The Record from Hackensack, New Jersey • 242

JUNE 8, 1986 S-13 Eastern's defense throttles Ridgewood bases in the fifth Inning, but Bourn got Jackie Masters to pop out to end the threat. "I was a little nervous that not taking advantage of more of our scoring opportunities would come back to haunt us," said Eastern coach Bill Hagan. "But the defense was solid, and that's been the key to our entire season." Graham, meanwhile, retired Ridgewood in order on 12 pitches over the fourth, fifth and sixth innings. "At first I was a little surprised that the Ridgewood batters weren't taking a few pitches," said Hagan. "But towards the end, I'm sure they were getting concerned about generating some offense." Ridgewood (21-8) scored its lone run with one out in the bottom of the seventh.

Cris Giambalvo reached base on an infield error, the only miscue of the day for Eastern, and third baseman Beth Cubberly walked. Bronson's double-play grounder to short forced Cubberly at second, but the shortstop overthrew to first, allowing Giambalvo to score. By John Mayer Correspondent EWING TOWNSHIP The Eastern softball team reached the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association Group 4 final largely on the strength of its defense, and the Vikings are the 1986 state champions for the same reason. Eastern (22-4) backed the one-hit pitching of Sue Graham (17-4) with near-flawless defense to top Ridgewood, 2-1, yesterday at Trenton State College. The Maroons, on the other hand, committed eight errors, including two in the top of the third inning when Eastern took a 2-0 edge.

The Vikings' Stephanie Stratoti led off the third with a walk and a sacrifice bunt by Liz Allen moved her to second. After Ridgewood pitcher Jen Bourn (18-8) got Lynn Donovan to pop out, Graham followed with a base hit to left field to score Stratoti. The senior pitcher raced to second when the ball was bobbled in the outfield. Group 4 softball "I just love hitting windmill pitching," said Graham of Bourn's delivery. Graham advanced to third when Natalie Kennedy singled to right field and scored when Heather MacDuff's infield pop was dropped.

"We're a very young and inexperienced team, and we came out real tight both offensively and defensively," said Ridgewood coach Debbie Paul, who has coached teams to state titles in 1979 and 1983. "But our kids never gave up." Ridgewood's comeback bid in the bottom of the third was foiled. Sophomore designated hitter Leslie Short led off the inning with a single up the middle. With one out, Michelle Hayes's grounder forced Short at second. Kim Ng drew a walk, and the runners advanced to second and third on a wild pitch.

However, Graham protected the lead by snagging Bourn's line drive up the middle in mid-air for the third out. "This is the third straight game that I've had one come back at me, so I'm getting kind of used to it," said Graham. "But I have to admit that there was a lot of ball showing when I looked down at my glove." Eastern continued to put base runners on in each of the next three innings. The Vikings loaded the Group 3 EWING TOWNSHIP Chris Froehlich (27-3) hurled a two-hitter and struck out seven to lead Par-sippany (27-3) to a 6-0 win over Central Regional in the NJSIAA Group 3 final at Trenton State College. The Indians broke the game open with four runs in an error-filled fourth inning.

One run scored on Debbie Yoboud's bunt single and another on Jennifer Lilore's fielder's choice. Central Regional, which committed five errors, finishes at 20-7. Group EWING TOWNSHIP Nelly Cruz and Carolyn Lucca each stroked run-scoring singles as Hammon-ton scored three runs in the top of the eighth inning to post a 4-1 victory over Jefferson in the NJSIAA Group 2 final. Barbara Sbarra (24-3) threw a two-hitter for the Blue Devils (30-3). Jefferson (23-3) had a chance to break a 1-1 tie in the bottom of the seventh inning when Dawn Black reached third base on a leadoff bunt.

Sbarra, however, got the next batter to ground out, and struck out the next two hitters to end the threat. Line scores and related story on Page S-14 Staff photo by Jeffery A. Salter Michele Hayes of Ridgewood tags out Stephanie Stratoti of Eastern at second base. New Milford upsets Emerson behind Eagleston By Kevin G. DeMarrais Correspondent WAYNE The New Milford baseball players jumped and danced and hugged one another Friday afternoon, seemingly oblivious to the pouring rain.

All that mattered was they had upset top-seeded Emerson, 2-0, behind Rich Eagleston's one-hit pitching to capture the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association North Section 1, Group 1 championship. The weather was not about to dampen their celebration. The victory moved the Knights (20-6) into the state semifinals against Roselle Park, a 6-1 winner over Glen Ridge in the North Section 2 championship game. The date and site have not been determined. ground out to end both threats.

The Knights stranded a total of seven base runners. Emerson had more good scoring chances, but each time Eagleston, a junior right-hander, pitched out of trouble. In the first, Eagleston walked two Cavos, but catcher Mike Formosa flied out to center to end the inning. After Gull's one-out double in the second, Eagleston got the next two batters on a strikeout and a ground out. With two on in the third, Formosa lined out to short.

