The 2025 softball season was an historic one, and here are the players from the NJIC who left their mark.
Second-team All-State softball
UT: Delilah Tabaka, Wallington, Sr.
This is the second All-State honor in a row for Tabaka, who led all of New Jersey in strikeouts this year with 313, despite Wallington ending its season in the North 1, Group 1 first round. It’s her second straight season with 300-plus strikeouts and she posted a 1.29 ERA with a sub 1.00 WHIP in 174 innings of work. Offensively, this was her best year to date as she hit .436 behind 34 hits, 11 extra-base hits, 17 RBI and 29 runs scored. She ends her career at the southern Bergen County school with 110 hits and 1,149 strikeouts, the latter of which is good for 12th-most in New Jersey history and the most in Bergen County history.
Third-team All-State softball
C: Envey Duran, Weehawken, Sr.
It’s the second time Duran is an All-Stater for the Hudson County powerhouse after another impressive year at the dish. She clubbed 15 homers, second-most of any player in the state this season, while driving in 49 runs along the way. Thanks to nine doubles and three triples her 27 extra-base hits gave her a 1.300 slugging percentage alongside a .538 average. She also scored 40 runs, drew 19 walks and stole five bases as the UNC-Wilmington commit ends her career with 178 hits, 118 runs scored, 177 RBI, 39 homers and a career .511 average.
Softball All-Group 1 teams
First Team
P: Delilah Tabaka, Wallington, Sr.
C: Envey Duran, Weehawken, Sr.
INF: Mackenzie Riordan, Hasbrouck Heights, Sr.
Second Team
C: Giuliana Terranova, Hasbrouck Heights, Jr.
Third Team
P: Abby Buser, Waldwick, Fr.
P: Sophia Centeno, Emerson Boro, Jr.
C: Lindsey Kulish, Pompton Lakes, Jr.
INF: Brianna McHale, Weehawken, Jr.
OF: Ellie Wygand, Woodstown, Jr.
OF: Alexa DeVesa, Dunellen, Jr.
OF: Ayden Kampf, Shore, So.
UT: Mikayla Eutermarks, Butler
Softball All-Group 2 teams
Second Team
P: Giana Yaniero, Rutherford, Sr.
Softball All-Non Public teams
Second Team
UT: Jaylene Echeverry, St. Mary (Ruth.), Jr.
Third Team
INF: Laila Henson, St. Mary (Ruth.), Jr.
Conference Players, Coaches, Teams of the Year
Team of the Year: Weehawken
Few teams in the NJIC have done as much winning over the last four years as coach Raquel Roder’s group has. Since 2022, the Weehawken is 102-16 and with a win this year, the Indians have also made history, winning three straight Hudson County titles in that span, something no team has ever accomplished since the tournament expanded to its current form.
Even with a 21-7 record this year, that was the program’s lowest win total and highest loss total of the last four years but once again, they tested themselves, both within the NJIC and beyond, playing Morris Hills, Park Ridge, Wallington, St. Thomas Aquinas, Bordentown, Morris Catholic and Livingston as well as Bayonne in the Hudson County final. Catcher Envey Duran, a UNC-Wilmington commit, picked up her second consecutive All-State nod this year as she finishes with 178 hits, 177 RBI, 39 homers and a .511 average.
Weehawken also made its fourth straight section final, losing this one to eventual Group 1 champs Cedar Grove, 10-0, in the North 2, Group 1 final and was one of three NJIC teams to make a section final, along with Waldwick (North 1, Group 1) and St. Mary (Ruth.) (North, Non-Public B).
Player of the Year: Delilah Tabaka, Wallington
Tabaka turned in a historic year and career for Wallington. Now a two-time All-State honoree, Tabaka earned second team laurels this year, thanks in part to leading the state in strikeouts this year with 313. It’s her second straight 300+ K campaign and her second year in a row ranking top 2 in strikeouts over the course of a season. Tabaka had 19 double digit strikeout games this year and tossed two perfect games as well.
She also had a career year offensively as she hit .436 with 34 hits, 29 runs and 17 RBI, finishing her career with 110 hits and a .362 average. With her 313 strikeouts, she also ends her time at Wallington with 1,149 K’s, good for the 12th-highest total in New Jersey history and the all-time Bergen County lead as well, as she passed current St. Mary (Ruth.) head coach Sarah Piening, who had the previous county lead with 1,062.
In Tabaka’s career, she had 67 games with double digit strikeouts and has a WHIP well under 1.00, putting together one of the most dominant pitching careers of any Bergen County pitcher in recent history.
Coach of the Year: Mike Kilgallen, Waldwick
In his 13th season leading the Warriors, this season was anything but unlucky for the Waldwick and Kilgallen. They finished the year 21-7, their most wins in a season in well over 15 years and their 21st and final win came in the North 1, Group 1 semis, propelling Waldwick to its first section final in over 15 years as well. The Warriors lost that game, 2-0, to Indian Hills, but that loss didn’t define Waldwick’s season.
They beat Dumont, 7-0, for their first Bergen County Tournament win since 2018 and freshman pitcher Abby Buser was a revelation this year in the circle, earning All-Group 1 honors thanks to four homers, 23 RBI but more impressively, striking out 110 and posting a sub-1.00 WHIP with a .86 ERA in only 73 innings of work.
Kilgallen, who also coaches girls basketball at Northern Highlands, is now 198-123 in his time as the Waldwick skipper. Next year he’ll seek to become the fifth active NJIC coach with more than 200 wins.
Other storylines:
- Butler (16-8) won the NJIC Colonial division title this year, the Bulldogs’ first division title since they won the NJIC Liberty in 2019. And while they had an earlier than expected playoff exit in the first round as the four seed, they also had one of the conference’s top two way players in Mikayla Eutermarks, who hit .323 with eight homers and 26 RBI while posting a 2.04 ERA with 196 strikeouts in 137 innings.
- Becton (12-12-1) pulled off two postseason upsets this year as the No. 10 seed in North 2, Group 2. The first game, coach Joe Coffaro’s Wildcats went on the road to Warren County and beat seventh-seeded Hackettstown, 9-6, after a big four run top of the seventh gave Becton the win. In the quarterfinals, the Wildcats traveled across town and beat second-seeded Rutherford, 12-4 in the North 2, Group 2 quarters to punch their ticket to the section semis.
- Hasbrouck Heights (20-6) has steadily improved each of the last three years under coach Richie Aponte, who took over in 2023. They won nine games his first year, 14 last year and 20 this year, headlined by the program’s first Bergen County Tournament win since 2021. Leading the charge for the Aviators was Mackenzie Riordan, who hit .609 behind an NJ-leading 53 hits this season. She also stole 61 bases and finished her career with 166 hits, setting the Hasbrouck Heights program record.
Final NJIC rankings
- 1-Weehawken (21-7)
- 2-St. Mary (Ruth.) (20-10)
- 3-Waldwick (21-7)
- 4-Wallington (18-9)
- 5-Butler (16-8)
- 6-Pompton Lakes (16-9)
- 7-Glen Rock (15-8)
- 8-Becton (12-12-1)
- 9-Hawthorne (15-10)
- 10-Hasbrouck Heights (20-7)
Final NJIC stat leaders
- Find the full list of final NJIC softball stat leaders here.
Jake Aferiat can be reached at jaferiat@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him at @Jake_Aferiat.
