Sparta one-hits MH, 5-0,

to KO Knights from states

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      ROCKAWAY - Emily Gallagher's leadoff single in the top of the sixth inning was the only hit Morris Hills could get in the game as Sparta defeated the Lady Knights, 5-0, in a first-round North 1, Group 3 high school softball game played at Sparta on Monday, May 17.
      Sparta righthander Sam Greiner (9-2) struck out five and walked two in the seven-inning, complete-game one-hitter that eliminated No. 13 seed Morris Hills.
      Sparta, the No. 4 seed in the 16-team section, scored single runs in five of the six innings it batted, including an unearned run off Morris Hills senior Melissa O'Connor, who pitched the sixth inning for her first appearance of the spring after having knee surgery last November.
      Three of the four runs allowed by Morris Hills starter Chelsea Talbot (8-12) were earned.
     "We made too many mistakes to be competitive," Morris Hills coach Bill Nieman was quoted as saying after the game. "Plus Greiner had us hitting into the ground."
      Morris Hills is now 14-14 with the loss. Sparta is 21-5 and moves into the quarterfinals against the winner of the No. 12 Mount Olive at No. 5 Parsippany Hills first-round game that was rained out Tuesday, May 18, and rescheduled for Wednesday, May 19.

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MH loses, 3-2, on Pope John's 3-run 7th

     ROCKAWAY - Morris Hills took a 2-0 lead into the bottom of the seventh inning only to see Pope John erupt for three runs in its final at-bat to escape with a 3-2 victory over the Lady Knights in a high school softball game played at Pope John in Sparta on Thursday, May 17.
     Sydney Lang singled in the winning run for Sparta (14-11) and winning pitcher Caitlin Whelan held Morris Hills to six hits wile striking out six and walking only two.
     Morris Hills (14-13) was seeded No. 13 in the 16-team North 1, Group 3 state sectional tournament and will face No. 4 Sparta in a first-round game that has been scheduled for Monday, May 17, at Sparta at 4 p.m.

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Lady Knights' late rallies beat Parsippany, 11-3

      ROCKAWAY - Morris Hills scored five runs in the top of the sixth to take the lead for good in an 11-3 victory over Parsippany in a high school softball game played under the lights at Smith Field in Parsippany on Tuesday, May 11.
     Morris Hills (14-12) was trailing 3-2 when the Lady Knights fought back with two big innings - a five-run sixth and a four-run seventh - to earn the victory.
     Chelsea Talbot (8-10) got the win, throwing a complete-game six-hitter with five strikeouts and five walks.
     Sam Carretero, Sam Barker and Lauren Aspiazu finished with seven of the Lady Knights' 11 hits.
     Carretero was 3-for-4 with three runs scored; Barker was 2-for-4 with two RBIs and two runs scored; and Aspiazu was 2-for-4 with a double, four RBIs and one run scored.
     Also, Stacey Abasto was 1-for-3 with an RBI double and a run scored; Diana Fleischman was 1-for-4 with an RBI and a run scored; Rachel Sitzer and Gabby Saggese each had singles; and Emily Gallagher scored a run.

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Morristown rallies to beat Morris Hills, 8-4

     ROCKAWAY - Morristown broke open a close game with five runs late in the game to defeat Morris Hills, 8-4, in a high school softball game played at Morris Hills on Monday, May 10.
      Morristown (13-7) outhit Morris Hills (13-12) by a 14-8 margin with No. 3 batter Julie Camelotto dong the most damage against the Lady Knights by going 3-for-4 with a triple, home run and three RBIs.
      Sam Barker was 2-for-4 with two doubles and two runs scored for Morris Hills while Stacey Abasto, Rachel Sitzer, Lauren Aspiazu and Emily Gallagher each had RBIs for the Lady Knights.
      Chelsea Talbot (7-10) took the loss, giving up eight runs (seven earned) on 14 hits. She struck out one and walked one.

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Talbot hurls five-hitter as Lady Knights top Randolph, 4-1

      ROCKAWAY - Dana Castellano and Diana Fleischman combined for five hits and Chelsea Talbot pitched a complete-game five-hitter as Morris Hills beat Randolph, 4-1, in a high school softball game played at Randolph on Thursday, May 6.
      Castellano finished 3-for-4 with an RBI and a run scored and Fleischman was 2-for-3 and also drove in a run and scored a run for the Lady Knights (13-11).
      Talbot (7-9) struck out four and walked but one batter and gave up only an unearned run to Randolph (9-10) in the first inning.
      Samantha Carreter tripled for the only other hit by the Lady Knights.

