Knights’ offense arrives early

Gargano wields big bat for North softball

By: Justin Feil
   This was closer to the sort of offense that Lindsay Gargano was anticipating from the West Windsor-Plainsboro North softball team.
   The Knights exploded for 10 runs in the first inning on their way to an 11-1 win over Princeton High School on Monday in their first game back after spring break. The win followed a high-scoring 16-15 triumph over Hightstown before the Knights went on break.
   "I think we expected to hit like that in the beginning of the year," said Gargano, a junior who doubled and homered to drive in three runs. "We’re just starting to get it together."
   It couldn’t come at a better time for the Knights, who go for their third straight win against South Brunswick tonight before they get into a week that includes powers Allentown and Notre Dame. A win today would put them at 3-3.
   "Hopefully we’ll give a good showing against South Brunswick," said North head coach Jason Petrone. "Then next week, we play Notre Dame and Allentown and they’re the cream of the crop so we’ll see how we do."
   Expectations for the Knights were as high as ever this year. WW-P North had its best season in program history with seven wins and was looking to continue improving this year.
   "I think the expectations were a lot higher for this year than last year," Gargano said. "It was kind of a surprise to have such a good year last year. This year, our expectations were really high."
   Gargano is part of the program’s budding optimism. She is in her third year of playing varsity, and that experience is useful.
   "It is different," Gargano said. "When you’re a freshman, you fear these 18-year-old pitchers. Now you’re looking at girls you’ve seen three years now. Now it’s not as scary. You’ve seen them and you know what to expect."
   Gargano knows some area players from her year-round travel team, the Ewing Edge. Gargano isn’t alone in having plenty of outside experience, and that’s also reason for optimism among the Knight players.
   "What’s different from past years," Gargano said, "is all the kids coming in are playing on outside teams and playing year-round. When they get to high school ball, they’re not rusty. They’re ready. It’s good. It’s a change from what we’ve seen in the past. It’s definitely going upward."
   An example is Liz Chudzik, who picked up her first win in the circle. The freshman had a no-hitter through four innings before PHS broke through against her relief in the fifth inning. The Little Tigers fell to 2-4 after a 6-5 loss to Princeton Day School on Wednesday.
   "It’s nice to win a game or two," Petrone said. "The bats were just boom, boom, boom. We got home runs, doubles, triples. The only thing that’s disappointing is, we barraged them for 10 runs and the rest of the game was a 1-1 game. You’re not supposed to get 10 runs in one inning. You’re supposed to keep scoring."
   Gargano agreed, "Other than the last two games, we have to hit consecutively and never let up. It was a 1-1 after the first inning. If we can score 10, we can score 20."
   Petrone likes that attitude, and he’s expecting Gargano to be one of the big hitters to deliver those types of outpourings. That’s why he bats her third in the WW-P North lineup.
   "She’s supposed to be doing that," Petrone said. "She’s a junior. She plays year-round. She travels and plays a lot. She goes to lots of showcases. She puts in a lot of time and effort. This is the year I’m expecting big things from her. I expect her to do that every game. And Lindsay plays a good first base so she helps us in the field too."
   More than that, Petrone is looking for consistency from his Knight team. It’s been the ups and downs that have made it hard for him to figure out how good WW-P North could be this season. The Knights had the ability to win all three of the games they’ve lost.
   "One game we lost because of defense, one game we lost because of pitching, and we lost one game because couldn’t hit," Petrone said. "We held on for a football score win with Hightstown and now we beat Princeton. We can’t get too excited yet."
   Gargano is hoping that the last two offensive eruptions are more like what he can expect of WW-P North the rest of the season.
   "After yesterday, it’s going to be hard to top that," she said. "We all get hits at certain times usually, not all at the same time, like that game. I guess everyone, when the team gets in a run like that, it’s exciting. It makes everyone want to get up and pound one.
   "Against Hightstown, that was a really high scoring game and everyone was hitting that game too. This year, we have more good hitters and more consistent hitters."
   That strength started to show in the past two games. Lindsay Gargano hopes it’s only a start for the Knight softball team as it opens a stretch that will test its ability against some of the Colonial Valley Conference’s best teams. WW-P North plans to show it belong there.
   "I think the key would be to not look at them as so much better than us," Gargano said. "We have to try to get out there and beat them, and not to be scared of them. We know all these girls.
   "I think we’re coming together," she added. "There’s a lot of talent on the team. Hopefully we’ll have good results."