Emerson's final threat came in the sixth. Formosa drew a leadoff walk and moved to third on a wild pitch and a balk, but Eagleston struck out the side. The Cavos left eight men on base in the game. "We were very nervous coming in here today," deMarrais said. "I told them to relax and have fun.

The kids have worked really hard to get here and I told them to enjoy themselves." NOTES: The rain started in the third inning as a light drizzle and increased steadily the rest of the game. Two distant lightning flashes were seen in the sixth, but the umpires did not stop play. The heaviest rain arrived just as the game ended. deMarrais, the rookie head coach, is an Emerson graduate. He credits Larry Ennis, the Emerson coach, for the Knights' dramatic turnaround after last season's 5-16 record.

"Coach Ennis taught me that you need good pitching and defense to have a winning program. That's what we stressed this year." "This is great. I still can't believe it," said Eagleston, who yielded a second-inning double to Ed Gull, the Cavos' pitcher. "I can't believe it," said New Milford coach Glenn deMarrais. "We just beat the top Group 1 team in the county and the win goes to Rich." Eagleston, who raised his record to 9-4, was his own worst enemy at times, walking six batters, throwing a wild pitch, and moving a runner to third with a balk.

He also struck out eight batters. DeMarrais had counted heavily on his top pitcher. "If there is someone who can shut them out, it's Rich. I felt that if we could get him a couple of runs, we had a good chance," deMarrais said. Both teams wasted numerous scoring Group 1 baseball opportunities, getting men on base in every inning except the seventh.

New Milford finally broke the scoreless deadlock in the top of the fifth when shortstop Mike McSherry doubled to center, took third on an infield error, and scored on a slow ground out to second by Tom Stadulis. John Clancy belted a leadoff home run over the right-center field fence in the sixth. New Milford had gotten runners as far as third base in the first and second innings, helped by three of Emerson's five errors, but Gull (10-2) got batters to mum wwtwmm tt rrryrmmm Jmr "V1 Minimum! 'u' J. River Dell gains respect and title "We knew we could turn it around," said Ilick (7-4). "We made some errors early on and weren't hitting, but then we started to play sound baseball.

From then on we were just making the right plays." The Golden Hawks' confidence didn't slip during the early losses. "We knew we were better than we were playing," said Belger. "Being knocked out of the county tournament early was probably a good thing. It gave us more time to prepare for the state tournament. We wanted to show what we were capable of.

That was the difference in the game today. We had the desire to win." River Dell opened the scoring in the second inning. Shortstop Eric Bollinger, who had led off the inning with a single to center, scored on Steve Eynon's groundout. After Rutherford tied the game in the fourth, the Golden Hawks regained the lead in the fifth. Second baseman Scott Sarafian scored from second on a one-out single by cleanup hitter Tony Dis-poto, who had reached on an error by the third baseman.

Rutherford averted further damage when right fielder David Ku-char was thrown out at the plate trying to score from third on a ground ball to first Bollinger delivered a two-out single to score Sarafian from second with an insurance run in the top of the seventh. "We had the right kid up at the right time. Eric Bollinger is the player we want at the free-throw line and in the batters' box at the end of a tight ballgame," Belger said of Bollinger, who was a guard on the basketball team. "That was By John Jackson Correspondent SECAUCUS Pitcher Peter Hick and his River Dell teammates were looking for a little respect in the state tournament. They got it, plus a sectional title.

Group 2 baseball Ilick tossed a two-hitter to lead the Golden Hawks to a 3-1 victory over Rutherford Friday in the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association North Section 1 Group 2 championship game at Secaucus High School. "Peter pitched a great game," said first-year River Dell coach Joe Belger. "He got in a good rhythm today and threw a gem." The hits Ilick gave up were not hard-hit. Rutherford catcher Henry Manning led off the bottom of the fourth with a bloop single to right and went to second on a fielder's choice. First baseman John Reformato then beat out an infield hit deep in the hole between shortstop and third as Manning scored from second.

Ilick retired 10 of the last 11 batters. The only batter to reach base was Mark Brooks, who walked in the sixth. River Dell (20-8-1) has been looking for respect since it started the season 6-7. A few members of the team played on the Golden Hawks basketball team that went to the state tournament, conflicting with the early part of the baseball season. The team also had to adjust to a new coach.

The only loss since then came against Don Bosco in the Bergen County Tournament 14 4 Staff photo by Joe Garoelli John Reformato of Rutherford is out at second despite bowling over Scott Serafian of River Dell. River Dell won, 3-1. a big hit because going into the As it turned out, Dick didn't need more than the minimum and I001 shape, which makes 'the iast of the seventh with a two-run the run, because he retired the Iot ground-ball outs. ground balls easier to handle-lead gives you a little more Bulldogs on three ground balls. "This field was perfect for Pe- Rutherford pitcher Rich Beggs breathing room." Ilick faced just 25 batters four ter" Belger said.

"The infield is in (7'3) t00 loss- htilit -n in nt ifi if i hT "1".