Darren Cooper / High School Sports Columnist / Record Sports Department
LODI – This was far from your ordinary postgame team photo. This was last one on this field for this team. Ever.
The 10 members of the Immaculate Conception Blue Wolves softball team joined their coaches and overheated costumed mascot (he had to be warm) near home plate at Hilltop Elementary School following their 10-0 win over St. Dominic in Tuesday’s North Non-Public B semifinals.
They advanced to Friday’s sectional final to face Morris Catholic, the same team that has beaten them the last two years for the title.
But for this team, this coach and this school, this was the last official game ever at Hilltop, with Immaculate Conception set to close at the end of June.
“I didn’t realize it until one of my coaches said it before,” Blue Wolves coach Sarah Piening said. “It kind of brought it home. I’m an alumna here, and to have the ability to coach here and be the last coaches on this field is a blessing, to say the least.”
“I will never forget IC,” sophomore outfielder Ryann Burke said. “It was like a big home away from home. We are all one big family.”
And this family is staying together.
The next chapter
Piening, who won four state titles as a Blue Wolves pitcher, said when the news broke that her school was closing, she wasn’t sure she wanted to keep coaching.
“We didn’t have any passion to coach anywhere else besides IC,” Piening said. “But the fact that the girls wanted to stay together and play for us meant a lot. We only want to coach them. We love them.”
Piening expects to bring her staff and the “majority” of the girls to St. Mary in Rutherford. IC only has one senior and one junior, so the transfers — yes, NJSIAA rules mean you don’t have to sit out if your school closes — will immediately impact a Gaels program that has struggled in recent years.
“We all want to stay together, so I plan on going to St. Mary’s,” said Burke.
“We’re changing uniforms,” Piening said smiling. “We’re staying together as a family, and at the end of the day, that’s what it’s all about.”
The past is the past
Under legendary softball coach Jeff Horohonich, the Blue Wolves became a North Jersey power — maybe the North Jersey power — in the last decade, winning a state-record eight consecutive sectional titles and seven Non-Public B titles from 2013-2019. They never won a Bergen County championship, but they did play in the first Tournament of Champions final in 2017, losing to cross-county rival Immaculate Heart Academy.
No coach in North Jersey has had to deal with the surge of emotions like Piening has had to do.
“It hasn’t been easy,” she said. “We have been blessed to have girls who have pushed through. They have been on an emotional high, in a good way. Obviously, it’s a sad circumstance, but they have kept everything under control.”
“We had a sad day the day we all came back to school after the announcement,” Burke said. “It was a really, really rough day. The last day will definitely be bittersweet, but we’re eager to see what the future holds.”
Going down swinging
Against St. Dominic, Immaculate Conception (19-5) stole bases with ease, and pitcher Gabby Weiss struck out 11 in the win on a gorgeous Tuesday afternoon. Laila Henson and Ava Fredette had two RBIs each for the No. 2 seed Blue Wolves.
Top-seeded Morris Catholic (23-6) will pose a much stiffer challenge. The Crusaders beat IC, 4-2, in last year’s sectional final and 11-1 in 2021.
“They’re a good squad,” Piening said. “We’re looking forward to a good game. We have a lot of respect for them. We know we have to play our best.”
The athletics season isn’t finished yet for Immaculate Conception. Its first-year flag football team plays for a league title Wednesday against Harrison. If this was a movie script, the Blue Wolves would win that championship and the sectional softball title in some dramatic fashion, but sports is no movie.
“There’s no better way to go out,” Piening said. “I’ve told them, ’It’s the last time wearing your jersey. Be proud to be the last team for Immaculate Conception softball, so go out with a bang’.”
It’ll actually be the last time anyone wears an IC jersey. The Blue Wolves will join Queen of Peace, Paterson Catholic and Don Bosco Tech (among others) in the scrapbook of North Jersey’s defunct diocesan schools.
Sometimes, decisions are made, and your home suddenly isn’t your home anymore. But when it’s time for the picture, you smile and bring out the mascot — because even if your school closes, you’re still in the family.
