The Lady Highlanders softball team beat Passaic Valley 4-1 in the semifinals of the Passaic County Tournament on May 9 to advance to the final round.
Passaic Valley was previously unbeaten before the loss, and entered the tournament as the top seed, while West Milford was the fourth.
Samantha Araujo hit a solo home run in the win, while teammate Amanda Gerold went 2-for-3 with two RBIs
Mackenzie McGuiness went 1-for-2 with a run and an RBI and Jessica Perucki went 2-for-4.
Defense, however, was the key to victory as the Lady Highlanders were able to hold the Hornets to just a single run.
While West Milford lost to Passaic Valley twice during the season, they were the only team to hold the Hornets to under seven runs in any game.
Perucki had 11 strikeouts and allowed just five hits and one run in her seven innings pitched.
The Lady Highlanders split its two other non-tournament games this week, beating Lakeland on Saturday after losing to Fair Lawn on May 8.
Perucki went 3-for-4 with three RBIs and two runs in the 7-6 loss to Fair Lawn before going 2-for-4 with two runs and an RBI against Lakeland.