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Softball

Gaels keep Steinert at bay

  NEWARK _ It was a reaffirmation of true team-building spirit as well as a morale and confidence-boosting experience, one that will last a lifetime for the Roxbury softball team.   The Gaels, who took a 5-0 lead, were able to hold off a late rally by Steinert and record a 6-4 victoty in the Group III title game on Saturday, June 4 at Seton Hall University's Ivy Hill Park.The championship was the first for Roxbury (24-4) in three decades.   Sophomore right-hander Hailey Errichiello threw a masterful complete-game four-hitter for the Gaels, allowing three earned runs while striking out 15 and walking three.…

Crusaders are tops in Non-Public B

NEWARK _ Carly Mockenhaupt didn't fret when her favorite and most reliable bat got a crack in it as Morris Catholic was to start play in the state tournament. Mockenhaupt and her mother, Christine, simply headed to Closeout Bats in Westwood, and sought out the latest model of the Easton Ghost. It has made no difference what bat Mockenhaupt swings. The new white, red and black one, the 2022 version, has been just as lethal and full of hits as the one put into use two years ago. On Friday, June 3, Mockenhaupt swatted two doubles and drove in a…

HP advances then falls in group final

PEQUANNOCK _ Hanover Park got production throughout its lineup, good team defense and a solid pitching effort to defeat Pequannock, 15-5,in five innings in a Group II softball semifinal on Friday, June 3. However, a day later at Ivy Hill Park, the Hornets fell to Haddon Heights, 4-0, in the Group 2 state championship game. Hanover Park, which last advanced to a group title game in 1980 under legendary coach Edie Stitt, earned top honors in its section in 2018. The game against Pequannock (14-15) started normally enough with junior shortstop and leadoff hitter Peyton Sward taking the first two pitches…

Revived Panthers take section

OAKLAND _ A very young Pequannock team had been looking to find its true self for the entire season - and it did - just at the right time during the 2022 campaign. A couple of weeks ago, the Golden Panthers were flailing and had many question marks. Now they have provided the answers as they have completely reversed course from their troubles throughout April and in the first part of May. As the spring in New Jersey has blossomed, so has Pequannock's offense, pitching and defense - all the necessary ingredients in the winning recipe that has them advancing…

Dooley, Hornets stun Bernards in extra innings

EAST HANOVER _ In the North Jersey Section 2, Group II final versus Bernards, emotions crept in that Adriana Carter had felt before during her many years as a pitcher. Fatigue. Hopelessness. Apathy. Carter, Hanover Park's senior right-handed ace, put the negative thoughts that had briefly surfaced out of her head, kept battling and waited for a shift in momentum. As it turned out, there were two shifts - the one where the Hornets erupted for three runs in the bottom of the seventh inning to tie the score and the monumental one when they scored a run in the…

Wildcats move on in states; 250th for Callaghan

HANOVER _ For the Whippany Park softball team, posting a 12-1 win over Ridgefield was another step on the way to defending back-to-back sectional titles. Wildcats coach Todd Callaghan received an unexpected surprise after the North Jersey Section 2, Group I clash, learning he had secured his 250th career victory. May 23 was a productive and memorable day all around for fourth-seeded Whippany Park, which used Mikayla Swan's three-hitter and a 12-hit attack to power past the Royals. "It's always a goal to get some sort of championship," Callaghan said. "By winning, we have a chance to go on and,…

MCT final: Olensky no-hitter fuel Mustangs

ROXBURY _ As Montville closed in on its first Morris County Softball Tournament championship, a pair of young boys scurried around the perimeter of the field at Landing Park seeking to borrow pens. Their intent? To get autographs on balls so they'd have souvenirs of Caitlin Olensky's no-hitter which propelled the top-seeded Mustangs to a 5-0 victory over No. 3 Roxbury and their first MCT title on Saturday, May 21. In the midst of the on-field celebration, the boys went from player to player getting signatures. Naturally, Olensky, the junior left-hander who struck out 18 to gain MVP honors, was…

Errichiello rises to occasion; Montville triumphs

  ROXBURY _ It wouldn't be wise if Roxbury pitcher Hailey Errichiello divulged all of the details of how her nasty riseball became even more lethal. Errichiello was at a camp at Hofstra University over the winter when she got “the tip.” It involved a change in grip, a nuance which causes the pitch to not only break more but spin. The sophomore righty threw a multitude of risers to Morris Catholic’s batters and got her desired revenge as the third-seeded Gaels eked out a 1-0 victory over the second-seeded Crusaders in a Morris County Tournament semifinal on Sunday, May…

Gaels hand Montville first setback

MONTVILLE _  Roxbury coach Paul Critelli can do without Kendall Reda-Fehsal's head-first slides. Critelli worries that Reda-Fehsal, his junior all-state catcher, will injure her fingers, hands or arms which are all very essential to the success of the Gaels' program. Reda-Fehsal has different feelings about her daredevil approach on the basepaths, avoiding feet-first slides because she's concerned about her ankles and legs. After Roxbury's 3-0 victory over previously undefeated Montville on Friday, April 29, Critelli was briefly accepting of Reda-Fehsal's approach because it led to the first of the team's three runs in the top of the sixth inning. Reda-Fehsal…

Pitching a forte for Crusaders

SOUTH ORANGE _ Depth in the pitching department can be a very positive attribute. Morris Catholic surely proved that theorem in a recent tournament. The Crusaders, receiving a solid start from Hannah Streicher and an impactful relief performance from Carly Mockenhaupt, defeated Notre Dame of Lawrenceville, 5-3, in 11 innings in a Pride Showcase Challenge tournament softball game at Mike Sheppard, Sr. Field at Ivy Hill Park. Streicher, a junior righty, went the first nine innings, allowing 10 hits and no earned runs, while striking out 11 and walking one. Mockenhaupt, also a junior righty, threw two innings with two…