Baldino makes most of at bats

MHS softball sophomore happy with chance to play

By: Justin Feil
   Alyssa Baldino can always say that she was on the Montgomery High softball team as a freshman. She can’t really say that she played.
   "I was just there," Baldino recalled. "I was never going to go in. I think I got up to hit twice, or maybe three times."
   All that has changed this season in her sophomore year. The Cougars, who return plenty of components from last year’s 14-6 team, still are lacking in one area in which Baldino can help a lot — hitting.
   "Just as we were last year, we’re going to have outstanding pitching, pretty good defense and we’ll scrap for runs," said MHS head coach Doug Ruhlman. "It’s the same as last year. Amanda (Heller) throws a no-hitter, and loses to Belvidere, 1-0. If we can put a few runs on the board, you know we’re going to be there."
   With that in mind, Ruhlman made a point to get Baldino in the lineup this week. Twice he played Baldino, who catches with junior Natalie Franzi, as designated hitter to utilize her bat. Good thing.
   Baldino’s one-out single in the ninth inning gave MHS the baserunner who would eventually score the winning run on a failed squeeze attempt in a 1-0 win over previously unbeaten Manville on Monday. Then Tuesday, she was part of a five-run, seventh-inning explosion that made a tight one-run game into a 7-2 win over Somerville to avenge an earlier season loss. The win was the fourth straight for MHS.
   "Alyssa did a nice job of stepping up and DHing a little bit," said Ruhlman, whose team improved to 7-3 going into Thursday’s scheduled game with North Warren. "She was waiting for her turn to play and she did a nice job.
   "She swings the bat all right," he added. "I have two catchers who are pretty comparable. I have to get them both in the game. Sometimes I have to use them somewhere else."
   Baldino is just happy to be given the chance to contribute, regardless of whether it comes as the regular catcher or as a designated hitter.
   "I’m totally cool with whatever," she said. "It doesn’t matter to me. As long as I get a little time, it doesn’t matter where."
   Baldino, however, does admit to feeling a little added pressure as a DH, particularly because Ruhlman inserted her into the fifth spot in the lineup.
   "There’s more individual pressure to do well, especially hitting in the five spot," Baldino said. "That’s like the RBI spot. There’s a lot of pressure on me.
   "I’m honored to have it," she added. "But I’m scared that if I mess up, he’ll take me out and I’ll never play again."
   Stronger motivation might never be found, even if that isn’t Ruhlman’s intention.
   "I’m also going to catch her," he said. "And Natalie is going to catch also. I don’t want to DH for people too much. I want everyone to get a lot of at bats. And both catchers are good players."
   Baldino credits her off-season work with putting her in position to contribute this season. With the loss of Megan Hover to graduation, the Cougars were looking for a capable catcher with some pop in her bat. In Baldino, they found someone much like Hover, whose brothers were all catchers. Both of Baldino’s older brothers played catcher for MHS.
   "That made me want to be a catcher," she said. "If everyone else is being a catcher, I wanted to keep the family going."
   And while her older brothers have yet to reciprocate her attendance at their games, there’s plenty that they’d be proud of if they could see how much she’s improved in a year.
   "I worked over the winter and I was hoping I’d get a chance to hit," Baldino said. "I just tried my best at tryouts. I felt I worked really hard in the winter and I was hoping it would pay off. And it sort of did since I’m playing."
   Playing for the Cougars, who will try to avenge their 1-0 loss to Belvidere Tuesday, is a constant challenge. While Heller continues to shut down other teams, MHS’ bats have been slow to provide support, though recent games may show that trend is changing. Last Thursday, they scored 10 runs as Heller no-hit Hackettstown, 10-0. Then they scored a 6-0 shutout of Warren Hills before taking on Manville and Somerville. They’ve scored a combined six runs in their three losses, lost twice by a run and won twice by one-run scores.
   "We like to keep the audience on their toes," Baldino said. "There aren’t a lot of fans there, so we might as well keep them all there. But sometimes we have to wake up the bats to get it going."
   Tuesday, they awoke in the seventh inning to give Heller a comfortable lead.
   "We put five on the board in the seventh with back to back to back to back hits," Ruhlman said. "We finally gave Amanda something to work with. Last year, a lot of those one-run games, we were on top of. You can just as easily be on the other side of them. We’re an interesting team. We’re going to be right there. We’re a nice group and they’re a young team."
   Baldino is just one of the sophomores who’s now contributing to the Cougars in more than handclaps and clever rally cheers. And nothing could make her happier.
   "I’m just excited about this year," she said. "I’m more into the games than I was last year."
   And, Alyssa Baldino has already been in more games than she was last year, which is just what the Montgomery softball team needs in order to continue its winning ways.