Wildcats advance to sectional semifinal

Abby Macfie went 2-for-5 with two RBI; Karli Matthews was 4-for-4 with a double; and Emma Palomo was 2-for-4 with a double, an RBI and a run to pace the seventh-seeded High Point Regional High School softball team to a 4-2 victory over second-seeded Passaic Valley in the quarterfinal round of the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association (NJSIAA) North Jersey, Section 1, Group 2 tournament there Friday, May 30.

The Wildcats (13-9) advance to play at third-seeded Jefferson in a sectional semifinal Wednesday, June 4.

Macfie’s two-out, two-run double in the second drove in two runs and Daphne Mathews (2-for-3) followed with an RBI single as High Point took a 3-0 lead. Palomo then added an RBI double in the fourth as the lead extended to 4-0.

Junior Grace Meyers hurled a five-hitter with 10 strikeouts and two walks to earn High Point the win in the circle.

Meyers again starred, tossing a two-hitter with 16 strikeouts and three walks, as the Wildcats defeated 10th-seeded Dumont, 10-0, on Wednesday, May 28 in a first-round contest at home.

Macfie was 3-for-4 with two RBI and two runs; Daphne Mathews went 3-for-4 with a double, an RBI and a run; Meyers was 2-for-4 with a double and a run; and Joelle Lucatorto, Grace Burch, Karli Matthews, Abi Amick and Victoria Meyers each had two hits to fuel the offense.

Here’s how other High Point teams fared recently:

Outdoor track

Daniel Elston finished seventh in the pole vault with an effort of 12-6 and was followed by Giovoughni Dureny, who was 11th with an effort of 12-10, to lead the High Point boys at the NJSIAA Group 2 Championships on May 30-31 at Frank Jost Field in South Plainfield.

Gabriella Vega was eighth in the pole vault with an effort of 9-0 to lead the girls team.

Baseball

The 10th-seeded Wildcats bowed to seventh-seeded West Milford, 3-2, in eight innings in a NJSIAA North Jersey, Section 1, Group 2 tournament first-round game there May 27.

Ayden Ellis singled in a run, and Kyle Morsell and Will VanPuttinvink each scored runs for High Point.

On May 31, High Point (13-9) defeated Vernon, 9-3, on the road to clinch a first-place tie with Vernon in the Northwest Jersey Athletic Conference Freedom Division. Both teams had identical 8-2 divisional marks.

Morsell was 2-for-3 with a triple, an RBI and a run; Ellis went 2-for-3 with a walk, an RBI and two runs; VanPuttinvink was 2-for-4 with two doubles, three RBI and a run; Brad Sabato was 2-for-3 with an RBI and a run; and Joey Elko singled in a run and scored twice to pace the offense.

Boys tennis

High Point, seeded seventh, lost for just the third time this spring when it bowed to 10th-seeded Westwood, 5-0, in the first round of the NJSIAA North Jersey, Section 1, Group 2 tournament May 21 at home.

Zach Sprung (first singles), Sam Faillace (second singles), Leo Castillo (third singles), Alec Sekelsky and Thomas Geunther (first doubles), and Ethan Sprung and Owen Castillo (second doubles) all competed for the Wildcats (10-3).

Boys golf

Jacob Dippel shot a team-low 80 and was followed by John Elko (82), Thomas Krawec (84), Conner Hemmer (88) and Jacob Woods (88) to lead High Point to a fourth-place team finish at the Sussex Cup on May 27 at High Point Country Club in Montague.