SOFTBALL: Week #3 in Review

Rain put a damper on early week games, so we’ll pick up the action on Wednesday. Here’s what happened, by conference:

Northern Hills
Caldwell moved to 9-0 on the week, winning two conference games. A 2-0 victory over Madison was the closest game. Caldwell did not allow a run all week.

DePaul beat St. Elizabeth’s 10-0 & Villa Walsh 5-3. DePaul’s only setback was a 6-1 victory over Montville. Montville went 4-0 on the week, only allowing 1 run. A 4-0 ‘victory over Verona was the Mustangs’ second shutout of the week, the third a 1-0 win over West Milford. Madison bat Morristown-Beard, but lost to Lakeland 5-4 and Caldwell. Villa Walsh revisited NHC old ties in a 2-1 victory over now, CHC-team, Morris Catholic. The Vikings also shutout Butler, 6-0. On Thursday, Pequannock recorded a very respectable victory over West Milford 2-0. On Saturday, the Panthers split in the Blue & Gold; beating J.P. Stevens 2-0, before losing to Kittatinny 2-1 in the final.

NHC Overview: Caldwell is in command of the conference at the midway point. Montville and Pequannock both have one loss, both to Caldwell. The two Morris County Schools faced each other today.

Colonial Hills

Very slow week in the CHC.
On the Hills side, Morristown-Beard earned their 1st victory of the year, defeating Montclair Immaculate. Morris Catholic lost to Villa in a out-of-conference match-up. Catholic defeated Mo-Beard 11-3 and a quality win over Cedar Grove 5-3. On Saturday, Beard fell to Madison 14-1.

Kinnelon had a productive week going 1-1. After defeating Mountain Lakes to improve to 3-1, the Colts gave Whippany Park a scare. Whippany defeated Kinnelon 3-2 in 8-innings. Mountain Lakes went 1-2 with a win over Arts.

Overall: Whippany is in control at 5-0 in conference. The Wildcats have yet to face the new look Boonton Bombers. Boonton is 3-1 inference play, just one of 5 teams with 3 conference wins.

Jefferson: In the SCIL, the Falcons went 1-1 on the week. The only loss coming to Pope John, 6-4. Jefferson lost to Iselin Kennedy 3-1 at the Red Devil Classic, and then beat Wallkill Valley 7-4 in the consolation game.

IHC-Iron
Chatham went 2-1, defeating Randolph and Dover, while losing to Parsippany. Dover beat Summit, but lost to Hanover & Mendham. Hanover Park beat Dover & lost to Parsippany. Parsippany has responded nicely since losing to Morris Hills. The Red Hawks beat Chatham and Hanover Park to improve to 5-1. Mendham continues to ride the roller coater. The Minutemen beat Morris Hills, Summit & Dover, but were upset by Par Hills. Now can we keep calling this, “ … an Par Hills upset?” The Vikings handed Morris Knolls a 1-0 defeat as well as knocking off Mendham, both top 10 teams. Morris Hills is now 6-4, after the loss to Mendham.

Hills-side Overview: Mendham leads the IHC-Hills with 6 wins, but West Essex is undefeated and continues to get stronger. Mendham has 3 losses in conference, while Hanover and Parsippany have 1. All in all, Morris teams need people to start knocking off West Essex if they want a piece of that title.

IHC-Iron:
Essex County’s Livingston maybe answering all the critic, such as myself, who suggested that the Lancers maybe down this year … not so much down … as just unknown potential. Livingston beat Roxbury and Morristown this week. Knolls got two back in the conference win column with wins over Columbia and Randolph. The Golden Eagles were shut out by Par Hills. Randolph also lost to state powerhouse North Hunterdon and Chatham, falling to 3-6. Mount Olive had a big week, going 3-0. The Marauders won by the 10-run rule over East Orange and Morris Catholic, after staring the week with a 4-2 win over Morristown. Mt. Olive lead 4-0, before stomping out a Colonials’ comeback. West Morris is now 2-4 after a win over Columbia.

The Iron Outlook: Mt. Olive and Livingston are now 5-0 in conference play. Morristown and Knolls have 2 in-conference losses, and are not out of the running.

The top 10: Click Here