The Lady Redwings' winning streak came to a halt Tuesday afternoon. Under overcast skies, pitcher Erica Colon, a Hoboken native, propelled High Tech High School of North Bergen to an 8-1 win.
The Lasercats, featuring five Hobokenites in their starting nine, struck early. Sophomore Natalie Classen, of Hoboken, led off with a single, followed by Colon's RBI single for the 1-0 lead. A sacrifice fly made it 2-0.
In the second, Hoboken pitcher Jayla Vega got the first two batters before Sybil Lynch, also of Hoboken, bunted for a base-hit. Classen followed with a two-run home-run for the 4-0 lead.
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Vega shut-down the Lasercats in the the next three innings. Colon also pitched well, preserving the shut out until the fourth, when Hoboken scored its only run of the game. Sophomore Samantha Moldonado led off with a single, advancing to third on a passed ball and a fielder's choice. Maddie Rodriguez knocked her in as she grounded into a 1-3 fielder's choice.
Angie Nieves led off in the sixth with a single to center; Brianna Guzman followed with a hard line drive that smashed into Vega's glove, for an infield single. With runners on first and second, Bianca Arroyo bunted. She was out at first. Nieves took a wide turn at third, and ended up in a rundown. She escaped, crossing the plate safely for the 5-1 lead. Guzman advanced to third on the play, and scored when Vega bobbled a grounder on the next play.
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High Tech added one more in the seventh, with Classan scoring after a botched throw-down at second. It was a heated turn of events. With runners at the corners and two outs, Hoboken threw down to catch Nieves stealing second. They caught her in a rundown, but Hoboken coach Carmine Ronga said the runner illegally stopped and turned back towards first, arguing with the umpire for several minutes. The rundown fell apart, with Classen safe at the plate and Nieves at second. Guzman followed with an RBI single for the final run of the game.
Moldonado was the only Redwing to advance beyond second base; seven runners reached base overall.
In seven innings, Colon (4-0) struck out nine, walked four and gave up three hits. Vega (2-1) struck out eight, walked two and gave up nine hits over seven innings pitched.
At the plate for High Tech, Hobokenite Classen was 3-4 with a homerun and two singles.
"They are a very good team, Colon keeps you off balance," Coach Ronga said after the game. "I'm very, very happy with my players' performance. The score wasn't indicative of how the game went."
He said he was pleased to see Vega hold her own against Colon, the county's top pitcher. "She matched her pretty well," he said, "coming as a sophomore compared to the experienced senior."
As for why he chose to put a sophomore up against Colon, rather than Hoboken's more experienced senior pitcher, Yaritza Santiago, Ronga said he wanted "to see what she could do against the best. To be the best, you have to beat the best."
Hoboken (4-1) travels for the first away game of the year to take on St. Anthony High School on Thursday at 4 p.m. The Redwings are back in action at home on Sunday, taking on North Bergen High School at 4 p.m.
