Pirates stronger than Brick
By: Bob Nuse
Kristen Zenerovitz didn’t want to see her West Windsor-Plainsboro South softball team approach Tuesday’s Central Jersey Group IV game any differently than it would any other game.
"I told them coming in that we really needed to just look at this as a regular-season game," said Zenerovitz, whose team opened the CJ IV tournament with a 4-3 win over Brick. "We still have two other games left. We have Notre Dame and Allentown left and those are regular games. Obviously, the state games are more important because you can go even further, but I tried to let them know it was just another game and we were still looking to win."
Whatever approach the Pirates took in the game, it worked. They used a pair of run-scoring bunts in the fifth inning to grab a 3-2 lead, then scored a run in the bottom of the sixth when Sam Crist drove in Katy Hubbard to give South a 4-3 lead.
"I always feel a little uneasy, but these girls have come from behind before," said Zenerovitz, whose team was scheduled to travel to top-seeded Rancocas Valley on Thursday in the CJ IV quarterfinals. "They keep their composure and focus. They’ve surprised me throughout the season. I couldn’t ask for anything more. This is my first state game as well, so it was nice for us to get a win."
The Pirates got the win using a variety of ways to score. After Brick had grabbed a 1-0 lead in the first, South scored when Katy Hubbard doubled and scored on an errant throw from the outfield. With Brick ahead, 2-1, in the fifth, the Pirates took the lead on back-to-back squeeze bunts. With Becky Peters on second, Natalie Kirkpatrick reached on a bunt and stole second to put runners on second and third. Amanda Tereby’s suicide squeeze bunt scored Peters, and Kate Kelemen’s bunt scored Kirkpatrick for a 3-2 lead.
"I was just thinking that I had to bunt it," Terebey said. "I wasn’t thinking about anything else. I just wanted to make contact. I was in the same situation against North in the bottom of the eighth and it worked in that game.
"I was told to put it on the right and that’s what I tried to do. I was excited because I had never been to states before."
After Brick scored a run in the sixth to tie the score, South went ahead for good when Crist’s hit drove in Hubbard.
"So many of our games have been back and forth," Zenerovitz said. "And I always tell them it’s easier if you can get a lead. Last year we were known as the ‘catch up kids,’ because it seemed like we were always getting behind early and then we had to battle back.
"Today was probably our best warm-up before a game that we’ve had all year. We looked good and I thought we were real focused. The girls just seemed real calm before the game. I actually think they were less nervous than I was."
And they showed it’s not how far you hit the ball, but where you put it that counts, scoring two key runs with three perfectly placed bunts.
"We have some freshmen who are very good at that and fortunately, they were up in the batting order when we needed that," Zenerovitz said. "Whatever it takes, we’ll do. We have some speed in the lineup."
And with the Pirates’ producing runs, Hubbard settled in on the mound, scattering 11 hits and getting the outs when she needed them.
"Katy did her job," Zenerovitz said. "This was a real team win."

