By Steve Sears

One word can describe them: dominant.

The 1985 Mendham High School Girls Softball team went undefeated, finishing with a 31 – 0 record. In the process, they swept the conference, Morris County, section, and Group III state championship tournaments, and were selected the #1 team in New Jersey by the Star-Ledger.

“An amazing group of young women,” says Dave Togno, Head Coach of that record setting team. This was an awesome group of girls who deserve all the credit.”

Current Mendham Girls Softball Head Coach, Lori Welles, played for the historic team as a sophomore first baseman and pitcher. That season, she, junior Tracey Kennedy (“Just a stellar pitcher; great control, everything,” says Welles), Denise Liebe, Jen Chelton, Jennifer Miller, and April Kater were stars and All-State performers.

It was a magical season agrees Welles. “It was definitely the friendships that were made. You look at the quality of the players. We had a great group of girls that were good softball players, and it was mainly about softball. A few of us played multiple sports, but it was definitely like softball was the main thing.”

Another key to the season was the girls’ fondness for Togno. “We loved playing for him,” states Welles. “I think that was the main thing coming out of that season.” 

“It was one of the highlights of my life,” says Togno, now 71. “I remember when Tracey (Kennedy) was a freshman (in 1983). She was a young kid, she wanted to pitch, she didn’t have any training at that point that I knew of, but she was throwing the ball in there pretty well. So I think we had talked to her about attending camps and things like that, which she did. When she came back as a sophomore that particular year (1984), we looked at her and we said, ‘Geez, this kid’s going to be good.’ It gave us a tremendous amount of hope, and things just started getting better after that.”

1985 was a season of changes for the club. They would be competing in a new division, and their opponents would be visiting Mendham and their brand new softball diamond. It was all exciting. “That particular season,” recalls Togno, “we just started winning games and Tracey was coming into her prime. She was striking people out left and right, and people she didn’t strike out, we were fielding well, and we were hitting. We were using all different types of strategies. One thing about that team, they were just phenomenal when it came to working hard, and they really wanted to win. And talk about just great cooperative kids. I mean, if I told them to jump off the Brooklyn Bridge, I think they would have done it!” In addition to Kennedy, Welles was stellar on the mound as well. “How would you like to have probably the two best pitchers in the state, and not be able to play one of them, except at first base?” asks Togno.

The club won the Group III state title, 6 – 0, over Collingswood. Kennedy that day pitched a 2-hitter. “On the bus ride down, we had a tradition or a habit or whatever, we would sing that song “Centerfield” (by John Fogerty),” says Welles with a laugh. “We always would do that song to get loose before the game during the long trip down, because (that day) we were playing down in West Windsor.” It was the first foray into a championship game for most of the girls, so it was definitely not an easy thing, especially after hearing about the talented Collingswood squad. “But we also were a pretty confident team going in,” says Welles.

After the final out, some of the team members – Welles included – gathered dirt from the field their cleats had stepped on, savoring a piece of history. Welles still has the dirt, and her mom saved newspaper clippings in a scrapbook. Welles sometimes opens it, takes a trip back in time.

“It turned out to be one of the biggest moments I’m sure in their lives, and mine as well,” says Togno of the biggest win. “Coaching the girls brought me more happiness in my coaching career than anything I’ve ever experienced before.”