Claire Shupe, shown delivering a pitch in the sectional championship game against Morristown, enjoyed an outstanding sophomore season for Columbia this spring.
MAPLEWOOD/SOUTH ORANGE, NJ — The Columbia High School softball team, which enjoyed a 17-10 season, boasted several players who received All–Super Essex Conference–American Division honors this season, as voted by the divisional coaches.
First team
- Claire Shupe, rising junior pitcher.
- Sam Stein, recently graduated shortstop.
Second team
- Charlotte Klepesch, rising senior third baseman.
Honorable mention
- Ellie Martin, recently graduated second baseman.
- Lexi Kaplan, rising junior outfielder.
Shupe also made the second team on the All-Group 4 by the Star-Ledger. In 134 innings pitched, she allowed 106 hits and 29 walks, struck out 153 and had a 1.99 earned run average. At the plate, she batted a whopping .512 with a team-high 42 hits, including six doubles, three triples, two home runs and a team-high 26 runs batted in.
Stein had a .269 batting average with 25 hits, including three doubles, one triple, one home run, 10 RBI and eight walks. Klepesch batted .305 with 25 hits, including three doubles, one home run and 22 RBI.
Martin had a .407 batting average with 33 hits, including seven doubles, nine walks and 21 RBI. Kaplan hit .304 with 24 hits, including four doubles, one triple, 10 walks and 12 RBI.
Under longtime head coach Cliff Smith, the defending champion Cougars reached the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association’s North Jersey, Section 1, Group 4 state championship game, but lost to Morristown, 3-0, at Ivy Hill Park at Seton Hall University to end the season.
In 2023, the Cougars defeated Livingston, 7-5, in eight innings on the road to win their first sectional title since 1977.
Photo by Steve Ellmore
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