Thursday,
June 18, 2015
By Rich Barton
NJS.com Staff Writer
What is the No. 1 reason that North Jersey high school athletes work so hard at their respective sports? It's for the chance to be one of Barton's best, of course. North Jersey's most highly anticipated postseason awards spectacular continues with Barton's Best: Spring 2015...
Male Athlete of the Season:
Ashton Bardzell
Ramsey Baseball
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Ramsey senior Ashton Bardzell tied the state record with 18 home runs this season. |
Bardzell was one of the more unsung players in Bergen County coming into this season, but did not have a big profile statewide. That all changed as the senior outfielder put up one of the greatest offensive campaigns in the history of New Jersey baseball.
No matter what opposing pitchers attempted to do to get Bardzell out it was often in vain. By the second half of the season just keeping a ball that came whizzing off of his bat in the ballpark was viewed as a success.
Bardzell’s numbers were eye-popping in every category. A .586 batting average and a .673 on-base percentage come off as ridiculous stats, but pale in comparison to the power-speed combination Bardzell possesses. He tied current American League MVP Mike Trout's record for homeruns in a season with 18 and finished with an incredible 1.414 slugging percentage. Three of those HRs came in the state tournament with a seventh-inning walkoff HR to beat Dover and another in the North 1, Group 2 semifinals to help the Rams beat Pequannock.
He also had 55 RBIs, 54 runs scored, 32 extra-base hits, and 27 stolen bases. Bardzell will play at the University of Hartford next year, but with a season like he had this spring, nobody in or out of Ramsey will not forget the awesome display put on by Bardzell.
Runner-Up:
Josh Shaw
Don Bosco Prep Baseball
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Josh Shaw became just the third player to win back-to-back MVP Awards at the Bergen County Tournament. |
Shaw is as steady of a defensive shortstop as there is in New Jersey. But make no mistake, the St. John's-bound Shaw is also handy at the plate too. The 6-foot senior batted .475 with a .555 on-base percentage, 32 RBIs, and 21 stolen bases this season. For the past two years, Shaw has been at his best in the Bergen County Tournament.
Not known for his power, Shaw showed that he could put a charge into the ball when it counted. Facing archrival Bergen Catholic in the Bergen County final, Shaw clubbed a two-run homer to left in the first inning to set the tone. Then, in the sixth inning with the game still in doubt, he rocked another two-run shot as Don Bosco won its second straight Bergen County title with Shaw becoming just the third player in the 57-year history of the Bergen County Tournament to win back-to-back MVP honors.
Honorable Mention:
Brendan Mackie, Bergen Catholic Lacrosse
Corey Caddle, St. Peter's Prep Baseball
Gregory Cuevas, St. Mary's Baseball
Mike Rosenvasser, Northern Valley/Demarest Tennis
Mike Reilly, Bergen Catholic Lacrosse
Daniel Nuzhny, Dwight-Englewood Tennis
Mike Salmonese, Waldwick Baseball
Eamon Catherina, Ridgefield Baseball
Freddie Zaretsky, Fair Lawn Tennis
Cullen Dana, Don Bosco Baseball
Female Athlete of the Season:
Katie Duncan
Northern Highlands Softball
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Before heading off to Harvard, Katie Duncan delivered Highlands' first-ever Bergen County softball title. |
In her junior season Duncan, a 6-foot-1 lefty, split time in the circle with Sarah Gunderson for a surging Northern Highlands team. With virtually the entire team returning for her senior year, Duncan knew she had to grow from purely a hard thrower into a well-rounded pitcher. It was a transition that took a lot of work in the off-season, but one that saw all of the hard work pay off in the end.
Duncan grew into the role of a full-time starter pitching one big game after another. She was equally as dangerous in the batter's box as she was in the circle as the cleanup batter in the Highlanders' lineup.
The sweet-swinging lefty could hit the ball with power and hit it to all fields. Duncan had 16 multi-hit games, including six three-hit games. She also drove in a run in 19 of the Highlanders' games and had seven games with at least two RBIs.
