Senior pitches South softball by rival North
By: Justin Feil
Ashley Sarstedt would have felt some pressure no matter what the circumstances on Opening Day.
The fact that it was just the second pitching start for the West Windsor-Plainsboro South senior in the past two years and it was against rival West Windsor-Plainsboro North only heightened that sensation.
"I was nervous," Sarstedt said. "Once I started pitching, it was OK. You can tell when you have it and when you don’t, and I think it was one of the best games I’ve ever pitched. Since we were playing North, I know a lot of the players. I know where they can’t hit the ball. I knew where to pitch it so they couldn’t hit it."
Sarstedt scattered four hits and remained solid even after an error helped the Knights tie the game in the second inning before WW-P South pulled out a 5-2 win Saturday.
"It was great," Sarstedt said. "We were a little nervous this year because last year was a close game. We played really well.
"I knew it would be a tough game all along. But I knew my teammates and I would be able to score more runs. When they tied it up, they did it on errors. It wasn’t like they earned their runs. It felt like if we focused, we could hold them."
Both teams were hurt by errors they made. The Pirates scored the first two runs of the game in the second inning only to see WW-P North tie it in the bottom of the inning. In the fourth inning, the Pirates pulled away with three runs. Becky Peters, who reached base all three times she came up, keyed the breakout inning.
"Becky Peters had a double," said Pirates coach Kristen Zenerovitz, whose team was scheduled to face Ewing on Monday. "Defensively she made no errors. Defensively, offensively, she was one of the reasons we won."
Peters, a sophomore, is a reason that Sarstedt can take to the circle with confidence this year. Sarstedt pitched only against Trenton last year, but came into this year expecting to do more of the pitching for the Pirates, who lost four-year starter Katy Hubbard.
"I’m confident with everyone around me," Sarstedt said. "here are a lot of girls that are very talented. Being a pitcher, you definitely have a lot of pressure on you to do well.
"Losing three of our best players last year definitely made us nervous coming into this year. But a lot of the young girls have stepped up and they’ve really impressed me."
Sarstedt may have been making just her second career pitching start, but she played the veteran part in giving the Pirates just what they needed in the season opener.
"She looked very good," Zenerovitz noted. "She gave up one double to Deanna Cullen. She only struck out four, but she had a lot of girls pop up. Amanda Terebey had two or three pop-ups at catcher. Ashley did a nice job. Her infield protected her. Nothing went through.
"Ashley was in the shadows behind Katy. She’s definitely stepped it up this year. She’s gained more confidence in herself. Her dad is a volunteer coach and works with Amanda and Ashley and I think that’s helped."
Adjusting to a new role in nothing new to Sarstedt. She’s been a demonstration of versatility in her four years with the Pirates. While she has pitched for her travel team, Sarstedt has contributed all over the field for the Pirates, and this year when she’s not pitching, she’ll likely be at shortstop.
"I think I feel more comfortable pitching than at shortstop," Sarstedt said. "For travel, I just play in the outfield. It’s weird. In school ball, I’ve played different positions. Freshman year I was in left field, sophomore year I was second base, junior year I played center. This year, I’m playing pitching and shortstop."
Sarstedt has been able to help the Pirates regardless of where she plays in the field. She got a boost from the South offense that had runs batted in from Liz Huttner, Alyssa Kelemen, Natalie Kirkpatrick and Tereby on Saturday.
"For the seniors, we were really nervous," Sarstedt said. "We wanted to go out with a bang, not losing to North in our careers. It was nice, four wins in four years."
The Knights, who were on the short end of a 10-9 score in last year’s meeting, had their chances at 2-2 but couldn’t get over the hump. WW-P North was scheduled to play Hopewell Valley on Monday.
"When we got down, 2-0, I got a little nervous because we hadn’t scored any runs," said Knights head coach Jason Petrone. "I was very excited about tying the game up and thought it was going to come down to the wire. My pitcher was doing a good job, but we have to get back to some fundamentals defensively.
"One error led to another. They got three runs. We tried to stay up and stay positive. We just didn’t put anything together like that. It was tough to start off with South. It was our biggest crowd. It was a nice day. We just didn’t put it all together. We hope to improve."
While WW-P South resumes play at Nottingham on Thursday, WW-P North hosts Lawrenceville today. It makes for a difficult schedule to open the year, but there were positives to build on in Saturday’s loss.
"All in all, I was happy with the enthusiasm and attitude we had coming out," Petrone said. "I knew we wouldn’t have a problem with morale. It was our defense. Fundamentals hurt us.
"They played well. They have a couple quality players. Their shortstop is very good. Their catcher has a strong arm. Their pitcher did a nice job."
Lindsay Gargano was credited with the lone RBI for the Knights. Flynn Eisenman got the loss despite allowing just six hits in the rival contest.
"The girls on both teams have played with each other," Zenerovitz said. "They know each other’s strengths and weaknesses."
Knowing some weaknesses in the North batters benefited Sarstedt, who estimates she has played travel ball with as many as seven players from the Knights team. Those close ties help the rivalry stay strong.
"I still play with most of them," she said. "You definitely want the bragging rights."
As for WW-P South, there are plenty of players who have been on the same teams through the years. Now they’re back together for the Pirates.
"We’ve all played together on travel," Sarstedt said. "We get along really well. That helps us. We have confidence in each other. We get hyped up for the game. We’re so energetic."
It helped Ashley Sarstedt and the Pirates overcome any nerves and a pesky rival North team in their season-opening win Saturday.

