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MONTGOMERY: Schnackenberg earns honors

By Justin Feil, Assistant Sports Editor
Peyton Schnackenberg’s big moments have brought her closer to softball, and have her thinking about a chance to continue playing in college.
That’s still a long way off for the Montgomery High School sophomore. Even thought the Cougars’ softball season is a full seven months away, but Schnackenberg is never far from a softball field.
“Now that I could go to school and play in college, that’s cool,” Schnackenberg said. “I really want to play in college. I’m debating what I want to do with it. I want to go to a school with a strong academic reputation.”
Schnackenberg will be heading to a camp at the University of Connecticut soon, just the latest stop in a whirlwind of softball over the last four months. She enjoyed what she calls her biggest moment in softball at the USSA USA Elite Select Boombah All-American Tryouts in Pittsburgh.
“It was a lot of fun,” Schnackenberg said. “I tried out in Pittsburgh and I was evaluated by Hannah Rogers. She plays for Florida Pride. She was the championship pitcher for Florida. She rated me a 5 and only four people out of all the tryouts were rated a 5 and I was one of them.”
There were eight different regions and tryouts were popular. Schnackenberg would have gone closer to a tryout in Baltimore, but it sold out. She showed her stuff in Pittsburgh and was selected to one of the 14 spots for the Northeast Region team that played last month in the USA Elite Select All-American Games in Kissimmee, Fla.
“That was my favorite,” said Schnackenberg, who lives in Belle Mead. “I’m looking for more opportunities. I look them up a lot, but I haven’t found anything yet.”
Schnackenberg is finding more opportunities available to her as she develops into a more complete all-around player. Her hitting picked up this year along with her pitching. She belted 18 home runs, including a memorable first one over the fence off a 16U pitcher to start her year.
“She blew the first pitch by me,” Schnackenberg said. “I hit the second one over the center field fence. It felt so good.”
Schnackenberg continues to travel plenty with her club team, Newtown Rock 18 Futures. They placed seventh in the ASA 16U Class A Eastern Nationals that finished up recently. Schnackenberg was terrific in the circle at Eastern Nationals with a 0.40 ERA.
“I feel like I’m more focused now,” she said. “I added new pitches now. My control is a lot better. I’m excited to keep working on that this following year.”
Earlier in the summer, her Newtown team won the Pennsylvania 16U crown. At Eastern Nationals, on top of her stinginess as pitcher, Schnackenberg picked up another individual honor as runner-up at the home run derby.
“That was my other favorite thing,” she said.
Schnackenberg has the physique to hit and pitch with power. She broke all of Montgomery High’s freshman weight lifting records and should hold all of the class records as she ages up through the school. Not bad considering she just started lifting in the winter as part of winter track and field for MHS.
Softball, however, is her passion. It’s been something she enjoyed and found herself longing for more of as each year passed and her achievements have grown. It all started to take off a couple of years ago.
“It really started to be my favorite thing to do when in all-stars I pitched a no-hitter and it was a championship game,” Schnackenberg said. “Playing under the lights and having everyone cheer for me, it was great.”
Schnackenberg has been giving her teams plenty of reason to cheer. She joined the Newtown Rock last year and has fit right in.
“I was on a younger team and I had to move up towards the end,” she said. “This is my favorite organization yet. I don’t want to leave.”
She has enjoyed success with them as one of their pitchers, though she also plays first base. In her first year of varsity with MHS, she played more infield spots than pitcher.
“A lot more first and shortstop,” she said. “I think I’ll have a chance (to pitch) this year. I do enjoy playing the field. I do pitch more with Rock. I like playing the field, it gives me experience in case I need that.”
All the different venues and showcases and tournaments have exposed Schnackenberg to the highest levels. She has tried to soak in her experiences, like the USA Elite Select All-American Games.
“I went together with all the people selected and you meet everyone on that Monday,” she recalled. “One of the players was one I played in a championship tournament two weeks before, and we talked about it. I never thought we’d be on the same team. There were people from Connecticut. I’m going to a camp at UConn, so it’s cool to keep in touch with them.”
Beyond that, there is another trip to Florida planned, and Schnackenberg is hopeful that she will have more national team opportunities. A top student and voracious reader, she has found her experiences in softball to be helpful to her overall personal development and important to her future.
“This year, I really learned leadership,” Schnackenberg said. “That’s the most important thing I took away from this. I want to major in business. Learning how to lead the team, being on the mound and at the plate, that helped me this year, and it’ll help me when I have to lead a business team.” 