Saturday, April 30, 2011

By Cory K. Doviak
NJS.com Editorial Director

Carly Piccinich was 3-for-4 with 2 runs scored, 2 stolen bases and RBI and a couple of key defensive plays for IHA, which knocked off Bergenfield, 5-0, in the opening round of the Bergen County Softball Tournament.

WASHINGTON TOWNSHIP – Five-and-a-half innings had been played inthe opening round of the Bergen County Softball Tournament and things were not going as smoothly as might have been expected for Immaculate Heart Academy. Sure the second seeded Blue Eagles had held a lead since the bottom of the first inning, but they had missed out on a couple of chances to pull away from Bergenfield, the 31st seed that was dodging bullets and hanging around.

“In the sixth inning we all just kind of got together and said ‘Let’s go.’ It was a county game and we only had one run,” said Carly Piccinich, IHA’s junior all state second baseman and a three-year starter. “We weren’t really playing like it was a county game. If they got two runs, we were out and I think that finally hit us.”

As the weight of the moment hit the Eagles, they in turn hit the ball. With four hits and four runs in the bottom of the sixth inning, IHA went on to a 5-0 win that suggested a level of comfort that just wasn’t there just for most of the game.

“We didn’t have that sense of urgency that you need in a tournament game and give credit to Bergenfield. They pitched well, made some plays on defense and had us on our heels for the better part of the game,” said IHA head coach Anthony Larezza. “Finally our bats broke through in the sixth inning to give us a little breathing room, but the scoreboard doesn’t show just how tough this game was for us.”

Bergenfield's Vicky Miranda allowed just two earned runs.

It didn’t look it was going to be anything that was going to make IHA sweat after the first inning. The Eagles’ starting pitcher, freshman Steph Thomas, making her second start since returning from an appendectomy, struck out the first hitter she faced on three pitches and proceeded to strike out the side in the frame.

The bottom half of the inning was just as efficient for IHA as Piccinich, who now bats exclusively from the left side of the plate after two varsity seasons as a righty, led off by pulling a single into right field. Thomas followed with a sacrifice bunt attempt that turned out to be even better as she beat the throw to first and then followed the play to second as Bergenfield threw to third in an unsuccessful attempt to nab Piccinich at third. Ally Vergona lifted a sacrifice fly that pushed Piccinich home and the Blue Eagles had a lead after just three batters.

But while they made it look easy in the first inning, innings two through five were a lesson in frustration. While Thomas was holding Bergenfield hitless and to just one base runner, courtesy of a leadoff walk in the fourth to Vicky Miranda, through the first five innings, IHA was leaving the base paths littered with stranded runners.

In her first county game, IHA freshman Steph Thomas threw a 1-hitter and had two hits.

The Eagles had their first two batters of the second inning, Lauren Currens and Rachel Pollard, reach safely, but they were left at first and second. They left a runner in scoring position in the third and, in the fifth; another opportunity went by the wayside. Daniella Ibarra, IHA’s starting shortstop, was skipped the first time through the order in favor of the designated player. She took her own at bat out of the No. 9 hole in the in the fifth and crushed a double to the wall in left followed by Piccinich’s bunt single and swipe of second that put two runners in scoring position with no outs.

But Bergenfield pitcher Stephanie Miranda worked out of that jam getting IHA’s No. 2, 3 and 4 hitters to pop-up, strike out and fly out to centerfield in that order.

“We got out of some tough situations and we gave ourselves a chance. We were the No. 31 seed coming in here, IHA is the No. 2 and people thought we were going to get destroyed. But that is not what happened,” said Melissa Smith, who played in the county tournament and is now back at Bergenfield in her first year as its head coach. “We worked hard, we battled we were down by just one run after five innings before they found some gaps.”

Bergenfield (5-6) did have some chances to apply even more early pressure, but had one runner picked off of first base by Vergona, IHA’s catcher, who threw to Piccinich sneaking in from her second base position for the final out of the fourth inning. In the fifth, Nicole Steccato led off with the Bears’ first hit of the game before being lifted for a pinch runner. Jill Hanley then got down a sacrifice bunt, but after receiving the throw at first base for the first out, Piccinich threw down to second to catch the running rounding the base for the second out. Because Vergona made a dive and got a glove on a dive to catch the bunt attempt and because third baseman Erica Correa recovered in time to get out at first, it was the old routine 2-5-4-6 double play.

IHA's Daniella Ibarra stroking a lead off double in the fifth inning.

A walk and a strikeout later and Thomas was out of the only really trouble she faced on the way to her complete game, one-hitter.

“This game was a little different because it was a county game and if you lose…that’s it. I felt that the whole game and they kept punching at us. A bunt and a blooper and they could have scored to make it a tie game,” said Thomas who improved her personal record to 10-2 on the season as her team improved to 14-3 overall. “In the beginning I was throwing a lot of curveballs because it was really working, but around the fourth or fifth inning I started to get a little tired, I slowed down maybe because of the surgery. I just tried changing speeds after that and it worked.”

The nail-biting portion of the game came to an end in the sixth when Abby Holmes led off with a double followed by an error on Currens’ bunt attempt. Pollard followed with another bunt that turned into an RBI when Holmes beat the play at home. Ibarra lifted a sac fly to make it 3-0 and Piccinich picked up and RBI and a hustle double to extend the lead to 4-0 and Vergona’s single drove in the final run of the game.

“I love our team chemistry and I love the way we are playing right now. We could be hitting a little bit better, but if you are getting good pitching and playing good defense as we have been you are going to be in every game you play in this tournament,” said Larezza, whose team won the county title in 2009 before falling to eventual champ Indian Hills in last season’s semifinal round. “I like our chances and hopefully we are starting to peak at the right time, not just for this tournament but for the states, too.”

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