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MH falls to Vernon on walkoff single in 8th

    ROCKAWAY - Morris Hills pushed across a run in the top of the eighth inning but Vernon came back to score twice in its half  to escape with a 4-3 victory over the Lady Knights in a high school softball game played at Vernon on Wednesday, May 5.
    Lauren Poppe's walk-off single drove in the tying and winning runs for Vernon. It was Poppe's third RBI of the game as she had tripled home a run when Vernon scored its first two runs in the second inning.
    Vernon wining pitcher Jamie Roberts gave up three hits and walked five while striking out 1. All three runs scored by the Lady Knights were unearned due in large part to the three errors Vernon made during the game.
    Stacey Abasto was 2-for-4 with a double and an RBI for Morris Hills (12-11).
    Dana Castellano got the other hit for the Lady Knights, finishing 1-for-4 with a run scored.
    Chelsea Talbot (6-9) took the complete-game loss, giving up four runs (two earned) on seven hits while striking out six and walking none.
 Vernon is 4-14.

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Lady Knights bow to Morris Catholic, 5-4

      ROCKAWAY - Morris Catholic opened a 5-2 lead after four innings and held on to beat Morris Hills, 5-4, in a high school softball game played at Morris Catholic in Denville on Tuesday, May 4.
      Morris Hills (12-10) outhit Morris Catholic, 13-8, but the Lady Knights couldn't push across any runs against Morris Catholic starter and winner Jeane Drury after the fifth inning and suffered their second straight defeat, having lost a 1-0 decision to Pequannock in the Morris County Softball Tournament on Saturday, May 1.
     Gabby Sagese finished 3-for-3 with an RBI for the Lady Knights; Stacey Abasto was 2-for-4 with two RBs and a runs scored; Rachel Sitzer was 2-for-3 with two runs scored; Dana Castellano was 2-for-4; and Diana Fleischman was the fifth Lady Knight to have a multi-hit game when she finished 2-for-4.
      Samantha Barker was 1-for-4 with a run scored and Lauren Aspiazu was 1-for-4.
     Kelly Stites (6-2) went the first four innings for Morris Hills, allowing all five runs (three earned) on five hits while striking out five and walking only one. Chelsea Talbot finished up and pitched three scoreless innings of three-hit ball with three strikeouts.
     Morris Catholic is 7-7 after the victory.

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Pequannock ousts Lady Knights from MCT, 1-0

    ROCKAWAY - No. 2-seed and defending champion Pequannock scored the only run of the game in the bottom of the second inning to eliminate Morris Hills from further play in the Morris County Softball Tournament in a quarterfinal-round game played at Pequannock on Saturday, May 1.
    Morris Hills, the No. 10 seed, threatened in the fourth inning when Sam Barker led off with a double and Lauren Aspiazu followed by reaching on an error. Pequannock changed pitchers at that point with Dana Nielsen replacing starter Kristin Brain and, after Aspiazu stole second to put runners on second and third with no out, Nielsen struck out the side.
    Nielsen finished the game with nine strikeouts in her four innings of work. She gave up but one hit and walked none. Brain struck out five and also had no walks for Pequannock (15-3).
    The Lady Knights (12-9) finished with four hits - two by Dana Castellano and doubles by Barker and Aspiazu - and couldn't take advantage of two Pequannock errors.
    Morris Hills played flawless defense and turned over double plays in the fifth and the sixth - shortstop Diana Fleischman to first basemen Aspiazu to third basemen Emily Gallagher in the fifth inning and Fleischman to second basemen Gabby Saggese to Aspiazu in the sixth inning.

    "Pequannock is a great team and has a lot of depth going for it," said Lady Knights' coach Bill Nieman after the game. "We went toe-to-toe with them for six innings and just missed."

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Sitzer's RBI in 10th edges Mendham, 2-1

   ROCKAWAY - Rachel Sitzer's RBI single in the bottom of the 10th inning drove in Michelle Churchman with the winning run when Morris Hills defeated Mendham, 2-1, in a high school softball game played at Morris Hills on Friday, April 28.
    Churchman had started the inning at second base, a ruling that comes into effect at the start of each inning once the game gets into the 10th.
    Morris Hills (12-8) scored its first run in the bottom of the sixth  when Stacey Abasto tripled and Lauren Aspiazu followed with an RBI groundout to match the run Mendham had scored in the top of the sixth.
    Dana Castellano and Diana Fleischman each had singles for the Lady Knights, who were held to four hits by Mendham starter Melanie Budney, who pitched all 10 innings.
     Morris Hills starter and winner Kelly Stites (6-1) also had a complete game, allowing but five singles while giving up one earned run, striking out six and walking four.