Throughout the Bergen County Tournament, Duncan was outstanding in all facets of the game. Against a stacked Immaculate Conception team in the BCT quarterfinals the game went into extra-innings. After the Highlanders took the lead in the top half of the inning, IC threatened with the tying and winning runs in scoring position. Duncan bore down and got the final out as the Highlanders pulled out a 3-2 win.
In the semifinals against Northern Valley/Demarest, Duncan shook off a tough first inning (allowing two unearned runs) and settled down before helping her own cause at the plate. She sliced a double down the left-field line that gave her team the lead for good and a berth in the Bergen County final.
Against IHA in the championship game, Duncan's single gave the Highlanders a 2-0 lead and they never looked back. The Harvard-bound senior allowed just two hits to lead Northern Highlands to its first-ever county title in softball with a 6-2 victory.
Runner-Up:
Reese Guevarra
IHA Softball
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IHA's Reese Guevarra crushed it in her sophomore season. |
Just a sophomore, Guevarra has already developed into the team's ferocious leader through her work ethic and her production on the field. A lefty who hits both for average and for power, she is a nightmare for opposing pitchers at the top of the Blue Eagles' lineup.
Guevarra batted .557 on the season with 59 hits and 48 runs scored. She also hit for power with 12 doubles, five triples, and six homers with a team-high 36 RBIs.
Already committed to the University of Connecticut, Guevarra is also the best defensive centerfielder in the state using her blazing speed and her rocket arm to make an impact in the field as well as at the plate.
Honorable Mention:
Jordan Ford, Ridgewood Lacrosse
Lisa Higgins, Ridgewood Softball
Kaitlin Salisbury, Hawthorne Track
Julie Rodriguez, Old Tappan Softball
Jen Stoll, Lakeland Softball
Kelly Sim, Holy Angels Golf
Veronica Corcoran, Demarest Softball
Katie Olson, Ramsey Softball
Dani McMahon, Saddle River Day Lacrosse
Shelby Allen, Indian Hills Softball
Gabby Slade, Immaculate Conception Softball
Katie Bourque, Ridgewood Lacrosse
Emilie Cieslak, IHA Softball
Veronica Vergara, DePaul Softball
Victoria Corcoran, Northern Valley/Demarest Softball
Sarah Gunderson, Northern Highlands Softball
Sophie Blasius, Ramsey Softball
Boys' Team of the Season:
Emerson Baseball
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Emerson won its first state title since 2001. |
While the cupboard was not left bare when longtime head coach Bob Carcich retired at the end of the 2014 season, there were certainly question marks surrounding the Cavos coming into this season and a 3-3 start could have created a crisis of confidence. This senior-laden squad, led by first-year head coach Chris Sommerhalter, never lost faith in its belief that this season had the potential to be a special one.
Behind the 1-2 punch of Mike Callagee and Chris Nedilsky on the mound, Emerson hits its stride in late April and it fueled them all the way to the state final.
The Cavos prided themselves on pitching and rock solid defense, getting both in their biggest game of their lives. Nedilsky allowed just one run and second baseman Frank Manning made a back handed play with the bases-loaded and the tying run on second for the final out to give Emerson its first Group 1 state title since 2001.
Runner-Up:
Don Bosco Prep Baseball
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Bosco won a second straight county title and finished with just one loss on the season. |
Don Bosco Prep’s baseball program has paraded great player after great player through its system of the last decade plus and is never in rebuilding mode. Even with the loss of some talented seniors from the 2014 team, it came to no one’s surprise that the Ironmen reloaded and busted out the bats and their power arms in the rotation right from opening day.
They won 7 of their first 12 games by the mercy rule and allowed more than two runs in just two of those games before a showdown with South Jersey power Gloucester Catholic. There the Ironmen won 5-3 and used it as a springboard toward defending their Bergen County title.
In the county tournament they were finally tested in both the semifinals and the final before a pair of clutch homers saved the day. Tristan Dacey snapped a tie with a solo shot in the fifth inning of a 4-3 win over Mahwah. A day later, Josh Shaw hit his second HR of the game in the bottom of the sixth inning as Don Bosco held off Bergen Catholic to win its second straight BCT title with a 9-5 win.
