BY TIM MORRIS
Staff Writer
Bo Scannapieco is a very patient coach.He knows that championship softball teams are not built overnight. So, when his Brookdale Community College women’s softball team got off to a less than auspicious start during the annual Southern trip to South Carolina, he didn’t panic.
“It’s a young team,” said the coach who has captured two national titles and 600-plus victories at the Lincroft campus. “We played some strong schools.
“There is talent here and it’s starting to come to the surface,” he added. “It takes time; it’s a slow process.”
After dropping four of their first five games, the Jersey Blues “turned the corner,” according to Scannapieco, and were 9-7 with the Garden State Athletic Conference and Region XIX schedule still ahead of them.
The Blues answered any questions about their bounce-back capabilities by rebounding so strongly from the slow start.
“You’re always concerned [with losses],” said Scannapieco. “We had one bad day where we got beat up pretty good [dropping a double-header]. They showed their resilience. They came right back the next day and played their best game.”
During the trip to South Carolina, Scannapieco, who led the Blues to second place at last year’s national championships, was still getting a handle on his team and who played best in the field, which explained some tough defensive games. Since returning north, the defense has been solid and Scannapieco was confident that he’d have a set lineup when the team began GSAC play this week.
The team’s pitching was inconsistent during the early-season struggles but is now rounding into shape.
Kelly Hughes (Toms River North), one of only two sophomores on the 2007 Blues, has the most wins (4-3 entering last week’s play). Stefanie Reitzel (Life Center Academy) has been the team’s power pitcher, averaging a strikeout per inning, and frosh
Elizabeth Erbig (Brick Township) is coming on strong.
Amy Bankos (Monsignor Donovan), the third freshman in the rotation, is also looking good.
“Our pitching is improving,” said Scannapieco. “All of them have contrasting styles, which is very good.”
When not pitching, Erbig and Bankos are critical to the Brookdale infield defense through the middle. Erbig is at shortstop, and Bankos, second base.
Kristen Moledo (Middletown South) has settled in at third base and has been outstanding there.
Skye Rubel (Ocean Township) is the starting catcher with Carrie Sciancalepore (Union) spelling her. Both are good defensive players.
Center fielder Allyson Melia (TRN) catches everything in her path and has great range.
Kristen Rivera (Union) starts in left, with Rubel and Danielle Smith (Neptune) splitting time in right.
Jenna Criscuola (Middletown North), the only other sophomore on the team, plays second when Banko is on the mound and first base the rest of the time, with Danielle Smith (Neptune) and Jackie Zieser (Union) seeing playing time there as well. Rachael Pyle (Neptune) starts at short when Erbig toes the rubber.
Melia carried the Brookdale offense in the first three weeks. She is having an All-American start, leading the nation in runs scored and stolen bases. She seems to always be on base.
While she is a catalyst with her speed, teams can’t look at her as a powerless slap hitter, since she has a number of extra base hits as well.
Criscuolo entered last week batting .375 with 14 RBIs for the Blues and Rubel was at .333 with two round-trippers and a team-high 19 RBIs. Smith also had a pair of home runs with 12 RBIs.
Erbig (.340), Rivera (.333), Pyle (.300) and Moledo (.300) are all batting .300 or better for a lineup that is starting to score runs in bunches.
What Scannapieco likes about his offense it its balance.
It can create runs with its speed, but can hit teams for the big inning with power.
“I’m encouraged,” Scannapieco said of the shape of his team as they launched conference play last week.
The Brookdale season, of course, will come down to the Region XIX tournament. Scannapieco’s Blues have won the title 11 consecutive years and, as always, are the team everyone is shooting for. This year’s tournament starts April 28-29 with first-round games at the highest-seeded team. The finals are May 11-13 at Middlesex College.
The National Junior College Athletic Association Tournament is May 17-19 in Rochester, Minn.