Darren Cooper's first 'Scoops on Softball' blog of the season: Everything to know for 2024
Hey, it looks like spring, doesn’t it?
Sunshine greeted North Jersey softball teams for their first official days of practice this week. This means teams can actually get out on the field for practice before the first game of the season! That hasn’t always been the case. That’s why so many teams go to Florida or Myrtle Beach for a few days to play.
By the way, over (ahem) years covering high school softball and I’m still waiting for my first invitation to go down to spring training with a team. I like Florida too, you know.
This is my annual/traditional first softball blog of the spring. Here is 2023. Here is 2022. Here is 2021.
I could go on, but you get the drift.
It’s a tradition dating back to before the world had heard of TikTok and Instagram. Varsity Aces was a blog, a bare bones one, before we launched our own social media brand. In fact, softball is the reason I started the Varsity Aces twitter. But that’s a long story.
My name is Darren Cooper, Local Sports Columnist for NorthJersey.com and also long-time softball guy. I’d tell you how long it’s been, but I hate when coaches and ADs want to tell you how many years they’ve been (suffering) in a certain position.
It’s been a long time. The minute I think that counts for anything is the minute I should stop. Whenever ADs or coaches do this, I’m always like, ‘Wait, so if you had this job for 37 years, that automatically means you’re smarter than the guy who had it for 36 years?” Right.
I’ve been doing this long enough that I covered Peter King’s softball-playing daughters in high school in Montclair. You want pressure? Sit next to Mr. King while he charted games when you’re like 26 years old and you know he’s going to read your story that week. Mary Beth and Laura were two of my favorite people back in the day (great competitors in softball and field hockey). Peter King and I (for real) stayed up all night as chaperones at Project Graduation one night. I have pictures to prove it.
And unless Peter wants to come cover high school softball in North Jersey, I’m it for now.
We will start with my usual listing of 2024 tournaments, plus my North Jersey record lists for coaching victories, hits and pitching wins. It’s all good.
What’s new with North Jersey softball?
My friend, shockingly not much. There may be a possible co-op coming between a Morris County school and a Passaic County school, but that’s about it.
As of now, I only count one new coach in North Jersey (by the way, we define North Jersey as all of Bergen and Passaic counties, plus Pequannock and Weehawken… I don’t make the rules).
The new coach is Emma Stagg at North Arlington. And she’s it. She’s the North Jersey 2024 Rookie Coach of the Year. I’m calling it.
There is one semi-new coach at a new school, but I’m not sure that it counts. Sarah Piening (the 4-timer, look it up) is now head coach at St. Mary after Immaculate Conception closed. I know many of the Blue Wolves left IC to go to St. Mary. This means this becomes the Gaels' best softball team in a long time.
The NJIC and Big North division alignments have stayed the same. It’s the last year of a two-year scheduling cycle. We will see if anything changes for 2025.
This year is the 50th… yes, 50th Bergen County softball tournament. No, I was not at the first one. However, it would be my honor to put together some sort of anniversary team for the event. What do you think? Do I pick the 50 best players in Bergen County softball history? Pick like 16 women for an All-Time Tournament team? It sounds like fun.
The Coaches Chart
Entering the 2024 season, I have updated my coaching victories list. I might need to start cutting it off at 400 now, instead of 200. Just kidding.
Last year was kind of a slow year for milestones. Richie Aponte hit 300 with Hasbrouck Heights. No one loves softball more than Richie. Maryann Goodwin went over 500 with Pequannock, and Darren White hit the big 600, but I don’t think many others made the jump.
This year, she’s not on the list, but IHA coach Diana Fasano is at 184. She should crack the 200 mark sometime in early to mid-May. Mook has a shot at 300 with a good year at Hawthorne. The big milestone this year is 600 for Joe Leicht at Indian Hills. He needs 17 to get there. I think it's likely, but I would also say Indian Hills schedules real tough. And is Joe Leicht the only one on this list with a boys county basketball title on his resume? I think Joe’s cumulative win total has to be close to 1,200. I think I wrote about it when it was 1,000.