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Lady Knights lose to Knolls, 8-4

     ROCKAWAY - Morris Hills fell behind early and couldn't recover when the Lady Knights lost an 8-4 decision to sister school Morris Knolls in a high school softball game played at Morris Hills on Thursday, April 29.
     Morris Knolls (16-2) scored three runs in the top of the first inning and added two more in the second to take a quick 5-0 lead.
     Dana Castellano, Samantha Barker and Diana Fleischman each had an RBI for Morris Hills, which saw its record slip to 11-8.

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Gallagher's RBI single in 5th give MH an MCT victory

     ROCKAWAY - Emily Gallagher's RBI single in the top of the fifth inning broke a 3-3 tie and drove in the winning run as Morris Hills defeated Parsippany, 4-3, in a Morris County Softball Tournament first-round game played at Parsippany on Wednesday, April 28.
     Morris Hills, the No 10 seed, scored to runs in its first at-bat and added another in the top of the third only to have Parsippany, the No. 7 seed, scored three times in the bottom half of the third to create the 3-3 deadlock.
     The Lady Knights (11-7) pounded out 11 singles with Rachel Sitzer and Dana Castellano each finishing 3-for-4 to lead the way. Sitzer drove in a run and Castellano scored once. Morris Hills also took advantage of two Parsippany errors to score a pair of unearned runs.
     Samantha Carretero was 1-for-3 with a run scored; Stacey Abasto and Gabby Saggese were each 1-for-3; Lauren Aspiazu and Gallagher each finished 1-for-4; and Michelle Churchman scored twice.
    Chelsea Talbot evened her pitching record at 6-6 with by scattering seven hits in seven inning while striking out two and walking three.
    The win puts Morris Hills into the MCTG quarterfinal round against No. 2 seed Pequannock, a game that will be played Saturday, May 1, at Pequannock at 3 p.m.

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Lady Knights' 3-game streak ends 

    ROCKAWAY - The Morris Hills High School softball team had its three-game winning streak snapped by a 6-4 loss to Mount Olive in a game played at Mount Olive on Friday, April 23.
    Morris Hills (10-7),  the 10th seed in the Morris County Softball Tournament, jumped out to a 4-0 lead after three innings of play but Mount Olive (8-3), the No. 6 seed in the MCT, scored two runs in each of the fourth, fifth and sixth innings to seal the victory and improve their spring mark to 8-3.
     Stacey Abasto was 1-for-3 with a two-run double and a run scored for the Lady Knights, who were held to five hits by Mount Olive starter Cathy Drury (4-1).
     Diana Fleischman singled in a run in two official at-bats; Emily Gallagher was 1-for-2 with a double; Samantha Carretero was 1-for-2; Dana Castellano was 1-for-4 with a run scored; and Gabby Saggese and Samantha Barker each scored runs for the Lady Eagles.

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Lady Knights open MCT with 11-2 win over Mo-Beard

      ROCKAWAY - For the second straight game, Samantha Barker and Rachel Sitzer each drove in three runs in a Morris Hills victory, this one an 11-2 decision over Morristown-Beard in a Morris County Softball Tournament preliminary-round game played at Hills on Thursday, April 22.
     And, once again, they did it with the long ball.
     Barker was 1-for-4 with her three-run homer the big hit in a six-run second inning and Sitzer finished 1-for-2 with a triple. The day before, Barker was 3-for-3 with two triples and Sitzer was 1-for-3 with one triple in a 14-4 six-inning victory over Butler.
     The win puts the Lady Knights into the first-round of the 26-team tournament against the winner of the preliminary-round game between No. 7 Parsippany and No. 26 Kinnelon that is scheduled to be played Saturday, April 24, at Parsippany at 10:30 a.m.
     Barker and Sitzer had plenty of help as the Lady Knights pounded out 14 hits to improve their season record to 9-6.
     Samantha Carretero was 3-for-3 with a triple, two RBIs and three runs scored; Dana Castellano was 2-for-3 with two runs scored; Stacey Abasto was 2-for-4 with an RBI and a run scored; Lauren Aspiazu was 3-for-4 with a run scored; Emily Gallagher was 1-for-3 with two runs scored; and Gabby Saggese was 1-for-4 with one RBI and one run scored.
     Kelly Stites (5-1) was the complete-game winner as she scattered six singles over seven innings and allowed two earned runs while finishing with two strikeouts and no walks.
     Morristown-Beard, the No. 23 seed in the tournament, fell to 4-10 with the loss.

