NORTH JERSEY, SECTION 2, GROUP 2 SECTIONAL FINAL PREVIEW
10-Verona at 1-Hanover Park
Tuesday, May 28 at 4 p.m.
HOW THEY GOT HERE
Hanover Park - 11-10 win over 16-Fort Lee in first round; 18-4 win over 8-Hackettstown in quarterfinal round; 11-1 win over 5-Morris Tech in semifinal round
Verona - 12-0 win over 7-Lyndhurst in first round; 2-0 win over 15-Madison in quarterfinal round; 11-0 win over 3-Parsippany in semifinal round
HISTORY
This will be the third consecutive year that Hanover Park and Verona face off. Hanover Park, which is in the sectional title game for the third straight season and vying to become a two-time defending champion this time around. Last season, the Hornets took down Verona in the sectional semifinal round en route to its N2G2 title where three sixth-inning runs eventually lead to a 4-2 victory.
The two sides also met in 2016 in a regular-season matchup where a low-scoring affair led to all three runs being scoring the sixth inning in a 2-1 Hanover Park triumph.
PLAYERS TO WATCH
Hanover Park's offense is clicking on all cylinders, currently battling just under .400 as a team, and it's no surprise with four teams hitting at least .380 this season. That endeavor is led by the likes of Aryana Galioto and Nicole Miller. Galioto leads the Hornets with a .584 average with other team highs in runs (34) and stolen bases (24) while Miller has been the clutch performer with a .539 average in a team-high 57 RBIs and 11 home runs to go along with 32 runs, nine double and 16 stolen bases.
Ashley Alfano has been a force on the base paths as well and set her teammates up for success. She's currently hitting .412 with 28 runs and stolen 13 bases while Abby Huang has been a force of a power hitter, connecting on five home runs and 25 RBIs, second most on the team, to go along with nine stolen bases of her own.
Pitching and frustrating opposing offenses has been a staple of Verona's success the last few seasons and ace Christina Colon is certainly continuing that trend. Colon, who has shutout all three of the Hillbillies' postseason opponents so far, is tied for the most postseason strikeouts this season thus far with 43 and overall, has fanned 221 batters while allowing just 43 earned runs in 121.2 innings of work this year.
Offensively, Melanie Naeris and Kate Ryan have been leading the Hillbillies at the plate. Ryan is pacing the team in terms of average at .360 to go along with 11 RBIs and six extra-base hits while Naeris is currently hitting at a .346 clip with team highs in runs (18), RBIs (15), doubles (8), home runs (4) and stolen bases (5).
KEY FACTOR
Hanover Park and Verona are in the sectional final but have used very different means to be there. Hanover Park's offense as been on a tear this postseason and even before the sectional playoffs began. The Hornets have scored 40 runs in three games and, outside of a divisional game loss to Parsippany, has scored at least nine runs going back to May 6. On the other side Verona's pitching and defense, spearheaded by Colon, has yet to allow a postseason run while the offense has certainly found success in its own right with 25 combined runs. The battle between Verona's pitching and Hanover Park's offense will be the battle to watch with the section title on the line.
PREDICTION
Hanover Park, 3-1
Andrew Koob can be reached at akoob@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @AndrewKoobHS. Like NJ.com High School Sports on Facebook.
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