Columbia senior Claire Shupe beams as she holds a sign after collecting her 600th career strikeout. Shupe also became the program’s all-time leader in hits. At far left is Columbia athletic director Sjocquelyn Winstead and second from left is Columbia head coach Cliff Smith. At right are coaches Lindsey Clesmere and Jennifer Alves-Filho.
MAPLEWOOD/SOUTH ORANGE — The second-seeded Columbia High School softball team defeated 15th-seeded Newark Academy 11-1 in the second round of the Essex County Tournament on Saturday, May 2, at Meadowland Field in South Orange.
Junior Maya Bernstein went 3-for-4 with two doubles and two RBIs, sophomore Cassie Maguire went 3-for-3 with a double and an RBI, senior Claire Shupe went 2-for-3 with a home run and two RBIs, and senior Eva Clevenger went 2-for-2 with a walk and an RBI to lead the Cougars. Shupe pitched five innings of two-hit ball with 10 strikeouts, including the 600th of her career, and no walks, while freshman Alison Kelly pitched one hitless inning with two strikeouts.
The Cougars won their 10th straight game to improve to 14-2 on the season. They will host No. 7 seed Livingston in the quarterfinals on Saturday, May 9, at Seton Hall University’s Ivy Hill Park at 1 p.m. If they win, they will face the winner between No. 3 seed Caldwell and No. 11 seed Bloomfield in the semifinals at Ivy Hill Park on Friday, May 15.
Top-seeded Mount St. Dominic will host No. 9 seed Glen Ridge in the quarterfinals on May 9.
In earlier action, Kelly struck out 11 in firing a four-hitter with four walks in the 6-2 home win over Nutley on April 27 in a Super Essex Conference game.
Clevenger had two singles, a double and two RBIs; Shupe had a single, a double, two runs and one RBI; and senior Lexi Kaplan had two singles and an RBI for the Cougars, who scored four runs in the sixth inning to take a 6-1 lead. Shupe went 3-for-3 with two home runs, a double and five RBIs, and she pitched a five-hitter with eight strikeouts and two walks to power the Cougars to an 8-1 win over South Plainfield on Thursday, April 30, in an independent game. Senior Emma Lerner went 2-for-3 and Bernstein hit a solo home run.
Clevenger went 3-for-4 with two doubles and two RBIs; and Bernstein went 3-for-5 with an RBI in the 11-2 win at Mount Olive on May 1 in an independent game. Sophomore Jamie Tarrow went 3-for-4 with two RBIs, Lerner went 2-for-4 with an RBI, sophomore Maggie Feder went 2-for-3 with an RBI and freshman Oliiva Ahlberg and Kelly each had an RBI. Kelly tossed a four-hitter for the win.
Photo Courtesy of Columbia High School
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