Change is best for South softball

Sardinas-Wyssling, seniors enjoying final season

By: Justin Feil
   Not much has changed for April Sardinas-Wyssling since she started playing for the West Windsor-Plainsboro South softball team in ninth grade.
   Three years later, she’s still ranging far at shortstop and showing a cannon of an arm, and she’s still batting leadoff and using her speed as a weapon on the basepaths.
   "Other girls are probably more likely to get on now," she said. "The other teams don’t know how to play them. They have the element of surprise. When I get up, everyone moves in and I can’t really bunt anymore."
   The switch-hitting Sardinas-Wyssling is still one of the best at getting on base, regardless of how she does it. That’s always been the case.
   But there is one notable difference. This year, she’s part of a Pirates softball team that is deep in the Central Jersey Group III state tournament, something that hasn’t happened in years past. WW-P last reached the second round of the CJ IV tournament in 1993 before losing, 1-0, to Middletown South.
   Tuesday, the Pirates beat Middletown South, 2-1, to reach the third round, the sectional semifinal that was scheduled for Thursday afternoon.
   "We’re pretty excited," said Sardinas-Wyssling, who scored the winning run in the seventh inning on a hit by Karen Eisenhut. "In the beginning, our goal since we never had a strong softball season, was to make states and have a winning record and do the best we could in the (Colonial Valley Conference). We got into states and we’re doing the best we can."
   The Pirates last made the state tournament two years ago, but that season has quickly been replaced as a favorite by the recent run.
   "When I was a sophomore, we made states," Sardinas-Wyssling said. "But we lost in the first round when we hosted. This has definitely been the most memorable."
   A senior, Sardinas-Wyssling wouldn’t want it any other way before continuing her softball and field hockey careers at William Paterson College. Her final high school career is closing with plenty of special memories.
   Tuesday was the second time that the sixth-seeded Pirates had gone to Middletown South, the third seed. But the first time, the game was rained out. Wednesday, in the first attempt to play the sectional semifinal at North Hunterdon, the game was cancelled again due to rain shortly after the Pirates arrived.
   "It’s been our best team bonding," Sardinas-Wyssling said. "We’ve been riding on the bus so much and we’ve been listening to all sorts of music and singing along. Our coach has been singing to it too."
   The Pirates have carried that singsong attitude into games, and it’s paid off in helping the advance the farthest in program history.
   "We’re the underdogs," South head coach Dee Pasternick said of her 12-6-1 squad. "This is fun for us. Whatever happens is wonderful. We’re trying to approach it that way and the girls are responding. As a result, they’re gaining a lot more confidence and they’re not afraid."
   That fearlessness came in handy when WW-PS faced a tough seventh inning Tuesday. After Sam Crist scored a run in the sixth on an RBI groundout by Eliza Kelemen for a 1-0 Pirate lead, Sardinas-Wyssling came through with a two-out single in the seventh, moved to second on an error, stole third and scored on a single by Eisenhut.
   "Karen gets her bat on the ball and she’s not going to strike out and she’s not going to fly out much," Pasternick said. "When there are runners on, she’s good at getting the ball down and giving us a chance. And I knew she was going to do well. When she got up to bat, she gave me a big grin."
   The Pirates survived Middletown South’s seventh-inning last at bat. The hosts scored one run, and had the tying run at second when Katy Hubbard struck out the potential winning run to end the game.
   "We’ve never stayed that calm before in that situation," said Sardinas-Wyssling, who earlier had started one of two WW-PS double plays by catching a line drive. "I was on my toes. I was ready for anything to come. But truthfully, when there were two outs, I was saying to strike her out. And she did, so we were all really excited."
   Before the team got on the bus, assistant coach Keith MacDougall told them their place in Pirates softball history. But WW-PS didn’t want to stop there as they look for another upset, this one of No. 2 seed North Hunterdon. With a win Thursday, WW-PS would play Hamilton today at Red Bank Regional High.
   "Central Jersey has a real tough league," Pasternick said. "People haven’t thought that we were that good. Teams like Steinert and Notre Dame, they go far in states all the time. The Hunterdon County league is supposed to be so good, but I saw that they’re 3-6 and haven’t played against each other in states and the other Central Jersey teams are 11-5 and have played each other (in states)."
   And having been in big games before against tough CVC competition paid off in the state tournament.
   "We were as relaxed as I’ve seen us play," Sardinas-Wyssling said. "We didn’t have anything to lose. We had so much to gain."
   Sardinas-Wyssling is one of three seniors who the Pirates will lose after this season, but she believes there’s plenty of hope that South can continue to build its program around the strong freshman and sophomore classes. They already have quite an experience under their belts after this year, which has allowed Sardinas-Wyssling to just play this year.
   "Last year was more of a leadership role because there were so many underclassmen," Sardinas-Wyssling said. "There are still so many underclassmen, but they’re the underclassmen who have the experience and know the competition. They’ve stepped it up and they’re the role models for the freshmen."
   And they’re the reason that even after April Sardinas-Wyssling leaves a big void at shortstop and the top of the lineup, the Pirates hope to continue their newfound state tournament success. It’s a change that even she would welcome with the knowledge that she was part of the turnaround.