North Jersey softball coaching victories
Jeff Horohonich, IHA/Elmwood Park/IC/Saddle Brook (deceased) 683
Tom Eagleson, North Bergen (retired) 634
Darren White, Saddle Brook/Ramapo (active) 609
Joe Leicht, Indian Hills (active) 583
Jim Dransfield, West Milford/Kinnelon (retired) 579
Frank Baldino, Ramsey/Park Ridge/Paramus Catholic/Ramapo (retired) 536
Craig Nielsen, Pascack Valley/Mahwah (retired) 517
Maryann Goodwin, Wayne Hills/Pequannock (active) 504
Rich LaDuke, Clifton (retired) 470
Debbie Paul, Ridgewood (retired) 463
Sue Parler, DePaul (retired) 456
Rich Wilson, Dumont (retired) 443
Suzanne Murden, Queen of Peace (retired) 441
John Galante, North Arlington (retired) 411
Brenda Canal, River Dell (retired) 408
Leslie Stephen, Ramapo/Hawthorne (retired) 408
Paula LaSalandra, DePaul (retired) 391
Frank Venezia, St. Mary (retired) 379
Jack Weaver, Paramus/Emerson (retired) 378
Brian Hay, Paramus (inactive) 358
Melissa Landeck, Old Tappan (active) 346
Karyn Hennessy, Pompton Lakes (active) 346
Anthony LaRezza, IHA/MKA (deceased) 338
Sue Liddy, Holy Angels, (active) 329
Barbara Barlow, Emerson (deceased) 321
Chris Caserta, Ramsey (active) 316
Helen Antzoulides, Rutherford/Paterson Catholic (retired) 308
Richie Aponte, Hasbrouck Heights/Teaneck/Pascack Hills (active) 307
Jack Smithlin, Fair Lawn/Park Ridge (retired) 285
Mook, River Dell/Ridgefield Park/Hawthorne (active) 281
Kelly Dowell, Glen Rock (active), 280
Patti Auger, Ridgewood, (inactive) 264
Ron Merrill, Cliffside Park (retired) 251
Sue Benjamin, Fair Lawn (active) 247
Maureen Fister-Donatien, Midland Park (retired) 231
Laura King-Junta, Eastern Christian/Lakeland (active) 228
Tina Salute, Paramus (retired) 226
Mike Garibell, River Dell (retired), 217
Ralph Lilore, Lyndhurst (retired) 216
Mondo, Emerson/St.Mary, (retired) 200
It’s tournament time
In April, North Jersey softball is defined by the tournaments that happen on the weekends. In softball, usually, no one ducks anyone… why would you? And some of the best games of the regular season happen at these tournaments.
They aren’t really tournaments, no one wins and moves on. They’re better defined as Invitationals and a lot of them are for good local causes. I love them. I miss the ones that we used to have in Emerson and Wallington way back when. Nothing beats a warm spring day (like today) watching 3-4 games back-to-back-to-back. There’s the sweet-signed softball tradition at the LaRezza Tournament at IHA, the crazy night game for the Dondero (when it doesn’t rain) and the special moments at the Donna Ricker in Wood-Ridge.
If anything, I think the tournaments we have are getting bigger, more fields, more teams. Just pray for good weather.
North Jersey softball tournament schedule
Here are the tournament schedules for 2024 so far. Yes, the Walsh Classic at DePaul is a pre-season event, meaning the games are scrimmages.
(UPDATE: We've added the First Responder Games in Waldwick. That's a new event this year).
Walsh Classic at DePaul (Pre-Season Scrimmages)
Saturday, March 30
West Milford vs. Bloomfield, 9 a.m.
Holy Angels vs. Pompton Lakes, 9 a.m.
Winning teams, 10:30 a.m.
Losing teams, 10:30 a.m.
River Dell vs. Passaic Tech, noon
Bergen Tech vs. Lakeland, noon
Winning teams, 1:30 p.m.
Losing teams, 1:30 p.m.
DePaul vs. Glen Rock, 3 p.m.
Glen Ridge vs. Fair Lawn, 3 p.m.
Winning teams, 4:30 p.m.
Losing teams, 3:30 p.m.
Saturday, April 6
HOFs Benefit at Ramapo High School
Bergen Tech vs. Ramapo, 9 a.m.
Fair Lawn vs. Ramsey, 11 a.m.
Lakeland vs. Belleville, 1:15 p.m.
Saddle Brook vs. Emerson, 3:15 p.m.
First Responders Games in Waldwick
Hawthorne vs. Westwood, 9:30 a.m.
Fort Lee vs. Midland Park, 11:30 a.m.
