Hosting all four Bergen County Tournament quarterfinals today, IHA needed every bit of home-field advantage to pull ahead of Ramapo.
Down 6-4 heading into the bottom of the seventh, the Blue Eagles won the game 7-6 with a three-run seventh inning to avoid their second straight losing streak in as many games.
Sophia Valente drove in a run for IHA, while Noelle Urbaniak and Gianna DiMelio each drove in two runs. Gianna Muliro and Riley Smith both had multiple hits, three and two, respectively.
The Saxton sisters helped lead the way for Ramapo’s offense, with Maddie driving in three runs, Ella driving in two and Grace hitting two hits.
IHA will face Emerson in the first of two Bergen County semifinals.
Emerson 7, Bergenfield 3
Speaking of Kavos, they are through to the county semi-finals for the first time since 1989 when Sarah Mockerszky and Eliza Kapadia beat Bergenfield 7-3 to give them 20 wins on the season.
It was their third 20-game winning streak of the season and their 10th in a row, making them two 10-game winning streaks this year.
Mokrzecki and Kapadia combined for three runs, Mokrzek going 2-for-4 with a run and a double while Kapadia went 2-for-3 with two singles.
Keltie Manning had a double in the order, setting the pace for the Cavos, stealing a base in the process.
Natalie Graham Cade struck out five in seven innings for Emerson, while Kayla Porter, Jenny Carmona and Adriana Mendoza each drove in three runs for Bergenfield.
Bergen Tech 1, Paramus 0
Like Emerson, Bergen Tech made history on Saturday when the Lady Knights beat Paramus 1-0.
The win advanced Bergen Tech to the semifinals for the first time in program history and for the fourth time in five years it has 20-plus wins.
Speaking of how strong the Cavaliers’ offense has been, it’s the fewest of any win scored by one run and just their second one-run win of the season. The win gave them 13 in a row after their last loss, which came back to IHA on April 19.
The Knights will face Ramsey in the semifinals.
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Jake Afriat covers the Big North, GMC, HCIAL, NJAC, NJIC, SEC, Skyland and UCC. He can be reached jaferiat@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter. @Jake_Aferiat.