Thursday, April 15, 2010

By Cory K. Doviak
NJS.com Editorial Director

Kirsten Savage had two hits and scored a run batting out of the leadoff spot for Old Tappan, which improved to 6-1 on the season with a 5-2 win over visiting Ramapo on Wednesday.

OLD TAPPAN -- The effect of the new rule that moves the pitching rubber back three feet in New Jersey high school softball is still hard to quantify this early in the season. But some observations can still be made and it is obvious that not only do batters have an extra three feet to see the ball out of a pitcher's hand, but coaches have a few more options when deciding on the best way to attack a defense. No longer is a bunt the only option when a leadoff hitter gets on base and the expanded choices suit a team like Old Tappan just fine.

“I think now you have the ability to expect a hit rather than try to manufacture [a run], which is something we still like to do because we have kids with speed that can do it, but it is not as magnified sometimes,” said Old Tappan head coach Melissa Landeck. “It depends on what kind of game you are in and what the situation is, but it is nice to have options and I think with the kids we have in our lineup we have lots of options.”

And Old Tappan’s options start right at the top of the batting order with leadoff hitter Kirsten Savage and No. 2 hitter Kelsey Morgan. It was Savage that set up the tying run with her double leading off the top of the first inning, both Savage and Morgan that set the table for the go-ahead run in the third and Morgan’s one-out walk in the fourth that kicked off a three-run rally that provided the winning runs in Old Tappan’s 5-2 victory over Ramapo on Wednesday afternoon.

Freshman Lexi Graber hit a two-out triple that led to Ramapo taking a 1-0 lead in the top of the first inning.

The win was a nice bounce back for the Golden Knights, who dropped their first game of the season on Monday against Pascack Valley and pushed their record to 6-1 on the season.

Ramapo jumped in front in the top of the first inning with a two-out rally that consisted of just two swings. One ended in a triple the opposite way by freshman Lexi Graber and the other was a single by cleanup hitter Meredith Ahlmeyer, who singled in Graber with the game’s first run.

Old Tappan got that run back in its first at bat when Savage leadoff with a double, was moved up a base by Morgan and then scored on Allison Brown’s groundout. Morgan gave Old Tappan the lead in the bottom of the third with a slap single that snuck through the left side of the infield and scored Kayla Farrell, who led off with a single and moved into scoring position on Savage’s sacrifice bunt.

Ramapo tied the game at 2 in the top of the fifth when Emily Brown provided a leadoff double and scored on Alyssa Nacco’s bloop single to left, but Old Tappan broke through in the bottom of the inning to take control of the game.

Jen Capazzi struck out 8 and did not walk a batter in earning the win for Old Tappan.

The rally started innocently enough when Morgan drew the one-out walk off of Ramapo starter Tori Sobel, who then got a fly ball to centerfield that Brown gloved for the second out of the inning with Morgan still standing at first base. But before Ramapo could find the last out, Old Tappan put together four straight hits and built a three-run lead.

Nicole DeLisio got it started with a double to the centerfield wall that scored Morgan from first base. Mary Wiley followed with a double into the left centerfield gap to score DeLisio and Mia Assante added an RBI single that gave Old Tappan starter Jen Capazzi a comfortable lead to work with over Ramapo’s final two at bats.

Capazzi, the senior hurler who pitched Old Tappan to the semifinals of the Bergen County Tournament last season, retired six of the final seven hitters she faced to finish off an efficient performance inside the circle. She went the distance allowing just two runs on eight hits. She struck out five and, more importantly, did not walk a single batter. Capazzi seems to have made the transition to the 43-foot distance rather seamlessly after two summers worth of pitching from the extended distance.

Meredith Ahlmeyer knocked in Ramapo's first run with a two-out single in the top of the first inning.

“It doesn’t really change the way I pitch because I am used to throwing from 43 feet,” said Capazzi. “But it does change the game a little bit because there is a lot more hitting and there are a lot more balls put in play. It puts more on the defense, but that is good for us because our defense makes all of the plays and I have a lot of confidence in them.”

Capazzi worked around Old Tappan’s lone error of the game by striking out the final two hitters of third inning. That is a key this season for all pitchers with the more available offensive opportunities this season.

“I think hitters have gained a little bit of an advantage, especially the second, third or fourth time they get to see a pitcher in a game. You could see that in the fifth inning today. Credit Old Tappan, the third time through [line up] they were really seeing the ball,” said Ramapo head coach Leslie Stephen. “I think the emphasis has been taken away from the ‘Small Ball’ game a little bit because now you know that one or two runs isn’t necessarily going to win you a game anymore. It’s going to take four or five.”

The loss dropped Ramapo to 3-4 on the season in what is a transition year for the Green Raiders, the defending North 1, Group 3 state sectional champions who reached the Group 3 state final game last season and won three straight Bergen County championships from 2006-08.

Old Tappan centerfielder Jordan Flavell-Boney making a sliding catch.

Playing against the tough NBIL schedule and with two freshmen in the starting lineup on Wednesday, Ramapo has been competitive, but is looking for the consistency that will allow it to, first off all, get it into the county tournament and, secondly, be in a position to make a run when it gets there.

Ramapo’s four losses have come against Indian Hills, Pascack Valley, Paramus Catholic and Old Tappan, four of Bergen County’s top teams.

“We are just trying to put some wins together, get hot and win a couple of games to get us in the counties. It is not going to be a battle,” said Stephen. “We have the league we are playing in and our two independent games next week are Paramus and Pequannock, so we haven’t laid an easy road for us to get there. We are used to a level of excellence and we are a young group with a lot of inexperience, but hopefully we can find our way and kind of gel as the season goes along.”

FOR MORE PHOTOS OF THIS EVENT OR TO BUY A COLLECTOR'S PRINT OF THIS GAME STORY, PLEASE VISIT 4FeetGrafix.com.