By: Sean Moylan
Jim Davis was known as the King of District 12 Little League. But more than that, Davis was the first local writer to devote heavy coverage to high school field hockey. And Davis’ fine reporting on that sport influenced other writers and papers to give field hockey the attention it so richly deserved.
When Davis passed away a few years ago, it was a big loss. This past Saturday, however, his loving memory was honored with the Jim Davis Senior Showcase, a special game for All-Star senior field hockey players, who were selected by the coaches of the Central Jersey Field Hockey Coaches Association.
Julie Reisig-Howarth, who coaches the Hightstown High girls’ varsity field hockey team, guided the Maroon team.
With the score knotted at 1-1, Hightstown’s own Jessica Haughton scored the go-ahead goal for the Maroon squad, which went on to record a 3-2 victory over the Gold team.
In addition to Haughton, Caitlin Fallon, Kristin Waller and Jessica Martin represented Hightstown. Peddie’s Cristina Steglitz, Diana Hunt and Ashley Walton also played for Reisig-Howarth’s squad as well as Allentown’s Samantha Podhurst and Caitlyn Crane. Robbinsville’s Judy Goldstein was Reisig-Howarth’s assistant.
Neither team had any practices to prepare for the contest, just a pre-game warm-up. Yet both sides played well. There was also a tribute to Davis before the contest and a fastest shot competition.
"I was very happy with the way my team played," Reisig-Howarth noted. "With a roster of 23 kids, 14 of them were midfielders, so I went with a 3-2-3-2 which highlighted their strengths beautifully, although I doubt many have played in that system before.
"It worked out fine that seven players assigned to our team didn’t come (because of SAT’s and other commitments), because it gave everyone more playing time, and eased my lineup headaches. Everyone fit right in and did their jobs beautifully. Best of all, the girls got to play with some of their most talented rivals."
Moreover, the local kids performed very well for Reisig-Howarth and made her proud.
"Cristina Steglitz and Kristin Waller did an outstanding job thwarting the many offensive thrusts and Jessica Martin provided constant offensive support to the talented line. Caitlin Fallon and Jessica (Haughton) each created numerous scoring opportunities with great passes and contributed frequently to bringing the ball downfield into dangerous territory," added Reisig-Howarth.
"Prior to the game, Al Mattei from TopOfTheCircle.com timed all of the kids with a speed gun shooting on goal. Two Hightstown players were in the top three, Kristin Waller with 54 mph was the top speed, then Caitlin Fallon and a PDS player, Nina Crouse. At halftime, those three got three more tries each, and Caitlin and Ms. Crouse both got 54 and ‘K-Wall’ slipped in just behind at 53 mph. Caitlin was awarded a plaque at the All-Star banquet on Sunday."
In fact, all the CJFHCA players in the game and their families and coaches were invited to attend a special All-Star Field Hockey banquet at Mercer Oaks on Sunday, as it was a special weekend for all concerned. Jim Davis would have been very proud.

