By J.C. Baumuller
Managing Editor
Published May 14, 2008

Jessie Boland’s bases loaded single enabled Dumont to come from behind and shock Tenafly 2-1.

"You just have to get up there and be confident and know you can do it," said Boland. "It feels great. Tenafly is one of our biggest rivals, not only in softball but in every sport we play. It feels to beat them again."

Last month Tenafly was ahead of Dumont 3-1 going into the seventh inning, but Dumont tied the game and the Tigers lost in extra innings.

"We don’t try to do that," said winning pitcher Missy Fernandez. "We try to score runs early but it seems that at the end we rally and pull together as a team. And somehow we manage to get it done."

Boland’s hit, her second of the game, was the culmination of a wild seventh inning by the home team.

Lauren Mancuso led off with a sinking line drive that went in and out of the glove of Tenafly center fielder Jules Barrett. Then Kerri Doherty earned an infield hit when pitcher Jessie Shevins deflected and slowed down a bouncer up the middle. By the time shortstop Megan Birch retrieved the ball, the Huskies had runners on first and second and no one out.

Dumont coach Rich Wilson asked Stephanie Boehm to bunt and she did, down the third base line. Third baseman Michelle Koles fielded the ball cleanly but had no play and the bases were loaded.

Stephanie Sigtermans followed with one-hopper to Shevins, who threw home for the force. But catcher Brigette Cohan dropped the ball and the game was tied 1-1.

Then Boland sent a screaming line drive over third base, inches from the foul line and the game ended.

"We had a breakdown there at the end," said Tenafly coach Megan Williams. "I don’t think we’ve seen too many teams that have the same fight that Dumont has. They are not intimidated by being down. They were able to come back.

"They handle the pressure very well and I think it caught some of the girls by surprise."

Through the first five innings Shevins and Fernandez matched zeroes. Shevins walked two in the first inning, but the she regained control and got out of the jam with two strikeouts.

A ground out ended the third inning after two-out walk to Brielle Barclay had put a runner on base for the Huskies.

In the bottom of the fourth, Fernandez looped the first hit of the game into center field.

"She’s a very good pitcher," Fernandez said of Shevins, who is only a sophomore. "It was a fast ball that I got off the end of the bat.

"It’s not like I got all of it. I got enough to put it over second base. She got me [later] on a strikeout."

Fernandez had a perfect game going for 4 1/3 innings until she plunked Marisa Silber with a pitch.

"She was working them inside," said Boland. "In softball the hardest pitch to hit is inside corner at the knees. She was doing a great job hitting that corner today and the ump was giving it to her."

"We were mixing it up throwing curves and throwing risers," said Fernandez. "Our team fielded really well. It wasn’t like I dominated them. Our fielding was superb today."

A ground out and pop up stranded Silber at third base as the inning ended.

"The girls hit the ball hard," said Williams. "They hit it to where they were. Sometimes it gets through and today Dumont was very strong defensively."

"We are one of the better fielding teams I have seen," said Wilson. "I am here 30 years and we field extremely well. Defense is one of our strengths.

"Everyone is going to have errors once in a while and we have lost games because of errors. We think defense is a constant for us and should always be a strong point."

With two outs in the bottom of the fifth, Boland singled to left but Cohan cut her down attempting to steal, with a great throw.

Tiger right fielder Casey Flores led off the top of the sixth with a double to center and Amy Pfund’s bunt moved Flores to third with one out. When Barrett bounced a ball to short, the speedy Flores beat the throw home and Tenafly took a 1-0 lead.

Barclay led off the top of the sixth with a single but Cohan nailed her at second.

After a leadoff walk to Birch in the seventh, Fernandez retired the next three batters and the Huskies came to bat trailing 1-0.

But not for long.

"I am disappointed with the way we finished," said Williams. "But I think the girls are going to be hard enough on themselves. There is no reason to dwell, no reason to point fingers. They are just have to learn from the mistakes and come back, which I know they can and they will."