The West Orange High School softball team added another impressive road victory Wednesday afternoon over Belleville in Belleville.
The Mountaineers, now 8-2, won the Super Essex Liberty Division matchup 7-1. Belleville is 5-3.
The Mountaineers also moved into a first-place division tie with Montclair and Belleville.
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"We knew this would be a big game for us," said Mountaineer's head coach Jamie Galioto, a Belleville High graduate.
"For me, playing against Belleville is always something special. But this was more important for our kids, since the league title is up in the air. We've got Montclair twice next week, and (Thursday) we're playing a real good team in North Bergen. Our kids responded today and hopefully, we can carry that into the next week."
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West Orange scored twice in the first inning. Junior Lindsay Flores tripled and scored on a single by senior shortstop Kim Reitmeyer. Reitmeyer then stole second and scored on Nora Crann's single to make it 2-0. Belleville sliced the lead to 2-1 in the third on Jessica Benacquista's single which scored Vanessa Gomez, West Orange took command with three runs in the fourth as Crann drove in Reitmeyer with another single and Molly Rich walked with the bases loaded.
West Orange sophomore righty Greer Manton (6-2) pitched the first five innings for the win, allowing just five hits. She struck out six.
"Greer is getting better and better,'' Galioto said. "She really mixed up her pitches pretty well today. She really spotted her pitches.''
Senior righty Jill Dolinko pitched the final two innings to earn a save.
The Mountaineers play host to North Bergen Thursday on the turf field, then play at Hanover Park Saturday morning at 11 am North Bergen is ranked in the top 20 in some state-wide polls and are also in the North Jersey, Section 1 Group IV section - the same as West Orange.
