Sunday, May 11, 2008

By Cory K. Doviak
NJS.com Editorial Director

Brittany Baiunco struck out the first six hitters she faced to set the tone for Ramapo in a 4-0 win over Paramus in the quarterfinals of the Bergen County Tournament on Saturday.

FRANKLIN LAKES -- What a difference a couple of days can make for a softball player. After Thursday's game Ramapo junior Amanda Schellaci needed a pep talk, a confidence booster after an 0-for-4 day when she left four runners in scoring position in a 1-0, nine-inning loss at Pascack Valley. Two days later, after the quarterfinals of the Bergen County Tournament, Schellaci had more pleasant things to talk about.

With one out in the bottom of the second inning, Schellaci came up with her team holding a 1-0 lead and two runners on base. After a seven pitch battle against Paramus ace Allison Schraer, Schellaci crushed pitch No. 8 on a line into deep right field. The shot scored two runs, Schellaci ended up on second and Ramapo had more than enough runs to make it look easy in a 4-0 win on its own home field.

The Green Raiders, the No. 2 seed and the two-time defending Bergen County champions, moved to within two wins of becoming the first team in the 34-year history of the tournament to win three straight titles. Ramapo will play No. 3 IHA on Saturday at Ramapo College with a spot in the county final on the line.

Paramus leftfielder Jenni Zymet coming in to make a play on a base hit.

“The last game was not a great game for me, but that is the great thing about this game; you can redeem yourself any time. It just happened at the right time for me today,” said Schellaci, Ramapo’s junior third baseman. “It was late in the count, the ball was a little bit outside and I just tried to see it and hit it. I thought they might have had a chance to catch it, Paramus is a really good defensive team, so I wasn’t sure, but it felt good when I saw it land.”

Schellaci’s clutch double came right after Julie Shaw had given Ramapo the lead with bloop single that scored Mallory Brown, who led off the inning with a clean single up the middle and Paramus was forced to play from behind and take some chances in might not normally take in an effort to get back in the game.

“First I want to say that I am very proud of my kids’ effort today. We were up against the two-time defending county champs and we knew it was going to be tough,” said Paramus head coach Brian Hay, whose 10th-seeded team upset No. 7 Indian Hills last week just to reach the quarterfinals. ”We made some mistakes early that cost us, and if you get down against that team it is not easy comeback.”

Ramapo's Amanda Schellaci watching her second inning double head toward the outfield.

The three-run second inning outburst was more than enough for Brittany Baiunco, Ramapo’s senior starting pitcher who has owned the Bergen County Tournament since she first made a splash in it as a freshman in 2005.

Baiunco has been the winning pitcher in each of the last two county championship games and she came out guns a-blazin’ on Saturday. She struck out the first six hitters she faced to set the tone and she pitched out of trouble whenever it arose.

In the top of the third, Kristina Meier recorded Paramus’ first hit with a clean single up the middle and she stole second base. Shayna Brock slapped a one-out single into left field and Lizzy Iuppa drew a walk to load the bases, but Baiunco got a called strike three for the second out and got a pop-out for the third out to end the threat.

Baiunco struck out the side in the fourth, worked around an infield single in the fifth, a single and a walk in the sixth and worked a 1-2-3 seventh to finish with a complete game four-hitter. She struck out 12 and walked just two.

Paramus's Allison Schraer gave up six hits and a walk while striking out 5.

“It’s really exciting and really fun to be out there during county time,” said Baiunco, who was injured shortly after Ramapo won the county title last year and did not pitch in the Raiders’ run to a section title and the Group 3 state final. “After my injury last year and some adversity with this team in the beginning of the season, it feels great to be back in this situation and going back to the semifinals.”

Ramapo tacked on its final run in the bottom of the fourth inning when Shaw (2-for-2, RBI, R) hit a one-out single, Schellaci (1-for-2, 2 RBI, R) followed with a walk and, after a fielder’s choice moved Schellaci into scoring position, Becky Del Bove stroked an RBI single into leftfield from the leadoff spot in the order.

“I am just happy for the kids because it has been an up and down season. We have had some great wins, we have had some yucky losses and to see them, when it comes to this time of year, put their game faces on and play, it fun to watch,” said Ramapo head coach Leslie Stephen. “We are going to pitch well and we are going to play good defense, for us it is just coming up with those timely hits. Schellaci’s hit was huge today and I was happy for her. She redeemed herself in a big moment and I know that made her feel good and it was clutch for our team.”

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