Waldwick vs. Elmwood Park, 1:30 p.m.
Bergenfield vs. Tenafly, 3:30 p.m.
Blue and Gold Tournament at Hillview Elementary Pompton Plains (3 fields)
Pequannock vs. Old Tappan, 2 p.m.
DePaul vs. Ridgewood, 2 p.m.
Wayne Valley vs. Rutherford, 2 p.m.
Pequannock vs. Passaic Tech, 3:45 p.m.
DePaul vs. Northern Highlands, 3:45 p.m.
Wayne Valley vs. Indian Hills, 3:45 p.m.
Ridgewood vs. Jefferson, 3:45 p.m.
Passaic Tech vs. Northern Highlands, 5:30 p.m.
Rutherford vs. Indian Hills, 5:30 p.m.
Jefferson vs. Old Tappan, 5:30 p.m.
The Catholic Challenge at Donovan Catholic
Moore Catholic (NY) vs. Donovan Catholic, 11 a.m.
Morris Catholic vs. Vianney, 1 p.m.
St. Thomas Aquinas vs. Mt. St. Dominic, 3 p.m.
IHA vs. Red Bank Catholic, 5 p.m.
Saturday, April 13
Darlene Dondero Classic at Back Beach (2 fields)
Manchester vs. Mary Help of Christians, noon
Passaic vs. Eastern Christian, noon
Pompton Lakes vs. Passaic Tech, 2:30 p.m.
Passaic Valley vs. Hawthorne, 2:30 p.m.
Clifton vs. DePaul, 5 p.m.
Wayne Hills vs. Wayne Valley, 5 p.m.
Lakeland vs. West Milford, 7:30 p.m.
Anthony LaRezza Invitational at IHA
IHA vs. St. John Vianney, 9 a.m.
Cedar Grove vs. Middletown North, 11 a.m.
Indian Hills vs. Ramapo, 1 p.m.
Donna Ricker Tournament in Wood-Ridge (2 Fields)
At Wood-Ridge HS
Wallington vs. New Milford, 10 a.m.
Bergen Tech vs. Weehawken, noon
At WRAC
Wood-Ridge vs. Park Ridge, 10 a.m.
Emerson vs. Becton, noon
Waldwick vs. Dumont, 2 p.m.
Sunday, April 14
Anthony LaRezza Invitational at IHA
IHA vs. Cranford, 9 a.m.
Northern Highlands vs. Hanover Park, 11 a.m.
Mt. St. Dominic vs. Donovan Catholic, 1 p.m.
Nutley vs. Paramus Catholic, 3 p.m.
Saturday, April 20
Believe Tournament in New Milford at Owens Middle School (2 fields)
Field 1:
Waldwick vs. Ridgefield, 9 a.m.
Bergenfield vs. Secaucus, 11 a.m.
River Dell vs. Dumont, 1 p.m.
New Milford vs. Lodi, 1 p.m.
Field 2:
Park Ridge vs. Bergen Tech, 9 a.m.
Hawthorne vs. Wood-Ridge, 11 a.m.
Cresskill vs. Lyndhurst, 1 p.m.
Wallington vs. Emerson, 3 p.m.
14th Annual Breast Cancer Challenge at Demarest
Fort Lee vs. Demarest, 9 a.m.
Cliffside Park vs. Tenafly, 11 a.m.
Holy Angels vs. Waldwick, 1 p.m.
Bergenfield vs. Westwood, 3 p.m.
Walsh Alumni Family Classic
At DePaul, 2 p.m.
Black and Gold Invitational at Cedar Grove (3 fields)
Upper Panther Field 1
Hanover Park vs. Nutley, 9 a.m.
North Hunterdon vs. Cedar Grove, 11 a.m.
Middletown North vs. Mt. St. Dominic, 1 p.m.
Red Bank Catholic vs. Livingston, 3 p.m.
Roxbury vs. IHA, 5 p.m.
Upper Panther Field 2
Ramsey vs. Cranford, 9 a.m.
Marlboro vs. AL Johnson, 11 a.m.
Colts Neck vs. Columbia, 1 p.m.
Watchung Hills vs. Ramapo, 3 p.m.
Lower Panther Field 3
Pequannock vs. Verona, 9 a.m.
Hillsborough vs. Montville, 11 a.m.
Becton vs. West Essex, 1 p.m.
