Softball team is motivated
By Justin Feil, The Packet Group
When the Hillsborough High School softball team returns from its week-long trip to Florida, it hopes to bring back some warmer weather.
The Raiders also would like to bring back the skills that they have been displaying all week. On Monday, they swept a pair of games from the defending Wisconsin state champions, 7-1 and 15-5. Those wins followed 12-1 and 10-0 wins Saturday.
”It’s been good for us,” said HHS head coach Cheryl Iaione. “We’ve gotten high compliments so far. People have said we’re one of the better teams we’ve seen down here. We can’t get swelled heads.”
The Raiders don’t figure to get overconfident. They come into the year driven by what they were not able to accomplish last year. Hillsborough went 22-5 and won the Skyland Conference Delaware Division championship outright by going 14-2, but the Raiders were disappointed to fall to Watchung Hills, 3-0, in the Somerset County Tournament championship, then drop their North Jersey Section 2, Group IV semifinal game to Hunterdon Central, 4-1.
”We have a lot to prove,” Iaione said. “We didn’t finish anything last year. We didn’t get the job done. That’s our mission this year, to finish the counties and get that state championship we’ve been striving for for so long.”
The Raiders’ stated slogan to finish their championship runs is their top motivation. If what Iaione has seen in Florida is any indication, the Raiders are off to a good start. It was harder to tell at home when the poor weather conditions hampered their practice schedule.
”We had a couple scrimmages,” Iaione said. “One, it snowed. One, it was so ungodly cold that it was tough to enjoy.
”We got out five or six times on the field. We made it as productive as we could. My kids just need to fine tune. I have a pretty veteran team so they make the transition a little easier. We’re in the same position as everyone with the weather.”
By going to Florida for a week, the Raiders had the chance to get out and show off a bit under kinder conditions. They make the trip to Disney every three years, and this is Iaione’s fifth time taking a team, for which they were honored as a Fab Five program in a pre-game ceremony before the Atlanta Braves-New York Mets preseason game Monday.
”At home, it was hard to tell,” Iaione said of the team’s ability. “It was so cold. The bats weren’t as productive as they’ve been down here. The bats have been pretty explosive. We won Saturday 12-1 and then 10-0. It’s a pretty deep lineup one through nine.”
After losing just one regular starter to graduation, expectations are high for the Raiders. With a veteran crew back, Hillsborough has been able to pick up quickly from last year.
”You’re definitely ahead of the bar,” Iaione said of having returning experience. “The kids know what to expect. We kind of know where they’ll be penciled and where they are on the depth charts. Now they’re going out to play for positions. We have two seniors that have been starting since they were freshmen, so they’re not going anywhere. (Alexis) Pezza and (Alison) Shimko will be on left side of the field.”
The two captains are among the eight seniors and 12 returning varsity players. This year’s roster includes: senior second baseman and captain Katie Faillace, senior outfielder Megan Gottschalk, senior pitcher/outfielder Alexis Schengrund, senior outfielder Jacki Schwankert, senior outfielder Josettee Spencer, senior pitcher/first baseman Kelly Wishard, Pezza who plays shortstop and Shimko who plays first base as well as third base; junior outfielder Donna Conrad, junior second baseman Rachel Handel, junior third baseman/shortstop Cayleen Rizo and junior catcher/first baseman Alyssa VanDerveer; and sophomore shortstop Kelly Amen, sophomore outfielder Arielle Couso, sophomore outfielder/second baseman Taryn Grober and sophomore first baseman Jess Santelli.
The Hillsborough lineup can be explosive. VanDerveer hit .457 with 10 home runs and 32 RBI and did not make an error at catcher. Pezza hit .444 with 44 hits, 28 runs and 14 RBI. Shimko hit .488 with 39 hits, 27 runs and 25 RBI. Both Pezza and Shimko already have 100 career hits.
”This is the deepest team, the best hitting team we’ve had,” Iaione said. “And they all get along well. They have good chemistry. We have very solid pitching. Kelly Wishard and Alexis Schengrund, they have a year under their belt. They’re ready for the challenge. They’ve pitched really well.”
Deciding whom to plug in the lineup may be Iaione’s toughest task this year, though with so much talent, it could be hard to go wrong.
”Sometimes you can have too many players,” Iaione said. “I have 12 that could probably start. I can only put nine out there. But kids go in slumps and we can put different people out there. We’re very versatile too. I can put five or six different lineups out there. It’s really a dream as a coach. It’s just they’re all great kids, all great players. It’s going to be tough to manage that, but things have a way of working themselves out.”
The challenges in the county and state will still be there. Watchung Hills returns its pitcher who shut them out in the county final, and Hunterdon Central remains strong. The Raiders have a roster of returning players ready to earn the titles they missed out on last year.
Having the chance to see them play in more ideal conditions in Florida has helped Iaione in figuring out whom to start as they look forward to their season opener Tuesday. Giving her a better environment for evaluation has made this year’s spring trip more valuable than ever.
”If we were home, I’d be stressed out about it,” Iaione said. “You like the kids to show what they can do. Four scrimmages in 30-degree weather doesn’t give them a chance. With the spring we’ve had, this is big this year.”
It’s not the start, however, that is Hillsborough’s concern. It is when the weather turns nicer toward the end of May that the Raiders are looking to have everyone together for a big finish.