By Andy Loigu

In first round action in the North Jersey Section 2 Group 2 playoffs last week, the Hackettstown Tigers’ varsity baseball team lived to play another day.

Earning their 12th  win of the season (Hackettstown has a 12-9 overall record) the seventh seeded Tigers eliminated 10th seed Parsippany 6-1.

Winning pitcher Charlie Russell struck out nine batters in the 5 1/3 innings  he worked. Nick Curcio got the final five outs, striking out four batters while giving up one hit.

At bat, Nick Struble had two hits in four plate appearances and scored a run. Jon Arcona scored two runs.
In the North Jersey Section 2 Group 3 softball playoffs, the Warren Hills Blue Streaks kept the hits coming in a 26-0 first round breeze over Orange, but then met their match in the second round, losing 3-2 to West Morris.

Taryn Faccenda had a big offensive game against Orange, with four hits, three runs scored, and six runs batted in. In the pitcher’s circle, Jaelynn Miller struck out 11 while pitching the shutout.

At the North 2 Group 2 track and field sectional meet, Hackettstown got strong efforts from Cody Griglak and Dylan Benbow in their running events.

Griglak took 15th place in the strenuous 400 meter hurdles, with a time of 1:06.37. As a former hurdler, this writer can testify that after 300 meters in that event, rigor mortis sets in.

Benbow was 25th in the 1600 meter run with a 5:13.61 time. Back when I was in high school, that time would have been good enough to win or take second in a lot of dual meets.

The bar just keeps getting raised in a sport which shows, by the numbers, that today’s athletes are, indeed, stronger and faster.

HELP WANTED

The shortage of workers has been a topic in the news recently. It is also impacting local high school sports.

Last week I read a feature story in the Star Ledger newspaper about a 77-year-old man who started umpiring high school baseball games at 60 and still keeps doing it, even though he often has to handle games by himself.

Officiating games alone has become common as the NJSIAA (New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association) copes with a shortage of officials in all sports.

A shortage already existed before the pandemic and since then it has only gotten worse. Many officials have spoken out about unsportsmanlike behavior, verbal abuse, and threats, from parents, partisan spectators and some (but not all) overzealous coaches. The state has statistics that show 80 percent of officials quitting after just two years on the job.

Add to that the time drain and low pay and it just is not worth the trouble. It does not get any easier on the back and joints as an official gets older, either. Also, officials are being asked to drive more than 35 miles one-way to get to and from games, which just drains more time and personal expense.

In addition, young people have not been attending the classes and training sessions needed to become qualified umpires or referees.

Soon we may see posters at public places declaring, “We want YOU to be a high school sports referee.” The future of high school sports as we know them, depends on new recruits joining the ranks.

Ladies and gentlemen, Elvis has left the building