Looking back at: Thursday, April 19

Couple of quick notes before we get into yesterday's action:

- After a one-day delay, the latest podcast is finally up. Check it out at http://www.c-n.com/specialsections/podcasts/frezza/baseball041907.htm

- I will be heading to South Plainfield on Saturday to watch the Tigers take on Monroe at 11 a.m.
South Plainfield barely got passed Colonia yesterday, after losing to Carteret last Friday. This will be a big test for the Tigers as they battle Monroe for a leg up in GMC White Division.


Here is today's edition of THREE UP, THREE DOWN based on Thursday's results:


THREE UP

BERNARDS: The Mountaineers topped Hackettstown 2-0, as senior second baseman Alex Masterangelo delivered a two-run third-inning triple, and sophomore right-hander Nicole Fresella tossed a three-hit shutout with eight strikeouts. An excellent win for Bernards against one of the Raritan Division's better teams.

LAUREN FITZSIMMONS: The Bridgewater-Raritan junior right-hander pitched a perfect game Thursday against Ridge, striking out 15. Junior first baseman Lindsay Durant helped out her best friend with a fifth-inning sacrifice fly to plate the game's only run. Nice job by Ridge and pitcher Lindsay Gibbons holding the vaunted Panthers offense to just one run.

ERIN BOYLE: The North Hunterdon senior smacked what would have been a walk-off grand slam in the bottom of the seventh inning Thursday to snap a 0-0 tie and lift the Lions past Immaculata. In the midst of the excitement, a couple of runners passed each other on the bases after the ball had cleared the left-field fence, turning the grand slam into a three-run homer. My colleague Jerry Carino was at the game, here's a link to his story http://c-n.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070420/SPORTS03/704200353/1013


THREE DOWN

WATCHUNG HILLS: Sure, the Warriors hadn't played in nine days and this was just their fourth game of the year, but if Watchung Hills wishes to compete in the Delaware East with Montgomery, Immaculata, Hillsborough and Bridgewater-Raritan, it can't be losing to Voorhees. Not that the Vikings are push overs, mind you, but Voorhees was also playing for the first time since April 10 and this was only the Vikings' fourth game, too. A 3-2 Watchung Hills loss is really going to hurt its chances in the conference.

IMMACULATA: The Spartans squandered several scoring opportunities in their 3-0 loss to North Hunterdon. And while Immaculata has already shown its the real deal with wins over Hillsborough and Hunterdon Central, a victory over the defending Group IV champions would have been the ultimate feather in the Spartans' cap.

MY LEFT WRIST: It's been killing me all week and has made it quite difficult to type!