A five fun top of the seventh inning led to a 6-4 win over Passaic Valley and Pompton Lakes' first Passaic County Tournament softball title since 2001.

RIVERDALE – As her teammates enthusiastically congratulated Pompton Lakes captain Heather Mahoney after a diving catch to end the sixth inning, it could have gone down as a nice moment on an otherwise disappointing day. The Cardinals were trailing by three runs against top-seeded Passaic Valley heading into their last at-bat of the Passaic County Tournament championship game and were just three outs from defeat.

Instead, Mahoney’s catch was just a sign of things to come.

After a relatively routine game through six innings, the seventh provided plenty of twists and turns with Pompton Lakes’ momentum growing pitch-by-pitch.

The Cardinals took advantage of three Hornet errors in the seventh to bring across five runs and take the lead. It turned out that there was still plenty of game left as Passaic Valley loaded the bases to put the potential tying and winning runs on base with one out when another unlikely hero made her presence felt. Junior Haley O’Reilly came on in relief to get the final two outs as second-seeded Pompton Lakes won its first Passaic County Tournament title since 2001 with a 6-4 triumph over top-seeded Passaic Valley on Saturday at Independence Field in Riverdale.

“We’re so close and we always pick each other up, that showed today when we needed it most,” said Pompton Lakes senior Gina Oswald. “Our team plays for each other, and we just want to see our teammates do well. We’ve worked so hard for this, and we’ve practiced for this moment.”

Pompton Lakes struck first in the top of the second inning. Freshman Lindsey Kulish had a solid game both offensively and defensively. Her RBI single brought home Isabel Maher to put the Cardinals in front. The Hornets answered back in the bottom half of the inning to tie the game on an RBI groundout. In the third inning, PV’s Bella Gomez roped a ball to right field and just beat the throw to first base for a two-out RBI single that gave the Hornets a 2-1 lead.

Mia Aquino allowed just one earned run in another solid outing for top-seeded Passaic Valley.

In the top of the fourth inning, the Cardinals had the tying run on third base with one out. On a fly ball to center, PV’s Lily Allmendinger threw a perfect strike to the plate with Kacey DiPasquale applying the tag for an inning-ending 8-2 double play to preserve the lead.

The Hornets took advantage of an error and used a double steal to tack on two more runs to grab a 4-1 lead. It appeared like a safe lead with the way PV’s Mia Aquino was dealing in the circle. The Hornets had chances to tack on runs in both the fifth and sixth innings but were robbed by great catches in the outfield. Kulish made a leaping grab in right-center to end the fifth. Then in the sixth, Mahoney got a great jump on a looper over the second baseman’s head and laid out full extension to make a spectacular grab, that saved two runs and kept the deficit at three, 4-1.

“I only had time to react, so I just went all out and hoped I could get there,” said Mahoney. “I just wanted to help give us a chance in the 7th. We knew we could do it and the bottom of the lineup came up huge for us. We all believed in each other and we’re going to fight to the end no matter what.”

With their backs against the wall, the Cardinals were able to get the bat on the ball. A dropped pop-up to lead off the inning, along with a single from Morgan Hanna with an outfield error on the play gave the Cardinals some life. Heather Mahoney came up clutch again with an RBI single to trim the lead to 4-3. Then with two outs, it was up to Myers to keep their title hopes alive. The sweet-swinging lefty went the opposite way and smoked a sinking line drive that was misplayed, allowing the tying and go-ahead runs to score. Gina Oswald followed with an RBI single. Within the blink of an eye, the Cardinals now had a two-run lead and needed just three outs to close out the program’s first Passaic County Tournament title in 22 years.

Those three outs would not come easy against the top of the Hornets’ lineup. After Myers allowed a leadoff single, Pompton Lakes’ head coach Karyn Hennessy elected to make a bold move and bring in the right-hander O’Reilly. PV was able to load the bases with one out, but O’Reilly hung tough. She induced a fly ball to short right field with Kulish making the grab and firing home, as the runner was held at third. The tying run was still in scoring position and the winning run at first when O’Reilly got a called third strike to touch off a celebration that has been building since before any of the current Cardinals were born.

Heather Mahoney made key plays in the field and at the plate to help Pompton Lakes pull off the stunning comeback.

“Our adrenaline was going the whole game and it’s still going,” said Myers. “There’s no drama on this team and we always keep a positive attitude in every situation. I must give our coaching staff credit too. They’re about tough love, but we also know they just want us to be our best. We work really hard, but it’s also a lot of fun and it helps keeps us relaxed for games like this. This team just got in a good flow in the 7th inning, and we’ll always play until the last out.”

Eight of the nine batters in the lineup recorded a hit for Pompton Lakes (15-5). Myers went six strong innings to pick up the win with O’Reilly coming up with the save.

Aquino took the hard-luck loss for Passaic Valley (14-2). Only one of the six runs allowed by the junior lefty were earned. Allmendinger paced the Hornets with a 3-for-4 day at the plate.

For a Group 1 team that is as close-knit as Pompton Lakes is, winning a Passaic County title will only make their bond grow even stronger not only throughout the remainder of this season, but for years and decades to come.

“When you’re growing up, we all dreamed about playing for and winning a county championship,” added Mahoney. “It’s something we talked about when we were younger and all throughout this season. But it’s crazy to think that it’s all actually happened the way we dreamed it would.”

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