WAYNE — A slow start by TODAY area softball teams didn’t cause much controversy when it came to seeding the field in the upcoming Passaic County Tournament. With all five area schools struggling through the first month of action, Wayne Valley grabbed the highest seed among local schools as the Indians will enter the competition with the seventh seed. The 2006 County champions will host No. 10 and neighboring rivals Passaic Valley in the opening round.
Pompton Lakes (7-0), the only undefeated team in Passaic County, was the unanimous choice for the top seed and will host No. 16 Kennedy in their opening-round matchup.
Joining Wayne Valley and Passaic Valley in opening-round play is No. 8 Wayne Hills, who will host No. 9 Passaic, while No. 11 Passaic Tech will travel to sixth-seeded Lakeland and No. 12 DePaul faces fifth-seeded Hawthorne.
"Wayne Valley is very tough, especially with Lauren Shaw pitching," said Passaic Valley head coach Chris Cannon. "But I know if we can make a good run at them and perhaps advance, it would do a lot for our confidence."
Defending champions West Milford was awarded the second seed and the Highlanders will host No. 15 Hawthorne Christian. Perennial power Clifton received the third seed and the Mustangs will host No. 14 Mary Help. Eastern Christian, the fourth seed, will host No. 13 Paterson Catholic.
If Wayne Hills gets past Passaic in the opening round, the Patriots will face the winner of the Pompton/Kennedy matchup in the quarterfinals. The winner of the Wayne Valley/Passaic Valley first-round contest will travel to defending champions West Milford.
All first-round games are to be played by May 5 and the quarterfinal round by May 12. The semifinals and finals are scheduled at Main Memorial Field in Clifton starting Friday, May 16 at 6:30 p.m. and 9 p.m. The championship game is to begin at 7 p.m. on Saturday, May 17.
DePaul 9 St. Elizabeth 0
Freshman pitcher Chelsea Batelli pitched her first career no-hitter as DePaul (1-9) won their first game of the season in a 9-0 shutout of St. Elizabeth (1-8) last Friday afternoon. Batelli struck out 13 while allowing only one walk as teammate Raquel LaManna helped preserve the no-hitter with a difficult catch in the seventh inning.
The Spartans opened the scoring in the first inning when Leslie Martin laced a two-run triple to highlight a four-run rally to take the early lead. Erica LaManna and Michelle Gryzmolowicz each added solo homeruns as eight Spartans recorded hits in the victory.
Wayne Hills 6 Mahwah 1
Holli Bastinck had three RBIs and teammates Erica Wills, Same Levine and Heather Higgins all had one RBI apeice as Wayne Hills (2-8) won their second game of the season with a 6-1 victory over NBIL rivals Mahwah (2-9).
The Patriots scored two runs in the third and followed up with a four-run fourth as Wills (2-4) earned the victory on the mound.
