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The Pompton Lakes softball team capped a two-year run of success with its second straight sectional title. The Cardinals topped Park Ridge 8-3 to win the North Jersey, Group I championship. Winning pitcher Chelsea Ott also came through with the bat, driving in two runs in the sectional final.
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Kerri Izer and Danielle Allen chipped in with a pair of RBI apiece. Pompton Lakes reached the sectional final with a 4-0 semifinal win over Cedar Grove, featuring a one-hitter by Ott and a mammoth two-run homer by Stephanie Pasquale. The Cardinals would end the season at 25-2 after a loss to upstart High Tech in the Group I state semifinals. Pompton Lakes fell behind early in that softball contest and fell 4-2, missing a chance for a return trip to the state final game.
Overall, it was a great year for Pompton Lakes, which captured the Carpenter Division title of the BPSL along with the sectional crown. The Cardinals won their first 20 games of the year and spent part of the season ranked in the state. Only two games separated them from a dream sports season: an upset loss to Hawthorne in the Passaic County tournament semifinals, and the state semifinal defeat to High Tech.
Pompton Lakes will now have to figure out how to make do without Ott, who posted a 54-14 record in three years as starting pitcher. This season she was 21-2 with a 0.32 ERA, and was named the Passaic County Softball Player of the Year and third-team All-State by the Star-Ledger.
The Cardinals will have a solid base to work with, as slugging catcher Pasquale and outfielder Emily Stratton return in 2009. Both were named first team All-County softball players this season. -- Paul Mencher for Jersey Sports Now
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