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Lady Knights use 15-hit attack to beat Butler, 14-4

     ROCKAWAY - Samantha Barker, Stacey Abasto, Rachel Sitzer and Gabby Saggese each drove in three runs as Morris Hills unleashed a 15-hit attack to beat Butler, 14-4, in a six-inning high school softball game played at Morris Hills on Wednesday, April 21.
      The Lady Knights (9-6) sent 16 batters to the plate in the second inning and scored 12 times to take a commanding lead.     

     The Lady Knights hit three of their five triples in the game in the inning as Rachel Sitzer smoked a bases-loaded triple, Saggese drove in two runs with her three-bagger, and Barker hit her first of two triples with one man on base.
      Barker's second triple of the game - a sixth-inning shot that drove in Saggese - gave the Lady Knights a 10-run lead and put an end to the game.
      Barker finished 3-for-3 with two triples, three RBIs and a run scored; Saggese was 1-for-3 with a triple, three RBIs and three runs scored; Abasto was 2-for-4 with three RBIs and a run scored; and Sitzer was 1-for-3 with a triple and three RBIs and a run scored.
      Also, Castellano finished 3-for-3 with three runs scored; Lauren Aspiazu was 2-for-3 with an RBI and a run scored; Emily Gallagher was 2-for-3 with an RBI and two runs scored; and Samantha Carretero scored a run.
     Winning pitcher Chelsea Talbot (6-5) scattered nine hits in her six innings of work, giving up four runs (three earned) while striking out seven and walking only one.

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Aspiazu, Abasto lead Lady Knights past Boonton

     ROCKAWAY - Lauren Aspiazu drove in three runs and Stacy Abasto was 3-for-4 with two RBIs to lead Morris Hills to an 8-4 victory over Boonton in a high school girls softball game played at Boonton on Tuesday, April 20.
      Aspiazu finished 1-for-4 with a two-run single and an RBI groundout. Abasto had three singles in her four trips and scored twice as the Lady Knights (8-6) finished the game with 12 hits that included two for extra bases - Samantha Carretero's solo homer and a triple by Emily Gallagher, who also scored a run.
      Winning pitcher Kelly Stites (4-1) scattered 10 hits was able to hold Boonton (2-8) to two earned runs. She struck out three and walked only one.
      Samantha Barker was 2-for-2 with an RBI and two runs scored; Dana Castellano was 2-for-4 with two runs scored; and Rachel Sitzer finished 2-for-4 for the Lady Knights.

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Par Hills nips Lady Knights, 6-5, on run in 11th inning

    ROCKAWAY - Morris Hills was one comeback too short as Parsippany Hills defeated the Lady Knights, 6-5, in an 11-inning high school softball game played at Hills on Monday, April 19.
    Par Hills (7-3) jumped on the Lady Knights (7-6) right away with a four-run first inning, but Morris Hills battled back and scored twice in the bottom of the third and twice in the bottom of the seventh to force extra innings.
     Sam Carretero opened the third with a home run and  Sam Barker walked,  took second on a wild pitch, and scored on a single yb Stacy Abasto to cut the Par Hills lead to 4-2.
     In the bottom of the seven, Carretero again led off - this time with a single. Dana Castellano followed with a single and both Carretero and Castellano scored when Barker hit a one-out, two-run double that tied the score and forced extra innings.
     Both teams scored in the 10th inning, with the teams started the inning with a baserunner on second base as per "International" rules. Barker, who made the last out in the ninth, opened the 10th on second and took third on a wild pitch and scored on a single by Lauren Aspiazu to send the game into the 11th inning.
    Par Hills' Kara Phillips, who was 3-for-5 for the game, drove in the go-ahead run for Par Hills in the top of the 11th and Morris Hills had runners on second and third with two outs, but Par Hills' Nikki Carroll, the second of two Par Hills pitchers, got the final out to record the win.
    Carretero finished 3-for-5 with a home run and and RBI and two runs scored to lead the Lady Knights' nine-hit attack. Barker was 2-for-4 with two RBIs and two runs scored; Castellano was 2-for-5 with a run scored; Abasto finished 1-for-3 with an RBI; and Lauren Aspiazu was 1-for-4 with an RBI.

