Lady Braves Eliminated By West Milford

In a matchup of the 2 vs. 3 seeds in the North 1, Group 3 sectional semifinals, both West Milford and Indian Hills wanted a spot in the finals so bad it would took extra innings to settle the showdown.  In a tremendous pitcher’s duel, seven innings could not decide the battle between West Milford and Indian Hills so we headed to extra innings where West Milford prevailed 2-1.

After the Braves scored what appeared to be the game winning run in the top of the eighth, West Milford roared back and scored two to win in walk-off fashion and advance to the championship game.

Indian Hills put pressure on WM pitcher Ashlee Geiger throughout the game, but when the Braves got runners into scoring position Geiger bared down and got out of trouble.

Opposing Geiger was Ashley DeYoung, who plowed through the Highlanders lineup, retiring 14 straight at one stretch.  DeYoung struggled in the seventh but worked in and out of trouble. An error opened the door for a Highlanders comeback in the eighth, and they would not be denied a trip to the title game.

The Braves threatened in nearly every inning, but each time they did they failed to come up with the big hit to get on the scoreboard.  In the second they had a runner on second with one out, in the third and fourth they had a runner in scoring position, and in the sixth they had second and third no out; however each inning Geiger worked out of the jam.

DeYoung faced her first test in the seventh when an infield single ended her streak of 14 straight batters retired.  A groundout got the runner to second, then DeYoung intentionally walked the next batter to set up a force.  The next hitter would single, but a good job cutting the ball off and getting it in quick kept the runner from scoring.  With the bases loaded and just one out, DeYoung buckled down and struck out the next two batters to send the game to extras.

Heading to the eighth with some momentum, the Indian Hills parents knew something had to give once they passed out their rally Twizzlers; and they were right.

After a Kelly Strittmatter bunt single to lead off the inning, Carey Houston blooped a single to right to make it first and second with no one out.  DeYoung came up next and got the runner over to third on a groundout.  Nicole Paiotti took it from there, smoking a ball to the second baseman which was gloved, but got Strittmatter in from third to put the Braves up 1-0.

Kara Pepper kept it going with a single to load the bases, but consecutive groundouts ended the rally and kept the deficit at just one for the Highlanders.

West Milford answered in their half of the eighth, as a rare error from Strittmatter opened to door for the rally.  With one out and no one on, Strittmatter (shifted to shortstop for the lefty) made a slight bobble but still almost got the speedy runner with her strong arm.  The next batter then came up and ripped a triple in the gap to tie the game at one.

DeYoung would then intentionally walk the next two batters to set up the force at any base.  Batting with two strikes against her, Gieger would be the hero, hitting a little flair to second that was nearly gloved by a diving Strittmatter but found dirt and brought home the winning run.

Despite the tough loss, Coach Joe Leicht voiced his appreciation for his great group of seniors.

“The four seniors we have here, Jenna Koch, Christie Testa, Kelly Strittmatter and Kara Pepper, they’re outstanding,” he said.  “They do an outstanding job not only on the field, but in the classroom and with their behavior.  They set an unbelievable example for all the younger kids that are in the program on how to do it the right way.  They led this team to a season where a lot of people didn’t think we would be, and that’s due to the seniors.”