By: Neil Hay
Forget opening day. Peddie softball is alive and well.
Surely the Falcons have put their opening day loss to East Brunswick to rest. How? By reeling off four straight wins, including Wednesday’s 10-0 rout at home over previously undefeated (now 6-1) Steinert.
Previous to the Spartans game, the Falcons posted wins over Lawrenceville, Blair and Pennington Prep. The next big hurdle on the horizon was yesterday’s game at Hun. If Coach Tim O’Reilly needed an omen, he should remember that Steinert beat Hun 3-1 on Saturday. Still, common opponents aside, Hun is very important to Peddie, as far as the Mid-Atlantic Prep League race is concerned.
"After (Wednesday), I feel pretty good," said O’Reilly. "But we have to beat Hun. If we don’t, then Steinert is just a nice win for us. Hun is what we are focused on."
Instead of sending senior Barbarajean Grundlock to the mound, O’Reilly called on freshman Cailyn Hennessey to make her second start of the season. Grundlock had pitched Monday against Pennington and O’Reilly, wanting to save her for Hun, did not want to use Grundlock in back-to-back starts this early in the spring.
It was a wise choice. All Hennessey did was pitch a one-hit gem with eight strikeouts and one walk.
The game lasted only five innings because of the 10-run rule. Peddie jumped ahead in the first inning when Jamie Boccanfusco, Peddie’s other precocious freshman, delivered a three-run home run. Then in the fifth, the Falcons made it 10-0 when they scored five runs. The Spartans never knew what hit them.
The locals finished with nine hits on the day, including three by Grundlock and two apiece by Allie Saltstein (double) and Fallon Kortmann.
"We played well, hit well. Everything broke well for us. It was a solid win."
Grundlock tossed a six-hitter with 10 strikeouts and overcame three Peddie errors to pitch O’Reilly’s team past host Pennington, 8-2, on Monday. After the top of the third inning the Falcons led 7-0 and were never threatened. Peddie had nine hits, including doubles by Grundlock (RBI), Saltstein, and Kortmann. Kelly Crowley and Stephanie Bollheimer also drove in a run. Peddie stole four bases, showing another dimension to their offense. By the end of the game, O’Reilly had made wholesale substitutions: on the field were five freshmen and two sophomores.
Doubles by Saltstein, Hennessey and Boccanfusco (three hits, three runs, three stolen bases) lifted the visiting Falcons past Blair, 7-2, on Saturday. Blair managed just four hits off Grundlock, who was backed by a nine-hit attack. Julie deLaurentis, Saltstein, Fallon and Kristine Ladd each had a run batted in. Peddie showed speed on the bases with five steals. A five-run sixth inning broke open a 2-1 contest and put this game safely in the win column.
But for a time Blair looked like they would cut into the Peddie lead. The Bucs loaded the bases with none out in the bottom of the fifth, but were unable to score a run.
"Grundlock dug deep" to get the next three batters and end the threat with no damage.
Hennessey fanned 13 batters and allowed two hits last Thursday as Peddie edged Lawrenceville, 2-1, at home. The Big Red scored the first run of the game in the top of the sixth, which the Falcons promptly matched in the bottom of the inning. After the visitors came up empty in the top of the seventh, Saltstein scored the game-winner when Boccanfusco drove the ball over the left fielder’s head for a double.
Before the Steinert game, with three wins already racked up, O’Reilly said, "We are playing much better. We’ve sharpened up our defense. The freshmen are doing great. They single-handedly won the Lawrenceville game. Boccanfusco and Hennessey are good players. They are still learning but they are athletic, top-notch players."
These are players to watch. So is the Peddie softball team.

