Over the past few seasons, the Marlboro High School softball team was on a steady climb.
This past season, it all came together for head coach Nick Scalzo and the Mustangs, and they became one of the Shore’s best teams. They picked up signature playoff wins in the Shore Conference Tournament and NJSIAA Central Jersey Group IV playoffs while going 16-7 to set a single-season wins record.
Veterans Brianna Brienza and Bonnie Picone led the way as Marlboro displayed a resilience missing in previous years that enabled them to start winning one-run games they had lost in the past and also score come-from-behind victories.
With a team consisting of a plethora of juniors and underclassmen, teams better get used to Marlboro being a serious contender.
The Mustangs would like to become what Howell High School is: a consistent winner. The Rebels, who tied Marlboro for third place in the Shore Conference A North Division, put together another strong campaign as they remained one of the Shore’s best teams. The Rebels were 13-9 and reached the quarterfinals of the state sectional playoffs.
Manalapan High School and Freehold Township High School made the state sectional playoffs.
Brienza, an infielder, and outfielder Picone head up the News Transcript’s 2015 All-Freehold Regional High School District Softball Team.
Along with Brienza, the infielders are Howell’s Paige Eckert, Freehold High School’s Skylar Devorin, Colts Neck High School’s Meghan Royle, Marlboro’s Phoebe Li and Freehold Township’s Nicole Baptista. Howell’s Vivian Montgomery is the catcher.
Picone and teammate Macie Ditillo are the outfielders with Howell’s Taylor Mennie and Bridget Coulahan. The designated player is Manalapan’s Kristen Ruggiero, and the utility player Lindsey Fhima of Marlboro.
The pitchers are Howell’s Alexi Ruiz and Marlboro’s Melanie Beal.
Picone, Brienza, Ditillo, Montgomery, Devorin, Eckert, Ruggiero and Baptista were all named to the Shore Softball Coaches All-A North Team. Royle was named to the All-B North Team.
Senior Brienza played a sparkling shortstop all season, anchoring a superb defense behind Marlboro pitchers. The Brookdale Community College-bound Brienza had a pretty good season at the plate, batting .492. She had four doubles and three triples among her 36 hits, and she scored 22 runs while driving in 19.
Picone, a center fielder, seemed to be in the middle of every rally as a catalyst, leading the team with 35 runs scored and 19 RBIs. She had 10 doubles, four triples and one home run among her 39 hits. During the season, she became the first Mustang to reach 100 career hits, and she still has a season to go. She batted .487 and, like Brienza, was equally valuable for her defense.
Sophomore right fielder Ditillo is well on her way to enjoying a strong career. She is the leader of the underclassmen who are the future of Marlboro softball. Ditillo led the Mustangs in batting average (.494), hits (42) and RBIs (21). She had five doubles and a triple, and she scored 21 times. She fanned just twice in 85 at-bats.
Li is another Marlboro sophomore whose career is off to a great start. She batted .415 but was second on the team in runs scored (31), The second baseman, who teamed with Brienza and Picone to make Marlboro strong up the middle defensively, had 34 hits, including three doubles and six triples. She was picked to play on the Shore Carpenter Cup team.
Howell is on solid footing with juniors Montgomery, Eckert and Coulahan each returning next year after having big seasons in 2015.
Montgomery ripped the cover off the ball, batting .513 with 39 hits. She had 15 doubles and drove in 20 runs. Her defense was solid all year.
Eckert matched Montgomery’s power with 15 doubles and added two home runs. The second baseman scored 24 times and drove in 14 while batting .400.
Coulahan, an outfielder, was named to the Shore Carpenter’s Cup Team. She led the Rebels in runs scored (25) and drove in 15. She had seven doubles and a home run. She batted .356.
Mennie, one of just three seniors on this year’s Howell team, led the Rebels in home runs (four), which put her among the Shore’s leaders, She also led the team in RBIs (24) and batted .348.
This was a great year for juniors on the diamond, with the Colonials’ Devorin among those standouts.
Freehold struggled on the diamond this spring, but that didn’t keep the infielder from standing out. She batted .457, slugged .674 and had an on-base percentage of .545. She scored 14 times and drove in 11.
Baptista led the Patriots in runs scored (24), batting average (.473) and home runs (three). She also drove in 13 runs and rapped out 35 hits.
The coaches’ B North pick, Royle slugged .731 with four home runs, two doubles and two triples. She batted .463 and had an on-base percentage of .507. She scored 20 times.
Ruggiero was Manalapan’s top run producer. The junior infielder batted .415. Of her 27 hits, 10 were doubles and three were round-trippers. She had 20 RBIs and 27 runs scored.
Fhima, the third All-District player selected to play on the Shore Carpenter Cup team, won six games as a starter for Marlboro and batted .347. She was among Marlboro’s top offensive players with 17 RBIs and 22 runs scored. She also blasted a pair of home runs.
Beal, a freshman, was a key addition to the Mustangs, blossoming as the season progressed. She went 10-2 for the Mustangs and pitched to a 3.18 ERA.
Ruiz, a junior, backed up the promise she displayed as a sophomore as Howell’s No. 1 this spring. She won all 13 games for the Rebels and allowed fewer than one hit an inning.