Bo Scannapieco is too focused on Brookdale Community College’s next softball game to think about milestones.
“If you think too much about it, you become satisfied,” he said.
Brookdale’s Hall of Fame softball coach recently won his 700th career game with the Jersey Blues, but his thoughts were not on those 700 victories. Instead, he was focused on how to get more wins out of his 2009 Brookdale team.
“I’ll reflect on it (700 wins) after the season,” said Scannapieco, who is in his 23rd season with the Jersey Blues. “I’m in the eye of the storm thinking about the next day.”
Brookdale has turned the corner on a season in which the Jersey Blues were hovering around the .500 mark. The team has won nine of its last 11 games to improve its record to 18-10.
Scannapieco’s thoughts are on getting his team ready for the Region XIX Tournament which begins April 25-26 with first round games at the home of the highestseeded teams. Atlantic Cape Community College will host the tournament semifinals and finals on May 2-3. Brookdale is the defending Region XIX champion and has won 13 of the last 15 titles.
Brookdale still has a chance to nail down the top seed at best, and at worst, play at home in the first round.
Brookdale’s turnaround has been the result of the players’ bats catching fire. The Jersey Blues are averaging more than nine runs a game and have a team batting average of .395. No one in the starting lineup is batting under .300.
“We’re swinging the bats really well,” said Scannapieco. “I knew we’d be good [offensively], but we have exceed what I thought.”
Danielle Davenport (Matawan) has been on a home run tear. She is one of two Jersey Blues hitting above .500 through 28 games. Davenport is hitting .511 (45-88) and homered in four consecutive games. She has eight home runs on the season. The sophomore has scored a team-high 42 runs and has 35 RBIs.
Samantha Diexler (Southern Regional) leads the club in batting at .517 (46-89) and in RBIs with 36. She has scored 29 runs.
Other healthy averages belong to Kelly Mormino (Howell), .467; Samantha Wagner (Tottenville, Staten Island, N.Y.), .415; Brianne Faynor (Manchester), .408; Stephanie Horn (Middletown South), .385; and Christina Masitti (Freehold Township), .354.
Faynor missed several games with a knee injury and it hurt the Brookdale defense because it forced players to play out of position. With Faynor’s return to shortstop, everything is clicking for the defense. The steady defense and the offensive support have helped Brookdale’s pitchers.
“It’s helped,” Scannapieco said. “They’ve settled in and relaxed. We’re getting early leads, which helps take the pressure off” the pitchers.
Alexis DeRasmo (Shore Regional) is 10-5 with a 2.15 ERA and Jessica Carroll (Keyport) is 8-5 with a 3.96 ERA.
Today the Jersey Blues will travel to Gloucester County College in Sewell for a game that could determine the Region XIX seedings. The Jersey Blues still have a chance to get the No. 1 seed and will need to beat Gloucester in a doubleheader to do so.
For the record, Scannapieco won his 700th career game on April 9 at home in Lincroft against Suffolk College-Seldon, 7-4. Faynor drove in the game-winning runs on a home run.
What does 700 wins mean to Scannapieco?
“It means I’ve been around a long time, had success and had some really great teams,” he said.
There will be a time to reflect on all that he has done at Brookdale. However, Scannapieco is too immersed in the now to look back. His goal is to get the most that he can out of this team. His ultimate goal is to bring a third national championship back to Lincroft.

