Sunday, May 11, 2008

By Ned Winner
NJS.com Correspondent

FRANKLIN LAKES – Taking some cuts in the batting cages before Saturday’s Bergen County quarterfinal game against Park Ridge, Saddle Brook’s Christian Esposito had a good feeling. She sensed that maybe she was going to put one over the wall at Ramapo High School’s softball field.

“Espo” was right.

After Park Ridge hopped out to a 2-0 lead in the top of the first inning, Esposito answered with a two-run, opposite field blast that knotted the game and put the Falcons on their way to an eventual 7-4 win. Saddle Brook scored six times in the game’s first three innings, coasting into the semifinals, where they’ll face top-seeded Ridgewood next Saturday at Ramapo College.

Park Ridge opened the scoring early off of Saddle Brook starter Kim Prevedel, picking up first-inning runs off on Caiyln Lavender’s RBI single and Dana Carroll’s run-scoring double.

In the bottom half of the inning, though, Stephanie Gilronan got Saddle Brook started with a leadoff single. Two batters later, the score was tied.

“The kids weren’t panicked, but it’s not a position you want to be in,” Saddle Brook coach Darren White said of his team’s early 2-0 hole. “Then Steph rips a single to lead it off and I thought we were going to at least get one. Then Christina comes up and makes sure we get two.”

Esposito said that her team has played well from behind all year.

“We weren’t worried at all,” she said. “We’re usually a comeback team. We play seven innings. We get 21 outs. We get many, many chances to get runs back.”

After Esposito’s jack, the Falcons took off. Saddle Brook scored three runs in the second, thanks largely to a two-RBI single by freshman second baseman Kaitlyn La Cass, the team’s ninth hitter. La Cass had another run-scoring single in the third, putting Saddle Brook up 6-2 at the time. She finished the day 2-for-3 with three RBI.

La Cass has slipped seamlessly into the second base slot for Saddle Brook this year after Esposito shifted over the shortstop. Admittedly, La Cass had to overcome some butterflies before her clutch performance on Saturday.

“I like the pressure games,” La Cass said. “I was nervous, but I’m always nervous. I get used to it. My team helps a lot.”

“She’s just been outstanding,” White said of La Cass.

After a tough first inning, Saddle Brook starter Kim Prevedel settled down and was close to outstanding. She finished the game with 10 strikeouts, the last one coming on a game-ending called strike three. She did allow feisty Park Ridge to plate single runs in the fifth and sixth innings, but did everything she needed to do to win the game.

“I thought she pitched well with a lead,” White said. “She was getting ahead, making her pitches.”

“I was a little off today, but my fielder’s helped me out,” Prevedel said. “It helps to have a good team behind you.”

Prevedel also helped herself, going 2-for-4 with a pair of singles and two runs scored. Gilronan reached base all four times up for Saddle Brook, finishing 2-for-2 with two walks and a run scored. Carroll was the hitting star for Park Ridge, going 3-for-4 with two doubles and a pair of RBI.

Things don’t get any easier for the Falcons as they prepare to take on the Ridgewood, the tournament’s No. 1 seed, in next weekend’s semifinal round to be played at Ramapo College. The two teams played earlier in the year in a game that remained scoreless into the seventh before Ridgewood pulled out the win.

“It’s nothing we haven’t seen before,” White said. “Playing Ridgewood just gives us a chance to redeem ourselves.”

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