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Lady Knights' 3-run 7th beats Chatham, 5-4

     ROCKAWAY - The Morris Hills High School softball team scored three runs in the bottom of the seventh inning to erase a two-run deficit and defeat Chatham, 5-4, to complete a two-game sweep at the Randolph Challenge in Randolph on Saturday, April 17.
    The Lady Knights (7-5) beat Morris Tech, 11-1, in five-innings in the first game.
    Against Chatham (6-3), Gabby Saggese started the winning rally with a single to left field - the only ball the Lady Knights hit out of the infield during the three-run outburst.
   Dana Castellano slapped an infield single and Diana Fleischman beat out another infield single to load the bases. Sam Carretaro grounded out to first with Saggese scoring on the RBI and Sam Barker followed with a grounder to second that scored Castellano when Castellano beat the throw home.
    With the score tied at 4-4, Stacey Abasto followed with another RBI grounder to second base and Fleischman was able to beat the throw to the plate for the winning run.
   Kelly Stites (3-1) picked up the pitching victory for the Lady Knights with a complete-game seven-hitter with two strikeouts and two walks.
   Castellano led Morris Hills' eight-hit attack by going 3-for-3 with an RBI and a run scored.
    Fleischman was 1-for-4 with a run scored; Abastao was 1-for-4 with an RBI and a run scored; Lauren Aspiazu was 1-for-3; Rachel Sitzer was 1-for-3 with an RBI; Saggese was 1-for-2 with a run scored; Sagese was 1-for-2 with as run scored; and Carretero and Barker each had RBIs.
    In the opening game win over Morris Tech (4-5), Barker was 2-for-3 with two home runs, four RBIs and three runs scored and Chelsea Talbot (4-4) pitched a five-inning, one-hit, complete-game victory, striking out six and walking one, to lead the way.
    Fleischman finished 2-for-4 with two RBIs and two runs scored; Saggese was 3-for-3 with an RBI and a run scored; Abasto was 2-for-2 with an RBI and three runs scored; Sitzer was 3-for-4 with two RBIs; Castellano was 1-for-3 with a run scored; Aspiazu was 1-for-3; Jenn Muhleisen was 1-for-1; and Michelle Churchman scored a run.
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Stites 4-hitter, Aspiazu HR help Lady Knights win, 10-0
     ROCKAWAY - Lauren Aspiazu drove in four runs and Kelly Stites pitched a four-hit shutout as the The Lady Knights scored a 10-0 six-inning victory over Wallkill Valley in a high school softball game played at Morris Hills on Thursday, April 15.
   Aspiazu finished 2-for-4 with a homer, triple and two runs scored as the Lady Knights improved to 5-4.
   Emily Gallagher was 3-for-3 with a double and two runs scored; Stacey Abasto was 3-for-4 with two runs scored; and Sam Barker added a home run for Hills.
    Stites struck out six and walked one to win her second game in three decision.
   Wallkill fell to 2-4 with the loss.
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Lady Knights nip High Point on run in bottom of 7th

    ROCKAWAY - Samantha Carretero's two-out, two-on groundball in the bottom of the seventh inning was misplayed allowing the winning run to score as Morris Hills defeated High Point, 6-5, in a high school softball game played at Morris Hills on Wednesday, April. 14.
     The win evened the Lady Knights record at 4-4; High Point slipped to 3-3.
     Stacey Abasto was 2-for-4 with a home run and two RBIs and Samantha Barker was 2-for-3 with two RBIs and a run to lead the Morris Hills nine-hit attack.
    Gabby Saggese finished 2-for-3 with a run scored for the Lady Knight and Rachel Sitzer was 1-for-4 with a run; Diana Fleischman was 1-for-4 with an RBI; and Carretero finished 1-for-4 with a run.
     Winning pitcher Chelsea Talbot pitched a complete game and allowed five runs (two earned) on six hits while striking out six and walking four.

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    ROCKAWAY - Montville had the last comeback in a game of comebacks to eke out a 6-5 victory in nine innings over Morris Hills in a high school softball game played at Montville on Monday, April 12.
    Morris Hills (3-4) led 3-0 after two innings, but Montville (4-1) rallied to tie the score with three runs in the bottom of the sixth and, after both teams scored a pair of runs in the seventh inning, the game went into extra innings.
    Rachel Sitzer's two-run single gave the Lady Knights a 5-3 lead, but Montville came back again to tie the score again when winning pitcher Taylor Strickland (4-1) and Jackie Rosellini each delivered two-out RBI singles.
    Neither team scored in the eighth and the Lady Knights failed to score in the top of the ninth.
    Montville's Ali Patierno led off with a walk and was sacrificed to second from where she scored when Rosellini followed with her game-winning single.
    Diana Fleischman was 4-for-5 with a double and  two runs scored for the Lady Knights. Rachel Sitzer finished 3-for-5 with two RBIs; Lauren Aspiazu was 2-for-5 with an RBI; and Stacy Abasto drove in a run on a fielder's choice.