Friday,
April 22, 2016
By Rich Barton
NJS.com Staff Writer
|
Jaimie Parisi got the win in the circle and also added an RBI for Hackensack, which improved to 9-4 on the season with a 7-3 win at North Bergen on Thursday. |
NORTH BERGEN – Playing in the rugged Big North-Freedom Division, Hackensack has finished at or near the bottom of the league standings every year since its inception back in 2010. In years past, losing to one of the state’s best like the Lady Comets did on Wednesday against Northern Valley/Demarest would be met without so much as batting an eye. That is not the case by any means this year for a senior-laden Hackensack squad that has already exceeded expectations and is hungry for more.
They were angry and the only way to make that pain go away was to get back on the winning track. It would not come easy against a North Bergen team that suffered a heartbreaking loss of its own on Wednesday with a controversial call leading to a 7-6 loss against Kearny. Something had to give when the two teams clashed on Thursday afternoon.
North Bergen made several errors at key points and the Comets took full advantage of them. The go-ahead scored on a throwing error in the sixth inning. Winning pitcher Jaimie Parisi added an RBI single later in the inning as Hackensack scored four runs over the final two innings to hand North Bergen its second straight loss by the score of 7-3 at Hudson County Park.
“Against a strong team that faces the type of competition that Hackensack does, you can’t make four errors or it will come back and bite you,” said North Bergen head coach Tom Eagleson, North Jersey’s current wins leader with over 600 in his career.
|
Lauren Cabrera finished with two of North Bergen's six hits. |
Hackensack got off to a hot start by giving Parisi some early run support. In the top of the second inning, Brittany Morgan led off with a Texas-league double down the left-field line. Allegra Addeo drove her home with an RBI single before two more walks loaded the bases. Then, with two outs, a high fly ball to left off the bat of Allison Conlon was dropped. That allowed two more runs to score and gave the Comets a 3-0 lead.
After struggling to solve Parisi the first time through the order, the Bruins were more successful the second time around. After a leadoff walk and a single by Lauren Cabrera, Angelique Rivera lifted a sacrifice fly to get North Bergen on the scoreboard. Designated player Marilyn Rodriguez lined a single and Imani Cabrera beat out an infield hit to drive in another run and tie the game at 3 after four innings of play.
The score remained that way until the top of the sixth. After Parisi wiggled out of a jam with two runners in scoring position in the bottom of the fifth, Lauren Miastowski beat out an infield hit and moved to second on a groundout. No. 9 batter Megan Hickey hit a hard ground ball back through the circle on which the North Bergen shortstop made a nice play on the ball but her throw was wide and Miastowski to come around to score for a 4-3 lead. The Comets padded their advantage when Parisi helped her own cause with a run-scoring single to make it 5-3.
“We knew we needed this win and we’ve really learned to fight for each other in these close games,” said Parisi. “The last couple of years we’ve been young and inexperienced when it comes to winning big games. We know we can hit. I trust them 100-percent to make the plays behind me and they trust me 100-percent. I knew on that (RBI) single that I needed to pick myself up and make something happen for my team.”
|
Allegra Addeo had two hits and an RBI for Hackensack, which will test itself against the tough schedule it has coming up in the next week. |
Hackensack tacked on two more insurance runs on an RBI single from Miastowski and Carolyn Alcantara beat the tag on the back end of a double steal to make it a four-run lead. That was enough for Parisi, who retired the side 1-2-3 in the seventh to seal the victory.
Parisi picked up the win for Hackensack (9-4), allowing just one infield hit over the final three innings. Addeo and Miastowski paced the offense from the sixth and seventh batting slots, both collecting two hits and an RBI.
Lauren Cabrera finished with two of the Bruins’ six hits and Victoria Avella took the loss for North Bergen (7-2), allowing nine hits with three walks and four Ks.
With traditional powerhouse teams like Indian Hills, Northern Highlands and Ridgewood all coming up right in a row over the next week, the Comets will find out just how close or far they are from making a deep run in the Bergen County Tournament.
“We love the challenges and we feel like we can play with anyone,” said Hackensack head coach Rob Feehan. “We make plays, we have experience, and this team really battles every at-bat and every out in the field. Our division is the toughest division in North Jersey and that really helps for games like this. We finally broke through today and that gives us confidence going into next week and into the Bergen County Tournament the week after.”
CLICK HERE FOR MORE PHOTOS FROM THIS GAME. TO BUY A COLLECTOR'S PRINT
OF THIS STORY, PLEASE VISIT 4FeetGrafix.com. |