianna Notarangelo. Her throw attempting to double off Schmelz got away, allowing her to score. After a walk to Lehr and an RBI groundout by Nicole Bufis, Jaime D’Esposito knocked home two runs with a double to make it 4-0.

“We had a big win over Fort Lee and a win over Hasbrouck Heights, but it did not carry over,” said Ridgefield Park head coach Mook Iannacone. “I thought once we fell behind that we would be more aggressive at the plate, but that wasn’t the case. This is a disappointing game, but Bergenfield outplayed us. We have to put it behind us and get ready for a big week that’s ahead of us.”

Ridgefield Park cut the deficit to three runs in the sixth on one play without the ball going out of the infield. Carly Lynn’s grounder was thrown away and she rounded second heading towards third. The throw to third also got away and she scored to make it 5-2. Naas then singled and it appeared that the Scarlets might have a rally going. Lehr put that notion to rest quickly by retiring the final eight batters she faced.

“To know I have the bats and a good defense behind me made me more comfortable,” said Lehr. “It’s easier to pitch with a four-run lead. We hit the ball well today and that helped me relax. I knew that even if I made a mistake that my teammates would pick me up in the field or at the plate. I was just trying to get ahead and keep the ball off the plate after that. After going through their lineup the first time, I had an idea of what pitches I wanted to throw to certain batters.”

“We need every ‘W’ we can and this one was just as big the other ones we’ve had this season,” said Bergenfield head coach Maria Carluccio. “This was a breakout game for us to start the way we did. We put it together and we’re building confidence along the way to our goal of making the counties.”

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