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LINCROFT – As is the case every spring for the Jersey Blues softball team, expectations are running high for the winningest program in Brookdale Community College’s highly touted athletic program.
Picked third in the NJCAA national pre-season poll and first in NJCAA Region XIX, nothing less than a trip to Rochester, Minnesota – the site of this year’s National Championship Tournament the weekend of May 14-16 – would be considered acceptable for this juggernaut softball program.
Brookdale is headed by legendary coach Bo Scannapieco, who suited up for his 28th season in dugout this week for the Blues.
Scannapieco’s resume includes inductions into the Jersey Shore Sports Hall of Fame in 2013 and the NJCAA Hall of Fame in 2007. His record stands at (959-262) as of Monday and his teams have won three national titles (2002, 2005, 2010), been runner ups on four different occasions and have claimed 17 NJCAA Region XIX championship banners, including 11 out of the last 13 seasons.
He’s been at Brookdale as either a student or coach for over four decades, and depending on how this season shakes out, Scannapieco has a chance to become the first NJCAA DIII coach to hit the 1000-win milestone.
Scannapieco has fielded another outstanding group of student athletes this season and does a great job of recruiting local high school talent year-after-year. He is well-know and highly respected among Shore Conference coaches and has developed an outstanding recruiting pipeline that continually feeds into the Brookdale program.
The team is currently on an 11-game road trip to Maryland and South Carolina playing against mostly DI and DII schools in the Snowbird Classic. Brookdale is a DIII program so this is a step up in competition and good chance to evaluate the team in a very completive setting. As of Monday the team’s record stands at 3-2 with one walk-off loss.
The Blues were hit hard by graduation, including National Player of the Year Cassidy Brzozkowski, but they do return seven players including four who were major contributors, and have added a group of celebrated freshman.
The biggest concern for Scannapieco will be his pitching, where he must replace NJCAA DIII All-Americans Samantha Hosey and Krystal Pearson.
“We’ve got to replace two All-Americans and that’s never easy,” Scannapieco said. “Our biggest concern is lack of experience. We don’t have a true No.1 go-to pitcher like we did last season and at this point in the season I can’t make the determination on who that may be. We have three girls who could step into that role.”
Freshman pitcher Victoria Vogt (County Prep H.S.) got the opening-day assignment for the Blues pitching a five-inning complete-game win, giving up two runs on six hits. She came to Brookdale after a stellar high school career where she was named first-team All-Hudson County. Sophomore Courtney Semkewyc (Henry Hudson Regional) got the start in game two and went the distance in Brookdale’s 18-5 mercy-rule win against Anne Arundel of Maryland. Semkewyc will be the designated player and bat fifth in the lineup most games. Last season she hit .434 in 99 plate appearances driving in 35 runs with 14 doubles, one triple and three home runs.
Sophomore Kaitlyn Kretzmer (St. Rose H.S.) was a hard-luck loser in her first start Monday but pitched a decent game going 6.1 innings while giving up four earned runs on five hits before losing on a walk-off hit in the seventh.
Sophomore Kirby Marron (Wall H.S.) has a chance to be spot starters and will fill one of the relief roles.
Scannapieco likes what he sees of his offense’s ability to produce runs and thinks it has the potential to be as good or maybe even better than last year’s team.
“Our offense has been really good, and I think we’re more athletic this year,” Scannapieco said. “One of the things I tried to do in recruiting this year was to add some speed into the equation; that should help us score more runs.
Sara Vocisano (Piscataway H.S.) is back in left field for the Blues and will bat third after a superb freshman campaign when she was named first-team All-Region XIX and won the Marucci Elite Hitter Award as the top hitter in the region. She batted .490 with 72 hits in 147 at bats, drove in 34 runs with 17 doubles, three triples and one homer. Her OPS was an astonishing 1.195.
Second-team All-Region XIX selection Alexandra Clayton from Wall Township High School, where she was a third-team All-Shore pick, returns to right field and is slotted to bat fifth in the lineup. She averaged .350 on the year slugging three homers with 31 RBI’s, seven doubles and two triples.
Sophomore Morgan T. Schweitzer (Monroe Township H.S.) and freshman Alexandria Montefinese (Monmouth Regional) will share the catching duties and bat ninth in the lineup with both players showing a lot of promise behind the plate. Schweitzer saw limited action catching last season when she hit a solid .315 with four double and 14 RBI’s in 54 plate appearances.
Freshman Amanda Pringle (Wall Township H.S.) will lead off and play centerfield for the Blues. She was a second-team All-Shore selection last season helping her team capture the Central Jersey Group III sectional title.
Freshman Cassie Varvaro – a third-team All-Shore pick last season at Toms River East H.S. with a .556 batting average – bats second and is penciled in at shortstop while Caroline Abin – a transfer from Franklin and Marshall – where she hit .291 in 117 at bats with one home run and 12 RBI’s. As a senior at Peddie School she selected first-team All-Prep helping her team win the NJSIAA Prep A championship.
Another freshman, Taylor Sheridan, gets the starting nod at second base after a terrific career at Keyport High School where she was selected All-Class B Central her senior year. Jacquie Coulahan, a freshman from Howell Township High School gets the start at third base after a solid spring and will bat eighth.
Sophomore infielder Sara Case (St. Rose H.S.) saw limited action last season for the Blues hitting .323 in 31 at bats and could work herself into the starting lineup while freshmen Brianna Calabrese (Red Bank Regional H.S.), Victoria Mettlen (Manasquan H.S.) and Gianna Mauro (Monmouth Regional H.S.) will come off the bench.
“I don’t know if we’re going to have that 40-plus win season,” Scannapieco said. “It’s possible, but our pitching has to sharpen up. We need to minimize the walks and be more consistent in the strike zone. Once we do that and get some innings under our belt I think we’ll be okay. Our defense has been super and I think they go hand-and-hand. Offensively, if we just maintain what we’re doing I think there’s enough there to get us into the nationals. I’m not concerned about our offense, the key is our pitching.”
