In the past, winning the HCIAA Seglio Division softball title, like the way the Lasercats of High Tech High School had done in each of the previous three years, there wasn’t a ton of pressure on the players.
However, when you’re the defending NJSIAA North Jersey Section 2, Group I state champions and made a trip to the overall Group I title game last June in Toms River, the expectations are significantly raised.
Such was the case this season for the Lasercats. It wasn’t enough to simply win the Seglio for a fourth straight year. High Tech had to dominate. They had to take no prisoners along the way.
“We had a lot of goals this year and the expectations were very high,” said High Tech head coach Ravon Anderson. “We were expected to do it this year. I think the hardest thing to do in sports is to win when everyone expects you to win. We’re not sneaking up on anyone anymore. Everyone in the state knew who we were and we were getting everyone’s best. It’s a lot tougher to win when the expectations are there.”
However, it gets a lot easier when you have one of the best pitchers in the state.
Junior Erica Colon has been nothing short of sensational all season. She was a very good pitcher in each of her first two seasons with the Lasercats. This year, she’s brought it to a totally different dimension.
“She is dominant now, no question,” Anderson said. “She’s really focused and she’s worked very hard to get where she is.”
How dominant? Try pitching nine no-hitters and four perfect games. Colon has surrendered just six earned runs all season, pitching a total of 16 shutouts. She has collected 286 strikeouts this season and has won 20 games. It’s one of the best single-season pitching performances in Hudson County history.
Colon continued her brilliant campaign last Sunday, leading the Lasercats to a place where they were expected to be. She fired a one-hit shutout, striking out eight, leading High Tech to a 3-0 victory over Hoboken to secure the fourth straight and final HCIAA Seglio Division title for the Lasercats.
Remarkably, it’s the fifth straight league crown for Anderson, the former Hoboken High and Rutgers University football star, who led Hoboken to the Seglio title in 2005.
Incredibly, Colon masterfully dismissed the Lasercats’ fiercest rivals without her best command.
“She really didn’t have her best stuff,” Anderson said. “Maybe she’s running into a little fatigue right now. I hope that’s not the case, because when Erica’s on, she’s totally dominant.”
Another dominant player has been senior Justine Mateo, whose solo homer in third inning gave Colon all the run support she would need in the title game. For Mateo, who will head to Dominican College to play softball in the fall, winning one last county crown was only fitting.
“Because I was a senior, it meant more to me to win this last time,” Mateo said. “Hitting the home run was just an added bonus. This was more special than any of the other times we won, because it was the last one and because the pressure was on us this year. We had to go out and win every game just in order to play to our potential.”
Anderson said that Mateo now has 194 stolen bases in her career.
“She’s the epitome of the word ‘consistency,’” Anderson said. “She’s had 50 stolen bases a year. To get that number, you have to get on base, someway, somehow, and she does. I can always count on her to get on base. When she’s on base, she causes havoc.”
The Lasercats didn’t rest on their county championship. They defeated Mount St. Dominic, the No. 16-ranked team in the state, 3-1 on Tuesday. A day later, they defeated North Arlington in the quarterfinals of the NJSIAA North Jersey Section 2, Group I playoffs, making their first step toward successfully defending their state crown.
“It feels great,” Anderson said. “Our girls don’t get bored with success. They show up and want to win every game every year. The young kids come in and they want to keep it going. It’s a real nice feeling.”
Especially when you have to meet expectations…
When the NJSIAA state playoff baseball brackets were released last week, one local team seemed a bit conspicuous with their absence. Marist, one of the better teams in the county, was left out of the Non-Public (Parochial) A playoffs.
At first glance, you say, “How can that be?” Considering that the Royal Knights are a solid squad and currently have a 12-7 record, way beyond the .500 mark needed to qualify.
But according to head coach Ron Hayward, the Knights were 6-7 at the time of the qualifying cutoff. They had a game slated against Snyder on the day before the cutoff, but for some reason, the Tigers didn’t show up and Marist was not awarded a forfeit win. So the Knights have to be the best team in the state not participating in the state playoffs. It’s very strange…
Congrats to St. Dominic Academy’s track team for capturing the Hudson County Track Coaches Association championship to go along with the HCIAA crown the Blue Devils won last week. It’s been a solid season for SDA, a well-balanced attack headed by senior Morgan West, who won two gold medals last week at the HCTCA championships….
On the boys’ side, Snyder’s Zamir Thomas continued his awesome year, winning the 100, 200 and 400-meter championships. The sophomore’s star is just beginning to rise… – Jim Hague
Jim Hague can be reached at OGSMAR@aol.com.