BY TIM MORRIS
Staff Writer
What Bo Scannapieco will remember most about the 2006 Brookdale Community College women’s softball team was its mettle.
The Jersey Blues were tested throughout the season as perhaps no other team has been during the program’s run to 11 straight Region XIX championships and a pair of national titles. Yet when it was all over, the Blues had maintained their standard of excellence, finishing as the national runners-up.
Resilient is the word that Scannapieco said described this year’s squad, which finished 39-25 and won the school’s 11th straight Region title.
“They played hard and they showed character,” said Scannapieco, who picked up his 600th career win during the season. “They really maximized their potential. They got the most out of it.”
That looked like it was going to be a second straight national title after the Blues won their first three games in Rochester, Minn., which hosted this year’s NCAA Division III National Championships. But in the finals on May 20, they lost twice to Monroe (Rochester, N.Y.), 7-2, 10-0, to finish No. 2 in the nation.”
“We didn’t lose it,” said Scannapieco. “They were just better. They earned it.
“I went to their practice, and they were the most impressive team I saw,” he added. “They had great balance; they had power and speed at the top of the lineup.”
The tourney started well for the Blues, winning a pair of games on the first day, 5-0 over Dutchess (N.Y.), and 7-3 over the No. 1-ranked team Anne Arundle (Md).
Amanda Roberts struck out six and walked one in picking up her third shutout of the season against Dutchess. Kara Hertzke had a two-RBI single in the top of the first, and the Blues struck for three quick runs. Jenna Criscuolo added two insurance runs with a two-run home run in the fifth. She was 2-for-4 with three RBIs.
The Blues displayed some of their old magic against Anne Arundle. They scored seven runs, six with two outs, in the top of the seventh to stun the Maryland team that was riding an 18-game winning streak and had the nation’s top pitcher, Kristi Hurman (27-4), on the hill.
Trailing 3-0 in their final at-bat, a fielder’s choice made it 3-1 with two outs. Then, lightning struck. RBIs by Hertzke and winning pitcher Erin Covell tied the score at 3-3. Amanda Kapsales followed with a two-RBI double to put Brookdale up 5-3 and the rally was on. Lauren Ceravolo added a two-RBI single before the stunning inning was over.
Brookdale got its first look at Monroe in the winner’s bracket final the next day, and behind Covell’s three-hitter, beat the Rochester squad, 5-0.
“That was our best game of the tournament,” said Scannapieco. “It was Erin’s signature game. Her best.”
Covell improved to 15-5 as she struck out six.
The win put the Blues into the next day’s final. Monroe fell to the loser’s bracket and would have to play its way to the final, where it would have to beat the Blues twice in the double-elimination tournament.
Knowing the firepower of Monroe, Scannapieco was hoping that their bats would remain quiet for one more game. But they didn’t, scoring 17 runs off the Blues in the two games, beating both Covell and Roberts.
“They hit everything we threw – no excuses,” said Scannapieco.
Covell, Hertzke and Suzanne Gorczynski were the BCC players named to the All-Tournament Team.
Looking back on a season in which the Blues were more vulnerable than at any time before, Scannapieco said it was great accomplishment to get to the tournament, let alone all the way to the final.
“From where we were, to get to the final and have the chance to win a second straight national championship was awesome,” he said.
In mid-April, his Blues were treading water, splitting double-headers right and left, and then hitting rock bottom with a double-dip loss to Camden. But just as the Region tournament was about to begin, the Blues turned it around, or rather, turned it on.
“Overall, physically we started playing better defense,” said Scannapieco. “When it happened our pitching got better. It went hand-in-hand.
“Offensively, we started getting the two-out hits,” he added. “We were hitting better with runners in scoring position.”
Something else happened as well.
“Their intensity picked up,” said Scannapieco. “They realized we can lose this Region if they don’t play their best. That what made us finish the way we did.”
It was a finish that took them back to the national title game for a second straight year.
Sophomores Covell, Gorczynski, Hertzke, Lynn Olender, Roberts and Allyson Weinkofsky were disappointed that they didn’t become the first Brookdale team to win back-to-back championships; however, Scannapieco reminded them of all they had done the last two years.
“I told the sophomores they’ve had two fantastic years,” he said. “They won two Regions, a national championship, and got back to the national final.”
Olender was selected the Region Player of the Year and was joined on the All-Region First Team by Weinkofsky and Gorczynski. Hertzke and Criscuolo were named to the Second Team.
Olender became the latest BCC All-American when she was named to the Division III First Team.