Ex-pitcher a Raider softball leader from outfield position
By: Bob Nuse
Lindsay Pardun came to the Hun School with the intention of being a pitcher for the softball team. That thought didn’t last long.
"She actually came to Hun to be a pitcher, but we had (Christine) Czarnecki," Hun coach Kathy Quirk said. "She came here as a freshman and we had (Lauren) Varello and ‘Czar’, so we actually had two pitchers. We realized early on that she wasn’t going to be a pitcher and she’s turned into a very good outfielder. She’s a captain for us and she has a great attitude. She is also a very hard worker."
Now a senior, Pardun is in her fourth year as a starter in the outfield for the Raiders. After three years in right field, she’s made the move to center this year and hasn’t missed a beat. On Tuesday, Pardun drove in a pair of runs as the Raiders topped Hopewell Valley, 6-1, in the Mercer County Tournament to advance to the quarterfinals.
With the win, the 10th-seeded Raiders advanced to face second-seeded Notre Dame at 2 p.m. Saturday at Antiel School in Ewing.
In other MCT games, West Windsor-Plainsboro North was eliminated with a 12-3 loss at Ewing on Tuesday. Deanna Cullen drove in a pair of runs for the Knights, who lost their fifth straight game after opening the season with three straight wins.
Princeton dropped its MCT opener to Notre Dame, 10-0, on Monday. The Little Tigers were the victims of a perfect game tossed by Irish pitcher Ashley McDonald. WW-P South was scheduled to face Pennington Thursday in its MCT opener.
"I guess my becoming a pitcher didn’t go as planned," said Pardun, who leads the Raiders with a pair of home runs this season and has also driven in five runs. "When I got here, Lauren was pitching and we also had Chistine. So I knew I wasn’t going to pitch. I went to the outfield instead and it has worked out real well for me. I love it in the outfield.
"Sometimes I miss not being the player that is involved in every play, but we stay in the game in the outfield. I definitely like centerfield more than I liked pitcher."
Pardun spent three years in right, then moved to center with the graduation of Natalie Grossman. She’s made the move to her new position with little trouble and gives the Raiders a valuable defensive weapon.
"She had played right but now she’s in center since Natalie Grossman is gone," said Quirk, whose team fell to 6-6 with a 2-0 loss to Blair on Wednesday. "She’s made some big catches for us and she stopped a run from scoring against Hopewell because her throw was right on the money and the runner had to go back to third."
"It really wasn’t tough because I play centerfield for my travel softball team," said Pardun, a Milltown resident who plays for the Jersey Inferno. "It was actually tougher getting to learn to play right field when I first got to Hun because I wasn’t used to all the little things you need to do."
Hun is hoping to do some of those little things right against Notre Dame on Saturday as it looks to continue through the MCT. In years past the Raiders have come into the MCT with an impressive record but fallen short of a title, getting as far as the 2001 finals. This year the Raiders are .500, but feel they can make a run at a county title.
"We know it will be a tough game against Notre Dame," said Pardun, who will play her college softball at George Mason University. "But I think we can play with any team with Emily (Rosenthal) pitching and with Christina (Zimmerman) catching we’re strong at those positions. It seems like every game we play is close and the games we’ve lost have been close.
"But this team gets along real well. This team is different than our teams the past few years. This team is always up along the fence cheering for each other and the attitude is just different. I think we can do well in these tournaments we have coming up."
It continues with the MCT on Saturday and then progresses on to the state Prep A tournament next week.
"We think we can do well," Pardun said. "We’ve played a lot of tough teams this year like Lawrenceville, Steinert and Blair. But we’ve been close in all those games."
In fact, four of the six games Hun has lost have been by two runs or less. The Raiders expect another of those close games on Saturday against Notre Dame. And Pardun is glad she’ll be able to be a part of it. And she’s quite content to be a part of it from out in the outfield.

