Sunday,
May 25, 2014
By Rich Barton
NJS.com Staff Writer
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Shelby Allen's sixth inning homerun gave Indian Hills' all the runs it would need to advance to the Bergen County semifinals with a 1-0 win over Ridgewood on Saturday. |
WASHINGTON TOWNSHIP – As Indian Hills' Devin Durando and Ridgewood's Nicole Parks put up one clean frame after another in Saturday's Bergen County quarterfinal showdown it became more and more evident runs were going to be coming at a premium.
Finally, with two outs in the bottom of the sixth inning, Shelby Allen provided all the runs the Braves would need. Allen caught up to a middle-in fastball and crushed it to deep left field for a solo home. Durando made the run stand up as top-seeded Indian Hills outlasted eighth-seeded Ridgewood in a classic pitcher's duel, 1-0, at Immaculate Heart Academy in Washington Township.
“We were already in two battles with Ridgewood this year and this was another one,” said Indian Hills' head coach Joe Leicht. “It takes guts to fail and you know against a pitcher like (Parks) that you're going to. The game is all about pitching and you have to find a pattern that works which both Devin and Nicole did today.”
Ridgewood's best opportunity to score came in the top of the first inning when Lindsay Gray reached on an infield single, Kelly Skettini then reached on an error and both runners moved up on a wild pitch. Before The Maroons had two runners in scoring position, nobody out, and the heart of their order coming up. But Durando reared back and was able to get out of the jam by striking out the next three batters.
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Ridgewood's Nicole Parks pitched well in defeat, allowing just four hits. |
“We had a chance to get on the board but we couldn't get that one hit or make contact to force them to make a play at the plate,” said Ridgewood head coach Patti Auger. “Against someone like Durando, you're not going to get too many opportunities to score and you have to take advantage of them when you get them. I thought both pitchers did an excellent job today and both teams fought hard all year long.”
Indian Hills had a scoring chance of its own in the bottom of the third. Kelsey Coughlin led off with a single, moved to second on a bunt and to third on a base hit by Nicole Mellone. Leicht wisely held Coughlin at third as Gray threw a dead strike to the plate from centerfield that would have easily had Coughlin out on a play at the plate. But Parks then induced a groundball to end the threat.
Heading into the bottom of the sixth, both Durando and Parks (who are both headed to play at Division 1 University of Albany next year) were dealing. Parks even more so having retired 10 straight before Allen stepped to the plate with two outs in the sixth. After going off the plate low and outside with a change-up on an 0-2 pitch, Parks came back with an a high and inside screwball. The pitch was in a good location but Allen was able to bring her hands inside the ball and got all of it. The homerun was a no-doubter and gave the Braves a 1-0 lead.
“My first two at-bats weren't very good, so I tried to stay more relaxed when I got up this time,” said Allen. “I was looking for anything over the middle of the plate and tried to stay off of her riser.”
Durando allowed a two-out single to Gray in the seventh but struck out the next batter to send Indian Hills (25-0) into the BCT semifinal round. She tossed a four-hit shutout with three walks and 11 strikeouts. It was the Braves' third victory over Ridgewood this season; with all three wins coming by a combined four runs.
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Indian Hills' catcher Maddie Levine. |
Parks pitched very well in taking the hard-luck loss for Ridgewood (20-6). She allowed just four hits and had 11 Ks without walking a batter. Gray reached base in all four of her plate appearances going 3-3 with a walk. The Maroons will look to bounce back on Tuesday when they face No. 1 seed and this year's Morris County champion Morris Knolls in the North 1, Group 4 semifinals.
The Braves will play No. 13 seed Mahwah in the Bergen County semifinals on Monday.
“I wanted to go out, pitch hard, and keep them off the board,” said Durando. “When we're going up against a pitcher like Parks, it motivates me because I know it's going to be a battle. You can't win if you don't score, so I had to do my job and keep them from scoring. I knew if I came hitting my spots that our team would make the plays behind me and we'd eventually get that one big hit.”
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