As the Bergen County softball tournament turns 50, remembering the wildest tournament ever

We can debate forever what the best Bergen County softball tournament was, or who the best all-time team was. And, since 1974, there have certainly been some incredible moments.

• Christina Miquel’s walk-off homer for IHA in 2009 at Ramapo College in the ninth inning.

• Maddie Levine’s walk-off, three-run blast in 2014 for Indian Hills.

• Lodi’s dream perfect season in 1987.

• Ridgewood beating Ramsey, 1-0, in 11 innings in 1983.

• River Dell going 4-0 in county title games with a win in 1997.

But I know, without a doubt, the craziest Bergen County softball tournament ever.

The year was 2006. Cell phones were still rare. Some Bergen County softball teams still played in shorts. No one knew what a tweet was, or social media. Maybe that was a good thing.

And it’s the only time three double-digit seeds ever made the Bergen County semifinals. Tenafly was the No. 10 seed. Park Ridge was the No. 12 seed. Ridgefield Park was the No. 22 seed. There were only 29 teams in the whole tournament.

The Scarlets are still the lowest seed to ever reach the semifinals in the 50-year history of the tournament. Hackensack was the No. 21 seed in 2012.

“It was definitely a crazy, fun time,” said Mook Iannacone, the current Hawthorne coach who was in his first year at Ridgefield Park in 2006. “Ridgefield Park hadn’t been on the softball map, and I think for a few years, it put us on the map.”

Let’s set the scene. Ridgewood was the defending Bergen County champion after beating Ramapo freshman pitcher Brittany Baiunco in the 2005 final.

No one really noticed in the first round when the Scarlets beat No. 11 seed Bergen Tech, 2-1.

“Our first baseman got hurt, and I had to put an outfielder at first base [Alyssa Nelson], and she made a diving catch in one of the late innings when they had runners on,” Iannacone said. “She hadn’t played first base in years.”

In the second round, the Scarlets faced rising power Indian Hills. The game was at Northern Highlands. No bus showed up, so Iannacone, an assistant coach and a parent had to drive the girls to the game. The Scarlets won, 4-1.

Now things were starting to get wild. Ridgefield Park was officially Cinderella. But they weren’t the only ones in the field. In fact, there were more Cinderellas then a ball should allow. In the quarterfinals, Ridgefield Park faced No. 19 seed Ramsey, which had beaten both St. Mary and Paramus.

No. 10 seed Tenafly took on No. 2 Ridgewood, and No. 12 Park Ridge faced No. 4 Immaculate Heart.

And in three of the four quarterfinals, the lower seeds won.

Park Ridge, coached by the legendary Frank Baldino, led IHA 5-1, only for the Blue Eagles to come back and tie it before Park Ridge prevailed on a Dana Carroll infield single, 6-5, in the eighth inning.

Tenafly, led by pitcher Emily Beck and playing in shorts, stunned the defending champs in 10 innings, throwing a three-hitter against Ridgewood.

As good as that one was, the Ridgefield Park-Ramsey game was even better.

It went 13 innings. It was the first year of the international tiebreaker starting in the 10th inning, and coaches still weren’t sure how to handle that. (Bunt or swing away?) Ridgefield Park led 3-2 in the 11th, but the Rams tied it and appeared to have the game won on a line drive to center, but Scarlets center fielder Erica Moore was able to make a diving catch.

Danielle McArow laced a two-run single in the top of the 13th, and that was enough for the Scarlets to win, 6-4.

“It would have been over in the ninth, but they had a girl who didn’t tag up from third on a fly ball,” Iannacone said. “She ran down the line and then had to run back to the bag, and we were able to get the ball in on time.”

That set up the semifinals between BCSL American foes Tenafly and Ridgefield Park for the third time that season (Tenafly had won both games), and Park Ridge and Ramapo on the other side. The games were at Ramapo.

Baiunco was too good for the Raiders, who shut out Park Ridge, 2-0.

Ashley Thompson, whom Iannacone had given hitting lessons to, hit a homer for Tenafly in the first inning, and Beck, pitching with a sore back, struck out 11 to end the Scarlets’ run.

The final the next day at Old Tappan − yes, the next day − almost felt anticlimactic. Baiunco struck out 11 and allowed only one hit in a 3-0 win over the Tigers. She went on to be named North Jersey Player of the Decade for the 2000s.

Ramapo added championships in 2007 and 2008, becoming the first team to ever win three straight Bergen County softball titles.

Ridgefield Park still remains the lowest-seeded team to make the semis, and Iannacone still likes telling the stories of the year his team went on a run. The next season, the Scarlets were seeded 20th and sprung two upsets before losing to IHA in the quarterfinals.

“In my first year at River Dell, we went to the final four, but this was a little different, because River Dell was always good,” Iannacone said. “This was something that Ridgefield Park had never done. No one expected it.”

This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: Bergen County softball: Remembering 2006, wildest tournament ever