The North Warren Patriots defeated Hackettstown 6-0 Wednesday afternoon in Blairstown. The Patriots entered the game at 5-1, leading the visiting Tigers by one game in the NJAC Colonial Division.
The offense has driven North Warren’s strong start, with sisters Megan and Katelyn Galante leading the charge. Through the first seven games of the year, the Galante girls have a combined slash line of .682 BA/5 HRs/28 RBIs.
On the other side of the field, Hackettstown came into Wednesday winners in three of their last four games, including a 10-3 victory Tuesday against Parsippany. Junior Kayla Benbow leads the Tigers offensively, batting .478 and driving in seven runs through the seven games. Sophomore Emma Olsen is another dangerous bat in the lineup, also averaging north of .470, and has gone deep twice already this year.
Game Recap
Freshman Carly Selesky made her second high school start for Noth Warren, looking to bounce back from the High Point loss. Not only did she bounce back, she completely shut down the Hackettstown offense. Salensky went the distance, striking out 11 Tiger, allowing six walks and only one hit en route to her first high school win.
The Tiger’s hit came with one out in the second on a ball that was chopped foul by Kyla O’Brien, who smartly took off for first base. The ball took a hard left off a bounce and rolled back into fair territory, giving O’Brien an infield single.
The game's turning point was in the bottom of the 1st when North Warren did what they do best. After loading the bases with only one out, Hannah Allen roped a 2-run double to put the Pats up 2-0. Nyah King drove in two more a few pitches later, and the four-run first inning was all Selesky needed.
North Warren added some insurance in the fifth when Megan Galante belted her third homer of the year, followed by Allen getting her third RBI of the day, singling home Katelyn two batters later.
FINAL: 6-0 North Warren
WP: Carly Selesky
LP: Sarina Pangallo
Next up for North Warren and Hackettstown
The North Warren win keeps the Patriots at the top of the NJAC Colonial Division and dropped Hackettstown a half-game behind second place Newton, who the Tigers will host Friday. The Patriots and Tigers are slated to meet again in Hackettstown on May 5th as the Tigers will look to even the season series.
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