Opening Day for the 2024 New Jersey softball season has officially come and gone, and while 11 Top 20 teams were scheduled to play, Mother Nature had other ideas.
While most North Jersey schools got games in, rain walloped Central and South Jersey, meaning only two games in that part of the state were played.
But still, that doesn’t mean there wasn’t excitement from other parts of the state. Whether it was impressive debuts by freshmen or walkoff wins over conference rivals or anything in between, here’s a look back at some of the highlights of this year’s Opening Day action.
Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose and sometimes it rains
Only two games were played in Central and South Jersey on Monday as heavy rain poured down through the morning and into the early afternoon.
Bordentown rallied from a two-run deficit to defeat New Egypt, 8-7, while Colts Neck defeated McDowell (Pa.), 14-1.
Unfortunately, the forecast doesn’t look much better the next two days.
Scotties continue to battle
The fight Bordentown showed as a No. 9 seed that reached the sectional final last year was on display again Monday.
Trailing 5-1, New Egypt rallied for six runs in the top of the sixth inning to take a 7-5 lead but Bordentown scored three times in the bottom of the seventh to walk off with an 8-7 win.
Reliever and winning pitcher MacKenzie Morton drove in the winning run after Natalie Crowell and Ciara Knight plated runners earlier in the frame.
All-state shortstop Sara Scozzari is off to a fast start for New Egypt with two hits that included a two-run homer.
Ramapo survives, walks it off in extras
After beating Pascack Valley 12-3 in 2021, 14-1 in 2022 and 10-2 last year, Ramapo has seemingly had the Hillsdale school’s number in resounding fashion in each of coach Darren White’s first three seasons.
On Monday, though, Pascack Valley nearly, finally closed the gap. The game was tied 6-6 heading into the bottom half of the eighth inning before LeeAnn Downey singled and stole second to get into scoring position. At that point, Downey scored on Emily McCarthy’s ground ball with no outs in the frame to let the Raiders hang on for the win.
Downey went 3-for-5 with a homer, triple and single while driving in three, scoring twice, including the winning run, and stealing a base.
Parsippany’s Zajac impresses in first career game
The game may have only lasted five innings on Opening Day but Parsippany freshman Arianna Zajac made the most of those five innings.
In Parsippany’s 12-0 win over NJAC crossover opponent Boonton, Zajac tossed a no-hitter in her first career start for the Red Hawks, striking out 10 and walking just one. If that wasn’t enough, she also stood out at the dish from the leadoff spot.
She went 2-for-4 with three runs scored, two walks and stole four bases, setting the tone for coach Paige Merle’s group early and often in the win.
Kavakich racks up the K’s, joins 600 club
The state’s leading returning strikeout pitcher from last year, Cedar Grove’s Cayce Kavakich struck out 329 on her way to All-State honors.
This year, the Panther junior opened her third season in the circle with a dominant complete game shutout, allowing just three hits and walking just one while striking out a whopping 16 in seven innings in No. 3 Cedar Grove’s 9-0 win over Caldwell.
Those 16 K’s give Kavakich 612 in just over two seasons so far and make her the fourth active pitcher along with Roxbury’s Hailey Errichiello, St. Thomas Aquinas’ Hayley Wieczerzak and Weehawken’s Savanna McHale as the only hurlers with 600+ career strikeouts.
Gaetani does a bit of everything Bayonne’s walkoff
It was a banner day for Bayonne star Caitlin Gaetani in the Bees’ 7-6 walkoff win over Mount St. Mary. The multi-sport star for the Hudson County school, Gaetani gave up five hits and four earned runs in seven innings, but also and more importantly struck out 18 in the circle, a career high.
It was her first double-digit strikeout game since May 9 of last season. She also went 1-for-2 with a two-run homer and drew a walk and got hit by a pitch, leading her to score three of Bayonne’s seven runs.
The biggest run of the game though was scored by junior Ocean Dux-O’Sullivan, who in addition to hitting a two-RBI double, got hit by a pitch with the bases loaded in the bottom of the seventh to walk things off and win it for Bayonne.
English powers IHA, gives strong introductory lesson
Immaculate Heart, No. 13 in the NJ.com Preseason Top 20, had no issues taking care of Passaic Tech to open the season with a 9-1 win on the road in Wayne.
But the real story for coach Diana Fasano’s group was freshman Leah English. She drove in seven of IHA’s nine runs in the win thanks to two home runs in four at-bats and scored two runs as well.
The other RBI producers for IHA were Jenny Park and Rylee Smith, the latter of whom also contributed a home run. In the circle, Gabi Dellavolpe struck out seven in three innings of work.
Jake Aferiat can be reached at jaferiat@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him at @Jake_Aferiat.
Bill Evans can be reached at bevans@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him at @bybillevans.
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