Ed Lowe, the new girls softball at Brick Township High School, is counting down the weeks leading up to the start of practice in early March and knows what it takes to develop a winning team.
“I think things will be different from what everybody tells me,” said Lowe, a fourth-grade teacher at Herbertsville School. “The biggest change is attitude. I definitely can change things around. I’m definitely confident. I know what the girls are bringing to the table and they’ve been attending winter workouts. It’s been great with the volunteer coaches who are there. There’s not a whole lot of time.”
Lowe is the third head coach of the program in three years. He replaces Jerry Caci, who resigned after one season. Caci succeeded longtime coach Mike Fletcher.
Brick Township won four games in an early season trip to Florida last season but won only two games in the Shore Conference A South, regarded as one of the most competitive conferences in the state for softball.
Lowe also has his staff in place, with two assistants who teach in the Brick Township school district
Monica Spillane is the junior varsity coach and Nicole Kastner launched her coaching career as freshman coach after playing at Moorestown. Spillane coached last season at Middletown South and played at Wall and the University of Vermont.
“I’m really excited. I think there is a good core of young players,” said Lowe, whose team graduated five players last season.
She and has nine coming back when the team embarks on an ambitious preseason regimen that includes an opening triscrimmage with Middletown South and Mater Dei on March 14 at Middletown.
The team opens April 1 at Manasquan.
“The team is excited to bring along a winning attitude,” Lowe said. “We’re not waiting for a turnaround. We want it right away.”
Lowe said it’s too early to evaluate returnees and that all positions are “up for grabs.” But his
core players include third baseman Kelly Garrido and middle infielder Emma Erbig, whose older sister, Elizabeth, (nicknamed “Booey”) was an integral part of Brookdale Community College’s surge into the junior college softball World Series last spring.
Lowe, a native of Neptune, had some experience with championship glory. He was a junior varsity softball coach at Brick Memorial in 2001 to 2006 with varsity coach Vin Dallicardillo, who stepped down after last season to pursue postgraduate studies. The team won the keenly competitive Jackson Tournament the last three seasons. Brick Memorial’s varsity won the Ocean County Tournament title in 2003.
“He’s had some experience coaching a Brick Memorial jayvee program that was successful. He could be a good choice,” Rick Handchen, Brick Township High School’s athletic director.
Lowe also was defensive coordinator for Brick Memorial’s football team under Fred Sprengel, which included its run to the NJSIAA Group IV Central Jersey playoff championship in 2003 and a trip to the finals in 2005.
“The thing is that everybody understands their role exceeds everything else,” Lowe said. “That’s important whether it’s making the play in the field or the right pitch at the right time or good base running, even for a pinch runner.”