Trailing 7-5 in the bottom of the seventh inning, the Lady Redwings rallied to earn their fourth straight win on Friday afternoon. Hoboken defeated conference rival Kearny High School (2-2) 8-7. Desiree Rivera had the winning hit for Hoboken.
Five errors in the fifth inning nearly cost Hoboken the game. This is Hoboken’s second comeback win in as many games.
With runs in the first, second and fourth innings, Hoboken led 3-2 after four. The team played solid defense up to that point.
The fifth was a completely different story. Kearny’s Missy Nash led off with a single, advancing to second on an error in left. Alicia Weber reached on an error at shortstop. Nash scored on the play, tying the game at 3-3.
With Weber on first, Ashley Litushko singled to center, where Renee Zabaleta bobbled the ball, allowing Weber to advance to third. Sarah O’Neill followed with a line drive up the middle, scoring Litushko and giving Kearny the 4-3 lead.
Another error at short loaded the bases before Kate Lima grounded into a fielder’s choice. Hoboken got the out at the plate, but the throw to first, for the double play, sailed over the first baseman’s glove. O’Neill scored on the error. After eight batters, Hoboken got out of the inning with a fly ball to left. Kearny led 5-3.
Kearny nearly shutdown the Redwing bats in the bottom of the inning, but three walks proved costly. With bases loaded, Madeline Rodriguez drilled the first pitch she saw for a 2-RBI double. The score was knotted at five-all.
The battle continued in the sixth. With bases loaded and two out, O’Neill sent a line drive up the middle to score Nash and Aquino. The Redwings squashed Kearny’s hopes of adding a few security runs as the inning ended with Litushko caught stealing third.
Kearny held the 7-5 lead through the sixth. They failed to produce in the top of the seventh.
With the game on the line, Hoboken had to rally in the bottom of the seventh to remain undefeated. Amanda Spano led off with a single. She was out at second as Yaritza Santiago grounded into a fielder’s choice, and barely beat the throw to first to avoid the double play. Rodriguez and Samantha Moldonado walked, loading the bases with one out.
Batting in the nine-hole, Desiree Rivera battled to a 3-2 count before driving a hard grounder into right. The bases cleared as the right fielder couldn’t handle the ball. Rivera came all the way around, but the official final score was 8-7, with Moldonado scoring the winning run.
Senior pitcher Yaritza ‘J-J’ Santiago earned her second win. She struck out 3, walked 2 and allowed 8 hits over 7 innings.
The Redwings had 8 hits and 6 errors in the game. Moldonado was 2-2 with a walk and two RBI singles.
Coach Carmine Ronga said the key to the win was "sticking with it until the last inning." He said the fifth was too sloppy.
“I guess they lost concentration,” Ronga said, referring to the five errors in the fifth, “Those were not hard plays to make.”
The Redwings face their toughest competition yet on Tuesday afternoon. They will take on rival High Tech at home at 4:00pm. High Tech pitcher Erica Colon was 24-2 last season. She holds the Hudson County record for strikeouts in a season, and earned 15 shutout wins in 2009.
