RAIDER ROUNDUP
By: Rudy Brandl
Nobody could deny the Hillsborough High softball team the No. 1 seed in the Somerset County Tournament at last week’s seeding meeting.
The Raiders (8-2) had just blanked Bridgewater-Raritan, the one remaining threat to their top standing. Having already defeated Watchung Hills, Somerville and everyone else they’ve played in the county, the Raiders took the No. 1 seed.
"It’s something we’ve been working for and we finally got over the hump," HHS head coach Cheryl Iaione said.
Hillsborough will have a bye until the quarterfinal round and faces the winner of this Saturday’s Ridge-Rutgers Prep game on May 11. The semifinals are set for North Branch Park on Wednesday night, May 15 and the championship game returns to the same site under the lights on Saturday May 18.
After three scoreless innings, Hillsborough struck for a pair of runs to take the lead in Bridgewater. Erin Murphy delivered a clutch two-run triple to center field with two outs to score Erin McKee and Chrissy Yard.
"Murph’s a tough kid," Iaione said. "She comes up big in some big spots."
The Raiders added an insurance run in the top of the sixth. Winning pitcher Amanda Morrison (4-1), who was brilliant in pitching shutout ball, helped her cause with a leadoff double. Courtesy runner Alicia Swickle moved to third on a wild pitch with two outs and came home on Yard’s big base hit.
Morrison scattered six hits and two walks but worked out of jams to maintain the shutout. The senior right-hander struck out four and got some help from her defense. A double play from Murphy to McKee to Yard ended the sixth inning. Morrison didn’t allow a runner to reach third base all day.
"She pitched great," Iaione said. "She had a couple of jams but she got out of them They got a leadoff double in the third but she mowed down their 2-3-4 hitters after that."
The Raiders were scheduled to host Hunterdon Central and play at Franklin this week.
Baseball team
set for county battle
The Raider baseball team received the No. 6 seed in the Somerset County Tournament despite entering the seeding meeting on a four-game losing streak. Hillsborough (6-6) hosts No. 14 Franklin (3-7) this Saturday afternoon at 2 p.m., with a quarterfinal trip to third-ranked Somerville on the line.
The fourth straight loss and second consecutive shutout setback took place at home vs. Bridgewater-Raritan last week. Since the Raiders were rained out against North Hunterdon and Elizabeth, they entered Tuesday’s game at Hunterdon Central with a week’s worth of rust.
John Mish baffled the Raiders in last week’s game, scattering two singles in a 5-0 complete game victory. Jarrod Willis (2-3) absorbed the loss for the Raiders.
HHS is likely to see Franklin ace Mike Yackanin, who defeated Manville in last Saturday’s preliminary round. The Warriors have been playing better ball in recent weeks and could be dangerous if they get another well-pitched game. Franklin lit up Manville ace John Anderson for seven runs in the first inning.
The Raiders have already defeated Franklin once this spring and also host the Warriors in a Delaware Division game today.
Golfers still in hunt
for state tourney
The HHS golfers split a home tri-match with Hunterdon Central and Franklin last week, leaving their record at 6-3-1 entering this week’s actin. Teams need to have won at least 60 percent of their matches by the end of the week. With Immaculata and Montgomery on this week’s schedule, the Raiders have some serious work to do.
Last week’s 211 team score was good enough to beat Franklin (234) but fell five strokes short of Central (206), which swept the match to improve to 8-1 on the year. Central ace Mike Kosup clearly made the difference with a one-under-par round of 35 that beat everyone else in the match by five strokes.
John Cannon continued to lead the Raiders with a round of 40. Joe Vazzano and Joe Vulih followed with 41s, while Brad Schulte (43) and Mike Powers (46) also counted scores.
Track teams take
second at Randolph
Both HHS track and field teams finished a close second in the Division 1 standings at Saturday’s Randolph Relays. The boys (79) won four events and placed second to Union (86), while the girls (66) posted four first places and finished behind Randolph (66).
Erin Crawford, Jaci Pfeiffer and Lauren Kloss shattered the meet record in the intermediate hurdles, posting a time of 3:14.75 that was nearly seven seconds faster than Hillsborough’s 2001 time. This talented trio was joined by Ebony Foster in the shuttle hurdles, which rolled to victory in 1:03.55.
Pfeiffer, Kloss, Foster and Crawford won the 4×100 in 51.06 and Foster joined Jenizah Melendez and Caitlin Kosec in the winning team long jump (46-9).
The boys posted a first place in the 4×1 mile and team high jump. Nick Vaccaro, Mike Klueber, Matt Lunemann and Joe Brennan blew Randolph off the track by 25 seconds with an 18:38.87, while Asmor Green, Bryan Fox and Jim Morley compiled a 17-2 to win the high jump.
Laxmen drop
a rare close one
After suffering two more blowout losses, the Raider boys’ lacrosse team played a tight game at North Hunterdon on Saturday but came out on the short end of a 9-6 score.
The game was tied at 6-6 at the half but the Lions won it with a better performance in the third and fourth periods. Hillsborough (1-10) dropped lopsided games at Montville (12-1) and Peddie (15-5) earlier in the week.
Brett Russo led the Raiders with a hat trick and an assist in Saturday’s game. Brian Kelly, Dylan Beese and Dominic Mazzagatti also scored, while Kelly added an assist.
Dan Glod made five saves in the Hillsborough net.
Steve Hess scored in the first quarter at Montville, which led 2-1 after the period but continued to score throughout the rest of the game. Glod was busy, recording 20 saves in the loss.
The Peddie game was over early. HHS trailed 6-0 after one quarter and couldn’t get back in the game.
Russo scored twice, while Kelly, Hess and Erich Schramm added single goals. Kelly posted two assists, with Russo and Hess contributing one apiece. Glod was credited with 10 stops.