Sunday, May 4, 2008

By Cory K. Doviak
NJS.com Editorial Director

Jackie McLaughlin about to throw to first for the final out of Immaculate Conception's first ever Bergen County Tournament win, a 1-0 upset at 13th-seeded Northern Highlands.

ALLENDALE -- It was only the most important inning in the most important game in the history of Immaculate Conception, the tiny all girls catholic high school located in Lodi. Entering the bottom of the seventh inning on Saturday, the Blue Wolves and their No. 20 seed were clinging to a one-run lead on the road against NBIL power Northern Highlands looking for the school's first ever win in the Bergen County Tournament. There was history to be made and Immaculate Conception third baseman Jackie McLaughlin was hoping for a second chance to be a part of it.

It was an error on a McLaughlin throw Danielle Rotonda to reach base, second base no less, leading off the bottom of the seventh inning with Northern Highlands down to its last three outs. So when a sacrifice bunt and a pop-out left Rotonda at third base, 60 feet from a tie game, McLaughlin had just one thought.

Jenna Stoller struck out 14 for Northern Highlands.

“I definitely wanted it to be hit to me,” said McLaughlin. “I definitely wanted another chance.”

McLaughlin did get another chance and when her throw, which was right on target, landed in the glove over first baseman Michelle Stack for the third and final out, McLaughlin had redemption and Immaculate Conception had an upset win, its first ever in the county tournament and either the 400th or 401st win in the head coaching career of Jeff Horohonich, who is in his first season at Immaculate Conception.

“We don’t know if it is 400 or 401, but I don’t really care. It’s all about these kids working hard all year and improving every game,” said Horohonich. “We’ve been playing well lately and with Kate [McFarlane] pitching; we know we have a shot. Once we got the lead we got the confidence that we could pull it off.”

Immaculate Conception spent its first five turns at bat alternately being dominated by Northern Highlands starter Jenna Stoller and showing flashes of being able to put the ball in play. The Blue Wolves had one hit in each of the first four innings and put two runners in scoring position, but also struck out nine times over the first five innings.

IC's Kelsey Hannon racing home with the game's lone run.

Meanwhile, McFarlane pitched out of a two-on, two-out jam in the second inning and leaned on her defense as the game wore on. In the fifth, centerfielder Kelsey Hannan made a leaping catch on the full run sprinting into left-center. That shot off the bat of Lauren Nasta had extra bases written all over it, and the next hitter, Lauren Glasheen hit a seed the opposite way, but the line drive was caught by McLaughlin in self defense.

Having dodged trouble in the bottom of the fifth, IC finally took advantage of an offensive opportunity in the top of the sixth. Hannan led off with a single up the middle and she went to second on a wild pitch. After a strikeout, Natalie Quintella cracked a double that short-hopped the wall in right centerfield. Hannan scored the game’s lone run standing up.

“I really don’t remember what she threw me, but I had to hit the ball. I thought it was going to get caught because it was a high fly ball, but got in there,” said Quintella. “Once we got that run I knew we would be able to hold on to it with the way [McFarlane] was pitching. We just had to get her one run.”

Sacrifice bunts, this one by Jackie Lewis, pushed the tying run into scoring position for No. Highlands in each of the last two innings.

With two turns at bat left to avoid the upset, Northern Highlands put together threats in both of them. In the sixth, the Highlanders got a leadoff single, a spinning blooper that landed just behind the first base bag, from Allie Silverman and Jackie Lewis moved pinch runner Olivia Pascarella into scoring position with a sacrifice bunt. Pascarella moved to third base on a ground ball, but with two outs and after intentionally walking Stoller, McFarlane got the last of her seven strikeouts after an eight-pitch battle to get of the jam.

And McFarlane never panicked in the bottom of the seventh when she had a runner at third base with one out. She got a pop-up and the second groundball to McLaughlin that ended the game and set off a celebration just outside the Immaculate Conception dugout.

“It was nerve-wracking. My thoughts were all over the place and I was shaking. It’s a crazy feeling, but that type of stuff gives me the adrenalin to keep going, to focus on the next pitch,” said McFarlane, a senior and four-year varsity player who had never even qualified for the county tournament before, let alone been a winning pitcher in it. “Senior year, this is great. We are a small school and nobody ever expected us to do anything in the county tournament. Now we have a win and some confidence.”

Kate McFarlane threw a three-hitter to win Immaculate Conception's first-ever Bergen County Tournament win.

McFarlane finished with a three-hitter, allowed just two walks and held the top five hitters in the Highlands lineup to a combined 0-for-11. Northern Highlands lost its second straight game and fell to 9-6 on the season and made a tough luck loser out of Stoller, who allowed just five hits and a walk while striking out 14.

Immaculate Conception improved to 11-6 on the season and will play fourth-seeded Saddle Brook, a 10-1 winner over Fort Lee in the opening round, in Sunday’s Round of 16. The two schools met last week in a regular season B-PSL matchup and Saddle Brook won a 5-0 decision, although none of the five runs were scored off of McFarlane, who will get the ball from the start in the rematch.

“This win just gives us so much confidence,” said Horohonich. “We’ve talked all this year about taking that next step, about beating a quality team and we finally broke through. Saddle Brook is going to be a tough game tomorrow, we know that and we know how good they are, but we are playing well right now and we’ll see what happens.”

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