Claire Shupe throws a pitch during the home win over Caldwell this season.
MAPLEWOOD/SOUTH ORANGE, NJ — The Columbia High School softball team, seeking to reach a state sectional final for the third straight season, received the No. 2 seed in the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association’s North Jersey, Section 2, Group 4 state tournament.
The Cougars were scheduled to host No. 15 seed Elizabeth in the first round on Wednesday, May 28, after press time. If they won, the Cougars will host either No. 7 seed Phillipsburg or No. 10 seed Ferris (Jersey City) in the quarterfinals on Friday, May 30. The top seed is Watchung Hills. The third seed is Scotch Plains–Fanwood.
The semifinals are Wednesday, June 4, and the final is Friday, June 6, at the higher-seeded schools.
CHS reached the North 1, Group 4 sectional final in each of the past two seasons. They defeated Livingston in the 2023 final on the road and lost to Morristown in the 2024 final at home at Meadowlands Park field.
The Cougars defeated West Essex, 10-0, in five innings at Meadowlands Park field on Tuesday, May 20, in a Super Essex Conference-American Division game. Junior Eva Clevenger went 3-for-3 with three RBI, junior Claire Shupe went 2-for-4 with two doubles and two RBI, junior Abby Coulter went 3-for-3, sophomore Maya Bernstein went 2-for-3 with two RBI, and freshman Jamie Tarrow had a home run and two RBI.
Shupe pitched a one-hitter with six strikeouts.
Columbia lost at Morris Knolls, 17-7, on Friday, May 23, in an independent game. CHS moved to 17-6 on the season. Shupe went 4-for-4; junior Lexi Kaplan went 2-for-3 with two RBI; and Tarrow, Bernstein and Charlotte Klepesch each had an RBI.
Photo by Joe Ungaro
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