Talk to coaches around Essex County and a team they reference as a definite one to watch in addition to Cedar Grove and Mount St. Dominic is Columbia, a still-evolving power which should once again be a major factor come county and state tournament time.
The Cougars, who won just the second state sectional title in program history when they captured the North 1, Group 4 crown defeating Livingston, 7-5, before dropping a narrow 1-0 decision to Hillsborough in the 2023 Group 4 state semifinals, has a 3-year starting pitcher in junior Claire Shupe who is at the top of her game in the circle and an unrelenting lineup that should be a tough handle for most teams it faces.
“This team may be even deeper offensively than we were in 2023,” said 11th-year head coach Cliff Smith. “We had a terrific top part of the lineup that season, but this group may have even more productivity top to bottom.”
Columbia entered this week with a 6-1 overall record and a 3-1 mark in the always-challenging Super Essex Conference-American Division. The Cougars are looking to impact much more in the SEC’s top division after finishing just 3-7 in the loop while going 17-10 overall last spring when they lost, 3-0, to Morristown in the N1G4 final.
The Cougars, who won their only other state sectional title back in 1977 when they defeated Scotch Plains, 19-0, finished 21-10 in 2023 when they captured their first sectional crown in 46 years and were a respectable 9-7 in the SEC-American.
This season, the Maplewood-South Orange school is in North 2, Group 4, a potentially-tougher bracket with state powers such as defending state champion and fourth ranked Watchung Hills (5-0), while the Cougars hope to return to the ECT semifinals for the third straight season and also strive to reach the final, which would be their first appearance in a county championship game in 44 years.
Columbia appeared in three of the first five ECT softball finals, winning its only crown in the inaurgural championship game in 1977, defeating Caldwell, 15-4, before losing to Cedar Grove, 8-1, in 1979 and Caldwell, 2-1, in 1981.
The Mount defeated Columbia in the past two ECT Final 4’s, 3-0 last season and 3-1 in the 2023.
Shupe, who had not allowed an earned run through her first 41 innings pitched while allowing 17 hits, walking just 6 and striking out 66, has a great drop cure and effective screwball in her multi-pitch arsenal.
“Claire keeps getting better each season and we have the utmost confidence with her in the circle,” said Smith. “And, we feel we have a solid defense to work behind her as well.”
The lineup starts at the top with leadoff batter, freshman center fielder Jamie Tarrow, who had scored 11 runs and was hitting .393 in the first seven games and continues with veteran senior Charlotte Klepesch (.500, 11 hits, 8 runs) who has made a smooth transition from third base to shortstop this spring; Shupe (.423 BA, 2 home runs, 8 RBI) at third in the order; junior clean-up batter and DP Eva Clevenger (.286, 7 RBI), who missed all of last season with a torn ACL, sophomore third baseman Maya Bernstein (.350 BA, 6 RBI), junior catcher Abby Coulter (.579 BA, 2 homers, 10 RBI), senior first baseman Scarlett Levinson (.412 BA), junior right fielder Lexi Kaplan and senior leftfielder Anna Shalom. The flex player is senior second baseman Campbell Connell.
Clevenger is somewhat of a wild card in that she is still rounding back into top form after missing several months, including summer ball, while rehabbing from the ACL injury that occurred in 2023.
She was a superb hitter and defender as a starting freshman catcher for the 2023 state sectional championship squad and once she starts hitting up to her standards as the warmer weather filters in the Columbia lineup will be even more potent during the season’s stretch run.