In the Non-Public A North Tournament, the Ironmen were simply dominant, outscoring three quality teams (DePaul, Bergen Catholic, and St. Joseph's Regional) by a whopping 27-1 margin on the way to the Non-Public A state final as the only undefeated team in New Jersey. Unfortunately, the joy ride ended there with a loss to Christian Brothers Academy. A tough finish for a team that was as dominant as we've seen in North Jersey since the Ironmen themselves finished off an undefeated season in 2008.
Honorable Mention:
Emerson Baseball
Ridgewood Lacrosse
Bergen Catholic Golf
Fair Lawn Volleyball
St. Peter's Prep Baseball
Tenafly Tennis
Lakeland Baseball
Dwight-Englewood Tennis
Ridgefield Baseball
Northern Valley/Demarest Tennis
Harrison Volleyball
Bergen Catholic Baseball
Girls' Team of the Season:
Ridgewood Lacrosse
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Ridgewood won a county tite and a Group 4 championship. |
As big of a sports town as Ridgewood is and as big of a sport as girls' lacrosse has become, the Lady Maroons have been the gold standard from E. Ridgewood Ave. all the way to Cape May. This was a season where everything seemed to go Ridgewood's way right until a very unfortunate and controversial end.
Right out of the gate, Ridgewood steamrolled quality opponents by controlling play in all three phases. It all starts with the draw and all-stater Jordan Ford was as good as they get in controlling the draw and facilitating the attack.
In a two-week span, Ridgewood beat traditional powers Oak Knoll, Summit, and Moorestown during the state tournament, which eventually gained them the No. 1 seed in the Tournament of Champions t.
Before that though, they had to face an undefeated Northern Highlands team in the Bergen County final. Was this the year that a Bergen County team finally knocked off the Maroons? The answer was an emphatic no with Ridgewood holding the Highlanders scoreless over the final 36 minutes of a 16-2 win.
After a tight 11-9 win over Lenape to win the Group 4 state title, they faced Summit in the Tournament of Champions semis. In what turned out to be a controversial play, Summit scored with 3.4 seconds left to put an end Ridgewood's dream season.
While a bevy of seniors graduate, there were will still be plenty of talent returning next year with a wave of freshman coming up as well. Ridgewood will still be a power, but it will be tough to top the dominance that this team displayed throughout the season.
Runner-Up:
IHA Softball
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Without a single senior on the roster, IHA won the Non-Public A state championship. |
After a loaded senior class, including the all-time wins leader in New Jersey (Steph Thomas) graduated, IHA came into the season for the first time in nearly two decades with some major question marks in the circle. Neither freshman southpaw Katie Kudlacik nor sophomore Olivia Sprofera had ever thrown a pitch in a varsity game before. As always the Blue Eagles play an ambitious schedule so there was little room for error for a team with not a single senior on the roster.
Behind Reese Guevarra and Emilie Cieslak, the offense paved the way early until the Kudlacik and Sprofera came into their own. Both did so at different times of the season and were brilliant in big games.
Kudlacik struckout a career-high 18 batters and Cieslak provided the game-winning hit as IHA avoided an upset at the hands of Mahwah in the Bergen County quarterfinals. In the state tournament, it was Sprofera's turn.
Sprofera, also a lefty who is already committed to Providence College, mowed down the competition throughout the states. She tossed three straight shutouts in the state tournament, including a perfect game in the Non-Public A North section final against Pope John. Then, in the Non-Public A state final against Notre Dame, she allowed just four hits before the Blue Eagles won it in the bottom of the seventh. Ally Dudek singled home Reagan Jones with two outs to give IHA a state-record 10th overall state title.
Honorable Mention:
Ramsey Softball
Ridgewood Softball
Northern Highlands Softball
Immaculate Conception Softball
Northern Highlands Lacrosse
Northern Valley/Demarest Softball
DePaul Softball
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