Sunday,
April 12, 2015
By Cory K. Doviak
NJS.com Editorial Director
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Sophomore Julie Rodriguez did not allow an earned run in a complete game two-hitter for Old Tappan, which won its fifth straight game, a
3-1 victory over Butler on Saturday. |
WASHINGTON TOWNSHIP – To get asked to play in the IHA Invitational Tournament means one of two things. Either a team has already established itself as a premier program or it has the served notice that it has the potential to reach that status. Butler, the Group 1 state finalist from a year ago that has its pitcher, Larissa Spellman, and five other starters back, is in the former category, while Northern Valley/Old Tappan, with its mix of senior leadership and young talent, fits the second description.
Not only do outside forces see Old Tappan’s potential, but it is starting to see it in itself. Why else would a team that gets tested daily in its Big North Conference schedule go out and seek another tough opponent in a showcase on the weekend?
“[IHA head coach] Anthony [Larezza] reached out to me last year and said he had an opening in the tournament and asked if we would be interested in playing and I jumped at the opportunity,” said Old Tappan head coach Melissa Landeck. “Our program is in a good place and we feel like we can compete with the top teams. We got a chance to measure ourselves today, we did that and I liked the way it turned out.”
It turned out that Old Tappan does belong to be mentioned with the top handful of public schools in North Jersey as it won its fifth straight game, 3-1, over Butler on Saturday afternoon on the turf at IHA. The Golden Knights turned in a complete performance as, offensively, they attacked pitches in the strike zone, but were selective in wrapping out seven hits and drawing just as many walks. On defense, they were steady enough behind standout hurler Julie Rodriguez, who struck out just two but still carried a no-hitter into the sixth inning before settling for a two-hitter in which she did not allow an earned run.
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Kayla Carr's leadoff double in the sixth was Butler's first hit. |
“Our defense right now is close to perfect and I have trust in everyone on the field. I don’t feel like I have to get a lot of strikeouts to win games. I only had one or two today and the defense made the plays behind me,” said Rodriguez, the sophomore left-hander who is in her second season as Old Tappan’s starting pitcher. “I feel like I have more composure this year. I am settled in, I trust my teammates because I know them more and this team is not about one person. You could see it today; it was a great team win.”
Rodriguez walked Allison DePuyt, the second hitter of the game, but worked around the free pass and did not allow another baserunner until the top of the sixth inning. That gave her team plenty of time to take a lead and she was personally involved in that rally. Emma Nelson, NV/OT’s senior shortstop who notched the 100th hit of her career on Friday with a home run against Bergenfield, led off the bottom of the third inning with a walk and went to second on one of three sacrifice bunts laid down by Alexa Smedberg, the senior slap-hitter who also got career hit No. 100 last week with a single against Tenafly.
Rodriguez followed with a single up the middle to plate the game’s first run and the Knights’ took a 2-0 lead when Rodriguez, who is not removed from the basepaths in favor of a courtesy runner, scored on a wild pitch. The top three hitters in the Old Tappan lineup -- Nelson, Smedberg and Rodriguez – were a combined 5-for-5 in the game with two runs scored, an RBI and four walks drawn, Nelson was 2-for-2 with two walks and every time she reached, Smedberg followed with a successful bunt that moved her up at least one base and Smedberg also beat one out for a single.
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Old Tappan's Alexa Smedberg bunted in all four of her at bats and ended up with three sacrifices and a base hit. |
Old Tappan went up 3-0 in the bottom of the fifth when Kristen Farrell, the senior second baseman, drew a walk leading off and went first to third on Carol Olberhelman’s bunt single that included a throwing error. Farrell then scored on Rebecca Blekht’s groundout.
Rodriguez ran into her only bit of trouble in the top of the sixth when she gave up her first hit, a well-struck leadoff double to left-centerfield by Kayla Carr, who then took third on a passed ball. Erin McFall followed with a ground ball that pushed the lone Butler run home and she also reached safely on an error. Another miscue allowed Spellman to reach to put two on with no outs, but Rodriguez retired to the next three hitters to shut it down with just the one unearned run allowed. The Bulldogs’’ only other hit came off the bat of Amber Haslett, who singled with one out in the sixth.
Butler had won its first four games and should have been 5-0 coming in, but had its game against Morris Catholic, which it led 7-0 in the fourth inning, halted by the weather. The loss aside, Butler is certainly gearing up for another run at a state championship and it could take some positives away from putting the ball in play for seven innings against a top pitcher and hanging in there the whole way on a neutral field with a talented and much bigger school.
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Butler's Larissa Spellman struck out nine against seven walks. |
“Obviously we wanted to win, but that was a good game and we faced a good pitcher. We need to face that kind of pitching and play these types of games if we want to be as good as last year and make it one step further,” said Butler head coach Brittany Marion. “We rallied at the end of the game, we hit the ball the whole time and we never hung our heads. I am proud of the way we played today and this preps us for what we are going to face the rest of the season.”
It is because of the quality of the opponent that made this such an important win of Old Tappan, which is hoping to win a league title and make deep runs in the county and state tournaments. The Knights have not lost since Opening Day, a 4-2 setback against Pascack Valley.
“Butler is obviously as very good team, they are ranked really high and that made it a really good win for us, a good team win because so many people contributed. Julie pitched a great game. She held back a great offense and didn’t give up many hits,” said Nelson. “It’s now or never for me. We have four seniors and we are all playing our hardest and having fun. We are 5-1 now and we are on a good streak.”
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