BY WARREN RAPPLEYEA
Staff Writer
The Old Bridge High softball team is again making the most of its hitting. Coach Sue Klein’s Lady Knights are betting just .246 as a team, but they produce when the chips are down.
Old Bridge and Edison played to a 1-1 tie through seven innings on Friday before the Lady Knights scored four times in the eighth inning to give Jackie Battaglino her fifth victory in seven decisions. Shannon Halstead drove home the winning run and catcher Nicole Riggio drove home a pair during the rally.
Klein’s team is actually hitting 12 points higher than it did a year ago when Old Bridge went 20-8 overall and won the Greater Middlesex Conference Tournament.
Pitching and defense are generally the Lady Knights strengths, though an uncharacteristic 22 errors have proved costly at times, Klein noted.
"It’s been an interesting year," Klein said. "Many of our games have come down to one play and we haven’t always made it. Things are coming together though."
On the hill Battaglino, who has an 0.34 ERA with 64 strikeouts in 62 innings, including a 20-inning masterpiece to defeat South Brunswick earlier in the season, combines with Amy Sievert to make a formidable duo. In 31 innings, Sievert is 4-1 and owns a 0.23 ERA with 36 strikeouts. Both are sophomores.
The Lady Knights do have a trio of .300 hitters, led by Riggio at .389 with three doubles and a pair of triples. Shortstop Jaime Capra is hitting .364 and leads the team with 16 hits; and second baseman Kaitlin Calogera is batting .341 with 10 runs scored.
In addition, first baseman Jen Vitorino has raised her average to .286 and DH Dana Hadzmichalis has continued to hit in the clutch, contributing a pair of game-winning hits to go with a .241 average. Last season Hadzimichalis had four game-winners to her credit.
"At 10-4 we’re at the same point where we were last year," said Klein, whose team recently won the Union tourney. "Then I wasn’t sure what to expect because we have so many young players. I think this team will get even better, but we have to field better. We’ve made way too many errors."
Diamond notes… With the deadline to qualify for the state tournament looming on Saturday, there are quite a few local teams that look to be on their way to the postseason tournament.
Teams must have a record of .500 or better by the end of play on Saturday in order to qualify.
While Old Bridge, East Brunswick (10-3), Spotswood (10-3) and South River (11-2-0) all entered the week virtually assured of earning berths, the Monroe Lady Falcons had some work to do this week, sporting a 7-6 record entering Tuesday’s game at Marlboro. Monroe needs a win this week to wrap up their spot in the postseason.
Over on the baseball diamond, the South River boys are also on the bubble this week, as they entered Tuesday’s game with Timothy Christian School at 6-7. They were also scheduled to host Spotswood tomorrow, and were waiting to see if they would play a GMC Tournament game before Saturday’s cutoff. The game with Spotswood may be a must-win for both teams as the Chargers entered the week at 7-5.
East Brunswick is the only local team that entered the week assured of a state berth with their 9-4 mark entering Tuesday’s game at J.P. Stevens.