Arianna Barrett threw a 3-hit shutout for IHA and won an old fashioned pitcher's duel in a 1-0 victory over Ramsey in the Bergen County Tournament final.
WOOD-RIDGE – With the talent that Arianna Barrett possesses in the circle, it would have been easy for her to transfer after only receiving spot starts during her first two years of high school. Sitting behind North Jersey Player of Year Jocelyn Moody, Barrett took the opportunity to learn and improve her mental approach to pitching in big games. While she was happy to be a part of last year’s Bergen County championship team, she knew it would be even sweeter if she was the one in the circle when the final out was recorded. With Immaculate Heart Academy one game away from repeating as Bergen County champions, the time was now and Barrett was ready.
Facing a Ramsey team that had recently beaten them the Blue Eagles knew they were going to be in for a battle. A heads-up baserunning play by senior Annabella Martino accounted for the only run. Barrett did the rest, that included working her way out of a bases-loaded one-out jam in the fifth inning as top-seeded IHA won the Bergen County Tournament for a second straight season with a 1-0 win over No. 3 seed Ramsey on Saturday afternoon at the Wood-Ridge Athletic Complex.
“Coming into this game, we had to score first and put the pressure on them to play catch-up,” said IHA’s Sofia Valente. “We’re a team that really plays for each other and that helps us play so well together. Arianna (Barrett) really set the tone for us today and we followed her lead.”
The regular season win over IHA gave the Rams confidence coming into the game. They were 60 feet away from taking the lead in the first inning, but Barrett got a groundout to escape any damage.
Lucy Sobel was stellar in the circle for Ramsey as she allowed just four hits against IHA's formidable lineup.
In the bottom half of the third, the hard-hitting Blue Eagles showed they could also scratch across a run without hitting the ball out of the infield. Gabby Shadek, the leading homerun hitter in North Jersey, legged out an infield hit. Noelle Urbaniak followed by beating out a grounder to short to put two runners on. Then with one out, Caitlyn Mikros hit a ground ball with Ramsey going to second for the force out. Urbaniak hustled and took out the second baseman with a hard, legal slide at second base. As the Ramsey second baseman went down, Martino (a courtesy runner for Shadek) beat the throw to the plate to give IHA a 1-0 lead.
Ramsey’s best chance to score came in the top half of the fifth inning. They loaded the bases with one out. In a high-pressure situation, Barrett never flinched. She induced an infield pop-up before fielding a grounder back to the circle and flipping to Shadek at home to extinguish the threat.
“It’s easy to stay calm in those situations when you have complete confidence in your defense behind you,” said Barrett. “Ramsey has a strong lineup and everyone puts the ball on the ball. I just wanted to get ahead in the count and keep the ball down as often as I could.”
Barrett was calm in the circle throughout, but so was her counterpart, freshman Lucy Sobel. IHA loaded the bases in the bottom half of the inning with a chance to tack on some insurance runs. Sobel got the final to keep the Rams in the game.
Ramsey had one last gasp in the seventh inning. Sydney Marchisin led off with a single. After a fielder’s choice for the first out, Barrett induced a ground ball up the middle. Shortstop Sofia Valente took it herself, stepping on the second base bag then firing to first to complete the championship-clinching double play.
Gabby Shadek's infield single set up the game's lone run in the bottom of the third inning.
“I don’t know how to describe it, it’s an honor to pitch in this game and I wanted to win this one for our seniors,” added Barrett. “I knew that I wasn’t going to be able to blow pitches by the Ramsey batters. The goal was not to elevate the ball and try to get as many ground ball outs as I could,”
Barrett allowed just three hits with two walks and two strikeouts for IHA (24-4). Sophia Noriega and Gianna DiMeglio had the other hits for the Blue Eagles.
Sobel pitched well in defeat, giving up just four hits for Ramsey (27-2). Taylor Menzel and Sydney Suser had the other Ram hits,
Before the start of each IHA softball season, the goals are the same; winning league, county, and section titles. With two of the three in hand, the Blue Eagles will turn their attention towards the Non-Public A North tournament and potential showdown with rival Mount St. Dominic.
“We’re always looking at the game that is in front of us,” said Valente. “We’re very happy to win the counties for the second straight year, but when we get up tomorrow, we must put this game behind us and look ahead. Our team will do what we’ve done all year, take it one game at a time. After winning a county title, we’re feeling pretty good and we’re excited about what’s ahead of us.”
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