Lancers Come Close in ECT Semifinal

NEWARK - West Essex will get a chance to put its perfect record on the line in the Essex County Tournament final on Saturday after squeezing by Livingston, 5-3, in the semifinals on Friday at Ivy Hill Park.

Before Friday night's battle between the top-seeded Lady Knights and fifth-seeded Lady Lancers, West Essex had nipped Livingston twice, by one-run each time.  Like the first two times, Livingston gave the Knights a fight.  But the West Essex team, especially senior pitcher Austin Leigh who allowed only three runs on eight hits while striking out four, was just too good.

"I am so proud of my team and how hard they played," said Livingston head coach Jason Daily.  "I have to give West Essex credit. They are having one of those seasons."

The game was not without drama.  With the Knights leading 3-2 in the bottom of the fifth inning, the game was postponed because of lightning.

Following the lightning delay, Qest Essex's Alexa Ramos came up to the plate and faced Livingston's Jessica Peslak, who started the game for the Lancers but had been relieved earlier in the frame by Alex Pizzoli.

"She had struck out Ramos the first two times," said Daily, who went with Peslak to start the game because West Essex had seen Pizzoli twice during the regular season.

But Ramos greeted Peslak by lining a first-pitch fastball between second and shortstop to drive in courtesy runners Valerie Tully and Heather Prinzo to give West Essex a 5-2 lead.

Leigh needed to work out of trouble in the top of the sixth inning when Peslak lined a one-out double to right field. After Livingston shortstop Alex Bell grounded out, Reid Singer lined a single that scored Bell to cut the West Essex lead to 5-3.

But Leigh induced a ground ball to third off the bat of Livingston catcher Jessica Icolari to end the rally.

Peslak escaped the sixth inning by facing just three batters behind a somewhat unusual shortstop-to-first-to-third double play to give the Lancers a chance in the top of the seventh.

But Leigh retired the side in order and got Livingston's Becky Herman to fly out for the final out.

But like their two regular-season encounters with the Lancers, the Knights had to battle their way through.

Livingston (12-11) struck first in the top of the third inning on some aggressive base running. Carly LaGrotta tried to score from third on Amy Zhou's suicide squeeze, but was thrown out by Leigh at the plate.

But Herman, who was on second, came around to score on the same play for a 1-0 lead as Zhou raced all the way to third before being tagged out by Kerr.

West Essex countered with two unearned runs in the bottom of the third as Branco, Kerr and Leigh connected on three consecutive hits, a fielder's choice by Candice Travis and a pair of Livingston errors helped the Knights take a 2-1 lead.

Livingston tied the game in the top of the fifth when Herman roped a double off the left-field wall that scored Rachel Wasilak that knotted the score at 2.

West Essex took the lead for good in the bottom of the frame as Kerr drove home the go-ahead run before the lightning delay.

Despite the loss, there was some good news for Livingston.  The Lancers found out earlier in the week that they qualified for the state playoffs despite an under .500 record at the state cutoff date. The Lancers will travel to second-seeded Montclair on Monday.  West Essex will face second-seeded Cedar Grove (a 7-1 victor over West Orange) for the Essex County Tournament final on Saturday at 6 p.m. at Ivy Hill Park.