Spring Sports Recap: Huge Week For IH Softball; Girls Lax

The Lady Braves were as close to perfection as you could be on the week, finishing 5-0 with four wins coming by shutout including one no-hitter. IH outscored their opponents 42-2 on the week.

April 4: Lady Braves 4 - Bergenfield 0

Ashley DeYoung scattered five hits and struck out eight in the shutout win. Maddy Levine proved that Morgan isn't the only hitter in the family, as the freshman had three knocks one game after her older sister accomplished the same feat. The Lady Braves made it a clean sweep over the Bears with JV hammering their opponent 19-0 and the freshmen earning a come from behind 11-7 win in 8 innings.

April 6: Lady Braves 5 - Pascack Valley 0

Ashley DeYoung pitched her second consecutive shutout, allowing just 3 hits and striking out 8. She also had an RBI single. Senior outfielder Kara Pepper drove in 2 with a single. JV also notched a win over PV, beating the Indians 6-2.

April 7: Lady Braves 12 - River Dell 2

The girls put on a hit clinic against the Hawks, finishing with 15 hits, eight of which went for extra bases. Ashley DeYoung had a homerun, a triple, three RBI, and got the win at pitcher while striking out eight. Freshman centerfielder Maddy Levine also had a big day with three hits (two doubles) and fellow freshman Nicole Leocata had a homerun and four RBI. Senior Kelly Strittmatter had three hits, stole a base, and scored two runs. JV won as well by a score of 6-2 and the freshmen squad mercied the Hawks with the 10 run rule.

April 8: Lady Braves 14 – Tenafly 0

Indian Hills kept on rolling with their third shutout of the week, a 14-0 drubbing of the Tigers. Ashley DeYoung and sophomore Jackie Connolly combined for the 5-inning 1-hit shutout. Sophomore catcher Nicole Paiotti led the team with three RBI’s, while senior Jenna Koch and junior Carey Houston each drove in two. JV also had a convincing win over the Tigers, winning 15-0, while the freshmen team earned a big victory over Ridgewood.

April 9: Lady Braves 7 – Holy Angels 0

Another game, another shutout for IH on Saturday. The Lady Braves closed out a perfect week with a 7-0 defeat of Holy Angels in the Mike Blake Memorial Benefit at Northern Highlands High School. Ashley DeYoung went six innings and Jackie Connolly closed it out in the 7th for a combined no-hitter. DeYoung also hit a double and drove in two runs. Sophomore Nicole Paiotti continued to rip the cover off the ball, lacing a homerun and a double to go along with 2 RBI’s. Junior Morgan Levine hit a long tape measure solo homerun.The freshmen suffered a tough 2-0 loss against Pascack Valley.

IH Girls Lax also rolls through week undefeated. The Lady Braves went 3-0 on the week, culminating with an epic 12-11 overtime win over bitter rival Ramapo.

April 1: Lady Braves 14 - Northern Highlands 9

After going into the half tied at 6, IH outscored the Highlanders 8-3 in the second half to get the victory. Nicole Kopyta was the leading scorer for the Braves with six goals and one assist. Sophomore Natalie Carti also had a good day with four goals and one assist. Stephanie Stone (2), Katie Taranto (1), and Emily Addison (1) provided the other goals. Katie Viducic got the win in net, turning away 10 shots.

April 4: Lady Braves 11 - Randolph 7

The girls again went into the half all knotted up, but once again pulled through with a big second half to move to 2-0. Sophomore sensation Natalie Carti had a huge game with 10 points, five goals and five assists. Katie Taranto finished with six points (four goals, two assists) and Stephanie Stone and Nicole Kopyta each scored a goal. Katie Viducic had 11 saves in the win.

April 9: Lady Braves 12 – Ramapo 11 (OT)

Indian Hills outlasted the Raiders 12-11 in sudden-death overtime. The two were tied after regulation, then IH struck first in the opening three-minute OT period before Ramapo struck back to tie it in the second OT period. Tied at 11, the third OT period would be sudden-death and the Lady Braves would put it away to earn the hard-fought win.The Braves super sophs led the way with Nicole Kopyta scoring 5 goals and assisting on another and Natalie Carti scoring 3 goals to go along with 3 assists. Kiara Boswick and Shannon Larson both scored 4 goals in the loss. Ramapo Softball and Baseball both notch big upset wins.

April 4: Lady Raiders 2 – Ridgewood 1

The Raiders (ranked 24th) knocked off North Jersey’s top team with their 2-1 victory over the Maroons. Pitcher Tori Sobel put herself in line for the win with a go-ahead RBI double in the sixth, then closed out her opponents in the seventh for the huge upset win. Sobel finished with 6 K’s to help Ramapo improve to 2-0 on the year. Coach Leslie Stephen commented on her teams’ big win: “I am extremely proud of the team.  We played great defense, Tori pitched very well and we came up with some key hits.  We are gaining confidence and hopefully we can build on this win going forward.”

April 9: Raiders 6 – Westwood 5

Ramapo went up 4-0 in the first two innings, but the big bats of the Cardinals helped them fight back into it and tie the game in the fourth. The Raiders broke the tie in the bottom half of that inning then added a big insurance run in the sixth to help them earn a big 6-5 upset win over a top five team. Senior Nick Madormo hit two doubles and scored four runs while fellow senior TJ Hunt went the distance to earn his second win of the year. Madormo’s leadoff double in the sixth put him in scoring position for senior Justin Gartner’s double for what would turn out to be the winning run. Juniors Chris Liquori, Alex Nickles, and Joe Scaglione all had RBI’s for the Raiders.