Saturday, April 27
Coaches vs. Cancer in Park Ridge
Memorial Field
Fair Lawn vs. Paramus Catholic, 9 a.m.
St. Dominic Academy vs. New Milford, 11 a.m.
Ramapo vs. Mahwah, 1 p.m.
Waldwick vs. Pascack Hills, 3 p.m.
River Dell vs. Paramus, 5 p.m.
HS Field
Tenafly vs. Park Ridge, 9 a.m.
Becton vs. Old Tappan, 11:15 a.m.
Ridgewood vs. Ramsey, 1:30 p.m.
IHA vs. Ridgefield Park, 3:45 p.m
Pride/Essex Challenge at Ivy Hill Park
Columbia vs. Morris Knolls, 9 a.m.
Indian Hills vs. Hanover Park, 11 a.m.
Cedar Grove vs. Vianney, 1 p.m.
Mt. St. Dominic vs. Colts Neck, 3 p.m.
Donovan Catholic vs. IHA, 5 p.m.
Livingston vs. Morris Catholic, 7 p.m.
More Lists: Softball pitchers and hitters
I write this every year, but I think we celebrate way too many milestones in high school sports these days. I’m not really keen on schools celebrating 100 hits or 200 career strikeouts. That’s just a personal preference. The sad thing is that as coaches change over time - or athletic directors - records get thrown out and schools lose the ability to say “most hits in school history” etc. because they simply don’t know.
A couple of years ago, I worked up a list on North Jersey pitching victories. Usually the way this works is I post this list and then coaches tell me who to update and add. It’s wild because the game has evolved so much that I don’t know if anyone will ever win 100 games again in softball.
North Jersey softball career pitching victories
Steph Thomas, IHA, 113 (2014)
Heather Wilson, Ramsey, 99
Kim Prevedel, Saddle Brook, 88
Corine Reiser, West Milford 87 (2000)
Marianna DelMonaco, Park Ridge 87
Cathy Kaminski, Ramsey 85
Sarah Piening, Immaculate Conception 83 (2016)
Johanna Tolomeo, Cliffside Park, 82
Lindsay Davis, River Dell 81
Karin Kolatac, West Milford 79 (1996)
Virginia Augusta, River Dell, 76
Julie Sosnicki, Rutherford 76
Michelle Meccia, Ridgefield Park 76 (1996)
Alexia Russo, Saddle Brook 75
Lisa Caruso, Passaic Valley 75
Devin Durando, IHA/Indian Hills 75 (2014)
Colleen Fitzpatrick Majowicz, Becton 74 (1982)
Brielle Cosentino IHA, 73
Katie Enright, Indian Hills, 73
Kristin Jacobs, Eastern Christian 72
Danielle Roesing, Secaucus, 71
Allison Moyle, Pompton Lakes 68
Laura Tynio, Clifton 67
Brittany Baiunco, Ramapo 67
Angela Saric, Indian Hills 66 (2018)
Ashley Johnston, Emerson 65 (2012)
Brianne Moore, Clifton 64
Amber Woegens, Bogota 63
Julie Rodriguez, NV/Old Tappan 62 (2017)
Ali Bryan, Midland Park, 62
Val Koegler, DePaul 62
Erika Lockhart, IHA, 61
Chloe DeSanctis, River Dell, 60
Jennifer Sweeney, Dumont, 59 (2017)
Michelle Harding, West Milford 58 (1993)
Robyn Baron, West Milford 58 (1991)
Stacey Leicht, Indian Hills 58
Amanda Pezzano, Hawthorne 57
Michele Graham, Hawthorne 57
Katie Kallert, Passaic Valley 56
Erica Wills, Wayne Hills 56
Emily Karr, Eastern Christian 56
Kristina Jimenez, West Milford 55
Jen Capazzi, Old Tappan 55
Rachel Cannata, Waldwick/PC, 54
Tracy Sieper, Wallington (1985) 54
Allie Page, Pascack Valley, 53
Ali Vagianos, Ridgewood, 53
Tori Feorenzo, Paramus 53
Diane Besser, Clifton, 53
Ashley Buschgans, Waldwick 52 (2019)
Jessie Shevins, Tenafly 51
Laura Brown, Park Ridge 51
And now the Hits List. The other reason why I balk sometimes at the 100-hit celebration is that it’s become increasingly common. And the state record for hits is 290 by Lauren Stefanchik at Montclair Kimberly Academy. I covered her back when. Peter King even got her in "Faces in the Crowd" in Sports Illustrated back when we had magazines that covered sports with great writers and great pictures and stories.
