West Milford High School senior Jessica Perucki finished her outstanding 2019 softball season on Friday.
“This season has been a bit of a roller coaster,” said Perucki. “But in the end, we came up strong.”
The Lady Highlanders (14-11) won its first sectional title since 2004 last Wednesday before finishing the season with a loss to Chatham in the Group 3 finals.
Perucki struck out eight batters from the mound in the sectional title game, while also going 2-for-4 with two RBIs as a batter.
In the May 24 semifinal victory that sent West Milford to that game, Perucki had one of her strongest games from the mound, giving up just one hit in the shutout win.
“After the loss in the counties, we were all heartbroken,” Perucki said. “But we did not stop wanting to win.”
The Lady Highlanders upset the top-seeded Passaic Valley in the semifinals of the Passaic County Tournament before losing in the finals.
West Milford responded to the county tournament loss by winning in the first round of states and then beating the top-seeded Ramapo in the quarterfinals on its way to the sectional title.
“The season ended up being a very successful one,” said Perucki. “Even though it did not start out as it was planned to.”
Perucki had an impressive season as both a pitcher and batter, finishing with 24 RBIs and a .493 batting average.
She allowed just 27 earned runs from the mound in her 148 innings pitched, while getting 14 wins and striking out 218 batters.
For her high school career, Perucki finished with 519 strikeouts.
She also had 116 RBIs and 14 career home runs.
“In the fall, I will be playing softball at Southern Connecticut State University, which is a Division II school,” Perucki said. “I am looking forward to playing in a college atmosphere, especially for the very welcoming SCSU players and the team of coaches there.”