Triple Crown: Braves Add States to List of Titles

A solo home run by Perri Goldberg in the first was all Katie Enright and the Indian Hills defense needed Friday, as the Lady Braves shut out Pequannock 1-0 to win the North I, Group II state sectional title.

It was a game that Indian Hills had been waiting on for an entire year. Exactly one year ago to the day, Pequannock defeated Indian Hills 1-0 to win the Group II state sectional.

Coach Joe Leicht recalled last season's disappointing end: "We said that team (Pequannock) is going all the way to win the state championship, we're sitting here.  They're going to win easily because they're the second best team."

Leicht believed his team was the best then, and this time around they proved it.

Goldberg put her team ahead for good in the very first inning, belting a solo jack over the left center field wall.  After the game, Leicht praised his clutch centerfielder.

 "She is a big-game hitter. She always seems to get the key hit in the largest of the games."

Goldberg's late season power surge gives her three on the year, including one in both the county and state sectional championship games.

The reason the Braves even made it to the final was because of a two-run Ashley DeYoung blast in extra innings in the semifinals against Newton.

"The big thing we have going for us this year is we have power," said Leicht. "We can get a run with one swing of the bat."

Once the Braves got the lead it was pitching and defense that kept Pequannock off the scoreboard. Enright scattered five hits, but only allowed two runners to get past first base. She struck out five and did not walk a batter.

Pequannock threatened early on, getting a runner in scoring position in both the first and third, but both times Enright held strong.

The Panthers' best chance came in the sixth when Jamie O'Rourke led off the inning with her third hit of the game. Up next was Kristin Brain, but she could not get the bunt down on the first two pitches and would end up striking out looking on the next pitch. Then Enright got the cleanup hitter, Becky Myron, to ground into the 4-6-3 double play to get out of the inning.

The Braves got a chance to tack on one more in the sixth, getting a line drive double down the line off the bat of Nicole Paiotti with just one out. Danielle Brogan followed with a ground ball to the third baseman, who short-armed the throw, seeing it bounce away from the first baseman and into right field. Paiotti headed for home on the overthrow, but the right fielder made a great heads-up play to back up the throw and gun down Paiotti at the plate.

In the seventh, the Braves sat down the Panthers 1-2-3, ending the game with a popout to right to clinch the Group II championship.

This title is the fourth state sectional in the school's history, but none of those teams has ever made it past the next round.  The 2010 Braves will look to be the first to accomplish that when they play West Essex at Pulaski Field in Bloomfield on Tuesday.