Sports roundup: Highlanders top Passaic, 2-1
WEST MILFORD. Baseball team wins division with 8-2 record.
| 25 May 2025 | 04:35
West Milford and Passaic battle on the volleyball court May 21. The Highlanders lost, 2-0. (Photos by George Leroy Hunter)
West Milford's Anthony Pham strikes the ball high above the net. He made four digs and one assist.
West Milford's Andrew Nowicki leaps toward the ball. He is credited with three kills, five digs, one assist and one ace.
West Milford's Johnson Limos in the midst of a serve. He made one kill and six digs.
West Milford's Jael Hobel is about to execute a serve. He is credited with one block, one dig and one assist.
West Milford's Andrew Nowicki strikes the ball.
Justin Burke pitched a one-hitter to help lift the West Milford High School baseball team to a 2-1 victory over Passaic there May 19.
Colby Scott tripled and scored and Dane Wells singled and scored as the Highlanders took a 2-0 lead after their at-bat in the top of the fifth inning. Passaic cut its deficit in half when it scored an unearned run in the bottom of the fifth.
Kyle Schwarzlow was 3-for-3 with a triple and Christian Martinez doubled for West Milford, which won the Independence Division of the Big North Conference with an 8-2 mark. The only hit that Burke allowed was a bloop single in the sixth inning.
The Highlanders (15-9) are seeded seventh for the NJSIAA North Jersey, Section 1, Group 2 tournament and will play host to 10th-seeded High Point in a first-round game at 4:15 p.m. Tuesday, May 27.
West Milford’s 15 wins are the most the program has had since it went 17-8 and won the North Jersey, Section 1, Group 3 sectional title in 2012.
Here’s how other West Milford teams fared last week:
Softball
Arianna Morran singled in a run and scored on an RBI single from Bella Kling, but West Milford bowed to Indian Hills, 4-2, in eight innings at home May 20.
The Highlanders trailed, 2-0, before scoring twice in the bottom of the fifth inning. Indian Hills then struck twice in the top of the eighth to earn the decision.
Rylie Quazza and Cassy Rubinsky each doubled and Alyssa Kral singled to account for West Milford’s five hits.
West Milford (5-13) is seeded 16th for the NJSIAA North Jersey, Section 1, Group 2 tournament and will play at top-seeded Ramsey in a first-round game Wednesday, May 28.
Boys lacrosse
Max Gorny scored three times; Ryan Czeczuga added two goals and an assist; Jake Kelshaw had a goal and an assist; and Vincent D’Andrea also scored as West Milford dropped a hard-fought 8-7 decision in three overtimes to Mahwah there May 19.
The 14th-seeded Highlanders will play at third-seeded Sparta in a NJSIAA North Jersey, Group 2 tournament at 6 p.m. May 28.
Girls lacrosse
West Milford closed out its 2025 campaign with a 19-7 setback to Pequannock at home Thursday, May 22.
The Highlanders were led by Vivian Sirnik (three goals, two assists), Adison Arciniega (two goals), Madison Tenhoeve (one goal) and Lily Kreutzer (one goal).
Arciniega (27 goals, 15 assists), Sirnik (28 goals, 12 assists), Kreutzer (27 goals, four assists), Sarah Benowitz (20 goals, seven assists), Julia Plewa (11 goals), Tenhoeve (four goals, four assists), Addyson Seidner (two goals, two assists), Hailey Geller (one goal) and Lindsey DeLorenzo (one goal) led the offense and goalie Allie Rockey (117 saves) anchored the defense for West Milford (1-15).
Boys tennis
The 11th-seeded Highlanders saw their season come to an end in a 5-0 loss to sixth-seeded Montville in the first round of the NJSIAA North Jersey, Section 1, Group 2 tournament there May 20.
Lucas White (first singles), Ethan Garcia (second singles), John Parkin (third singles), Brendan Garcia and Chris Rosner (first doubles), and Brent Telesmanich and Max Ilynski (second doubles) all competed for West Milford (7-10).