Wishard, Schengrund help Raiders post impressive streak
By Justin Feil, The Packet Group
Alexis Schengrund and Kelly Wishard didn’t talk much about their shutout streak, almost like teammates wouldn’t talk to a pitcher about a no-hitter.
Until Montgomery High School managed back-to-back doubles off Wishard in the Somerset County Tournament softball quarterfinals Saturday, the Hillsborough High School pitching duo had shut out seven straight teams.
”We don’t talk about it,” said Schengrund. “We kind of realized it last week that we weren’t giving up any runs.”
Said Wishard: “Saturday we let up one run and said, there’s our streak. It was only one run. It wasn’t bad or anything.”
The senior duo has been dominant in the circle for Hillsborough, and they’ve helped combine with a potent offense to produce what is certainly one of the biggest run differentials in the state. They had allowed just 12 total runs in 16 games all season. Hillsborough almost scored that many in five innings in their SCT quarterfinal win.
The top-seeded Raiders cruised to an 11-1 win in five innings to advance to the SCT semifinals. They will play fourth-seeded Bridgewater-Raritan on Saturday.
”It’s definitely going to get tougher,” Schengrund said. “We’ve already played all these teams before. It’s harder to play them when we get to know them and they get to know us, especially Bridgewater this Saturday. We’ve seen everything they have and they’ve seen everything we have.”
That could come as no comfort to the Raiders, who can mix in Schengrund or Wishard and feel equally confident.
”Getting that year of experience last year helped them,” said Hillsborough head coach Cheryl Iaione. “It was hard last year. I had three (pitchers), so they didn’t get as many innings as they would have liked. Lex came on and earned herself some important starts. The plan was to rotate both of them unless one of the stuck out, and nobody has done that, so we’ve been rotating them.”
Rotating together is nothing new. They played on the same travel team from fifth through 10th grade and routinely rotated with their pitching duties.
”We’ve worked really well together,” Wishard said. “Even before, when we used to play on the same travel team, it would always end up that way. We’re used to it.
”Since we’re pitching every other game and last year was our first year in the circle, we’re a lot more confident now. Both of us combined have gotten a lot of strikeouts and been able to dominate the batters. We’re more experienced.”
On their way to helping the Raiders go 15-1 through 16 games, the Raider pitchers did all that was expected of them and more. From Apr. 18 until May 3, they did not allow a run in seven straight games as the Raiders outscored their opponents, 69-0.
”It was pretty impressive,” Iaione said of the stretch. “I feel like we’re ready. It’s not about anybody else. We have to keep doing what we’re doing and get solid pitching and play solid defense. The pitching has been real solid. It’s not like we’re striking every kid out, so the defense has been good too. We’re playing solid defense and keeping our focus. It’s not as easy as it looks.”
The Raiders have all been getting in the act, from their offense to their defense. While Wishard was striking out eight in five innings, the bats were as hot as ever. Jacki Schwankert was 3-for-3 with three runs, Alyssa Vanderveer was 3-for-3 with a pair of RBI, Alexis Pezza and Arielle Couso had two hits apiece, and Donna Conrad and Couso had three RBI apiece.
”It’s definitely easier when you’re pitching with a lead,” Schengrund said. “And when you know your offense is doing well, it makes it easier to pitch and you don’t have to worry about striking out every batter.
”Our defense has been really good,” she added. “Alyssa is calling a great game, so it’s keeping the batters off balance. And our defense is good. We don’t make many errors.”
The Raiders are looking to return to the county final, where they lost last year after back-to-back wins. For the seniors like Schengrund and Wishard, this year is a chance to make it three titles in their careers.
”Losing the county tournament was a big upset for us,” Schengrund said. “Our motto for this year is ‘Finish.’ We want to go back to the county final and finish what we didn’t last year. We want to take back what we had before. To lose a game like that, it was difficult.”
With two strong pitchers and a bevy of big bats to choose from, Hillsborough is chugging into the tournament portion of the season on all cylinders, and they can use any number of different lineups.
”I pretty much have a rotation of 12,” Iaione said. “It depends who we’re playing. They can’t all start. I let pitchers, one start, and one finished last week. We were playing four games a week, and they were getting two each. We’re back to three now, and now we have to be creative. Whatever lineup, it’s who we’re playing, my gut feeling, how they’re playing, and it’s all subject to change.”
The Raiders don’t want to change much at this point, not once they’ve gotten off to a promising start. Having both Schengrund and Wishard available is a bonus, as either is capable of stopping opponents, and by throwing both at teams no opponent ever gets comfortable against them.
”In the counties and states, I think our coaches depend a lot on us,” Wishard said. “There is a lot of pressure. We want to win. We’ve done so well up to this point, they’re only expecting us to do well. Later on in counties and states, you come up against better teams that can hit more. If our pitching is on, not a lot of teams can get to us. Our pitching has helped teams not be able to get hits and not get on, which helps us win.”
The two have different styles, which keeps teams that may have seen one or the other pitcher off balance. And they have a great team around them.
Said Iaione: “Both throw hard and are locating the ball well. My catcher, Alyssa Vanderveer calls a great game. They have confidence in her. The catcher is the unsung hero. Everyone talks about Alyssa’s hitting, but she’s more than a hitter. She’s an outstanding softball player. She has a big part of their success.”
Schengrund, who is heading to Widener University to continue her pitching career next year, came back this season confident in her abilities after sharing in the pitching duties last season. She has added a drop curve pitch, a sixth pitch in her arsenal, and she’s had more opportunity to use it.
”This year, it’s only two of us so we’re seeing more action,” Schengrund said. “It’s easier to stay in a groove when you pitch more often.”
Wishard will follow her dreams to James Madison University, where a new coaching staff will welcome her. She has focused on being more consistent and limiting base-runners, whether they are from walks or hits. Both have limited runs well.
”They’ve been able to finish,” Iaione said. “They’ve been able to work out of some jams. That’s the growth they’ve had.”
There will be more challenges ahead, and more opportunities to show their abilities to keep teams off the board as they head into the measuring stick of the season.
”I’m looking forward to counties, and we hope to make it far in states, especially for us seniors,” Wishard said. “Our past years, we’ve done good, but always fallen short in states. This year, I think we can make it really far because we’ve done really well up until now. Hopefully we can continue like that.”