The Hoboken Redwings (one word) gave it their all in the Hudson County Softball Tournament this year, reaching the tournament finals before falling to Kearny, 7-1, last Saturday at New Jersey City University’s Thomas Gerrity Athletic Complex.
“We battled them twice before this season, losing 3-1 and 8-7,” said Hoboken head softball coach Vinnie Johnson. “I always thought the toughest thing to do is to beat a team three times. I knew I had that in my hand. I thought we were prepared for them. Their leadoff hitter [Ryelle Seda] killed us the first two times, so we wanted to keep her off the bases and we did. I thought we had a better shot than what we did.”
The Redwings surrendered one run in the first inning, two in the second and another in the third. That doomed any chance of a comeback.
“We just didn’t hit,” Johnson said. “We were down 4-0 and that’s tough to come back from. We had been in that situation a few times and we did come back to win a few of those games. We started to hit a little at the end of the game, but it was too little, too late. Kearny proved to be better than us. I can’t take anything away from them. They deserved to win.”
If there was one highlight for the Redwings, it was the pitching of Natalie Viton, who was very solid in defeat.
“She’s only a sophomore and we put her in a tough position by falling behind,” Johnson said of Viton. “We also made some mistakes behind her. I thought she pitched very well.”
Viton now has 128 strikeouts this season.
The Redwings could have felt sorry for themselves, but they rallied to win two games in the NJSIAA North Jersey Section 2, Group I playoffs, soundly defeating University Charter, 15-0, in the first round, then disposing of North Arlington, 11-3, in the quarterfinals last Wednesday.
Brianna Peguero had two hits and three RBI in the win over North Arlington. Jaeda Henriquez had two hits, scored three runs and had two RBI for the winners, who now get a home game Tuesday against Roselle Park in the sectional semifinals.
“We have Natalie coming back next year and the twins [Jaeda and Alicea Henriquez], so we should be in good shape,” Johnson said.
First things first. There’s a state sectional title at stake and the Redwings are still in the running…
North Bergen, which was upset by Hoboken in the Hudson County Softball Tournament semifinals last week, won twice in the NJSIAA North 1, Group IV sectional, knocking off Randolph, 5-4, then disposing of Morristown, 5-3, to advance to the sectional semifinals, where the Bruins will play host to Livingston Tuesday.
Victoria Avella, the winning pitcher, helped her cause with two hits and two RBI and Angelique Rivera had two hits and an RBI for the winners. Avella won for the 22nd time this season…
Hudson Catholic also has a home game in the state playoffs Tuesday, facing Pope John in the Non-Public A quarterfinals…
In baseball, Secaucus and Weehawken are both alive in North 2, Group I bracket, with the Patriots facing Technology of Newark in the quarterfinals. The Patriots defeated Roselle Park, 6-0, in the first round.
The Indians defeated Arts of Newark, 7-0, in the first round. They now face Glen Ridge in the quarterfinals. If both teams win, they face each other in the sectional semifinals Tuesday. Weehawken is the No. 7 seed and Secaucus No. 11, so the home game would go to the Indians…
Marist won its first game in the Non-Public B North tournament over Eastern Christian, 8-1. The Royal Knights will now face Morris County champion Morristown-Beard in the second round…
North Bergen won the girls’ team title at the Hudson County Track Coaches Association championships at Secaucus High School last Saturday, with this week’s Reporter Athlete of the Week Natalie Gomes leading the way.
But the Bruins also received huge contributions from sophomore Shayla Morales, who won the 800-meter run in a time of 2:19.80, which qualified Morales for the nationals.
“That time was one of the best in the nation,” North Bergen coach Elson Smajlaj said.
Morales also finished second in the 1,600-meter run to Camille Bertholon of St. Dominic Academy in just her first try at ever running that distance.
Morales was also part of the winning 4×400-meter relay along with Gomes. Idalis Maldonado was second in the high jump and fifth in the long jump for the Bruins…
It was a team championship for the boys of McNair Academic, who received a fine meet from junior Haig Rickerby, who won four events — the 200-meter dash (22.42 seconds), the 400-meter run (48.98 seconds) and the 800-meter run (1:57.88) as well as the 4×400-meter relay.
Junior Younass Barkouch also won the 1,600-meter run in 4:32.09 for the Cougars…
North Bergen baseball standout Rafael DeLeon signed a scholarship letter with Mercy College of New York, an NCAA Division II school…
Former Hoboken High, Duquesne University and NBA standout Derrick Alston is a proud father these days. His son, Derrick, Jr. signed a national letter of intent to attend Boise State University…
Glad to hear that long-time high school basketball assistant coach and former Guttenberg schools official Joe Forenza is on the road to recovery. Forenza, currently an assistant at Hudson Catholic, was just released after a lengthy stay at Kessler Institute for Rehabilitation in West Orange….
The Jersey City combo with the New York Giants has been broken up. Robert Ayers, who was with the Giants for the last two seasons, signed a free agent contract with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Jonathan Casillas, the other Giants player who hailed from Jersey City, remains with the club. The two called each other “Jersey City” in joking fashion while going through practice and training sessions, but not anymore…
Hudson Reporter High School Baseball Top Five: 1. St. Peter’s Prep (19-7). 2. Union City (19-8). 3. Memorial (16-10). 4. Bayonne (15-13). 5. North Bergen (13-14)…
Hudson Reporter High School Softball Top Five: 1. North Bergen (22-5). 2. Hudson Catholic (17-9). 3. Hoboken (15-8). 4. Weehawken (14-9). 5. Union City (11-10). – Jim Hague
Jim Hague can be reached at OGSMAR@aol.com.