Softball: Big North Conference Player of the Year and other postseason honors, 2019

By Andrew Koob | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com
on June 20, 2019 6:14 AM

PLAYER OF THE YEAR: When it came to performance in the circle Ryleigh White, more times than not, dominated. The junior ace for Immaculate Heart allowed just 12 earned runs in 136 innings and struck out a total of 277 batters, throwing 18 games with double-digit strikeout totals, en route to a 20-2 overall record.

While her presence in the circle gave many teams fits, she was just as dangerous with the bat. She hit .410 this season, the third time in as many seasons she has been north of the .400 mark, while posting 36 RBIs, 14 runs, nine home runs and two doubles as arguably Immaculate Heart’s top batter.

TEAM OF THE YEAR: The season did not end with hardware, either at the county or sectional level, for Immaculate Heart but the Blue Wolves still were one of the most feared teams in the state.

Immaculate Heart lost just two games, first in the Bergen County Tournament to Bergen Tech then again to Mount St. Dominic in the North, Non-Public A sectional final. Beyond those two games, however, the Washington Township-based squad posted 24 wins which included victories over county foes such as Ramsey, Old Tappan and Indian Hills with some stellar out-of-conference successes against Donovan Catholic and Morris Knolls, both in the Leadoff Classic.

COACH OF THE YEAR: Everything seemed to line up against Old Tappan’s favor heading into the Bergen County Tournament final. The Golden Knights were going into their first ever BCT final against the two-time defending champ Ramsey and were coming off a heartbreaking loss against the team it just beat in the BCT semifinals, Indian Hills, in the sectional quarterfinals.

Even with seemingly all the odds against it, Melissa Landeck‘s team never faltered. Old Tappan not only made a run to the BCT final as the county’s ninth seed but finished the run with a thrilling 7-5 victory over the Rams that helped clinch the program’s first ever county title.

ALL-CONFERENCE TEAMS (coming soon)

FINAL CONFERENCE RANKINGS
1-Immaculate Heart
2-Ramsey
3-Old Tappan
4-Ridgewood
5-Indian Hills
6-Bergen Tech
7-Passaic Tech
8-West Milford
9-Ramapo
10-Passaic Valley

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