Anyway, ask Peter King about all that.
Any updates to either list, please let me know. I am easy to find.
North Jersey softball hits list
Reese Guevarra, IHA, 216
Lexi Knief, Ramsey 195
Katie Falotico, Emerson 186
Gianna Caruso, St. Mary 183 (1996)
Victoria Sebastian, Ramsey 181 (2019)
Lorena Alvarez, Saddle Brook 177
Cailyn Lavender, Park Ridge 172
Jamie Rattacassa, Saddle Brook 171
Carly Lesko, New Milford 171 (2014)
Ann Marie Macchione, Paramus 168
Julie Rodriguez, NV/Old Tappan (2017) 166
Nicole Paiotti, Indian Hills 166 (2013)
Jen Pawol, West Milford 165 (1995)
Erin Emery, Teaneck 164 (2019)
Jenn Millward, West Milford 164 (1995)
Emma Cunningham, Ramsey 164 (2020)
Melissa Phelan, Saddle Brook 162
Kelsey Settecasi, Paramus 162
Zoe Bender, Glen Rock 158
Danielle Jurcevic, Fair Lawn 155
Jennifer Stoll, Lakeland 154
Allison Brown, Old Tappan 154 (2012)
Kelly Crosson, Fair Lawn 154 (1996)
Gianna Sarlo, Bergen Tech 154 (2019)
Ashley Sosa, Teaneck 154 (2017)
Steph Pasquale, Pompton Lakes 153
Dana Pordon, West Milford 153 (2003)
Veronica DeStefano, Emerson 152
Mary Wiley, Old Tappan 152 (2013)
Emma Lein, Midland Park 151 (2019)
Hannah Douma, Midland Park 151 (2018)
Juliette Davis, Pequannock 151
Paige Goldsack, Rutherford 151 (2011)
Karen Mischelof, Fair Lawn 151 (1991)
Alexandra Paskas, Rutherford 150 (2013)
Jackie Lara, Ridgefield 150 (2018)
Daesia Jones, Teaneck 150 (2015)
Samantha Drummond, Rutherford 150 (1999)
Cherryl Bott, Rutherford 148 (1987)
Brittany Schillizzi, Paramus 148
Kelly Strittmatter, Indian Hills 148 (2011)
Ashley DeYoung, Indian Hills 147 (2012)
Nicole Leocata, Indian Hills 147 (2014)
Ashley Buschgans, Waldwick 144 (2019)
Tamara Levin, Teaneck 144 (2013)
Jessica Utter, West Milford 143
Jodiann Palmerieri, Fair Lawn 142 (1997)
Allison Levin, Teaneck 140 (2009)
Maddie Levine, Indian Hills 139 (2014)
Jackie Lynn, Fair Lawn 139 (1996)
Faith Camilleri, Immaculate Conception 138 (2020)
Jaime Parisi, Hackensack 137 (2016)
Sarah Stocker, Indian Hills 137 (2019)
KellyAnn Rubino, Park Ridge 137
Olivia Marinelli, Hasbrouck Heights 137 (2019)
Courtney Deloughery, Dumont 137 (2017)
Bailey Hartman, Fair Lawn (2019) 136
Sara Lang, Fair Lawn 136 (1996)
Allison Conlon, Hackensack 135 (2016)
Jennifer Sweeney, Dumont 134 (2017)
Ryan Henry, Ramsey 134 (2020)
Alexis Crisuolo, Park Ridge 133
Nicole Fleck, Wood-Ridge 133 (2012)
Jessica Perucki, West Milford 133 (2019)
Leah Mercadante, Midland Park 133 (2018)
Kristen Zimmerman, Indian Hills 132 (2001)
Patti Gerkens, Old Tappan 132 (1984)
Kristi Saporito, New Milford 132 (2009)
Hallie Donofrio, Waldwick 131 (2016)
Samantha Settecasi, Paramus 130 (2020)
What’s next?
In the coming days, we will have our team-by-team preview and official preseason Top 25. I already did my unofficial Top 25 last June. A lot of things change from then to now. Plus, my predictions on the winners of each league and county.
This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: NJ softball: Everything to know for North Jersey's 2024 season
