BY TIM MORRIS
Staff Writer
Bo Scannapieco is a very patient coach.He knows that championship softball teams are not built overnight. So, when his Brookdale Community College women’s softball team got off to a less than auspicious start during the annual Southern Trip to South Carolina, he didn’t panic.
“It’s a young team,” said the coach who has captured two national titles and 600-plus victories at the Lincroft campus. “We played some strong schools.
“There is talent here and it’s starting to come to the surface,” he added. “It takes time, it’s a slow process.”
After dropping four of their first five games, the Jersey Blues have “turned the corner,” according to Scannapieco, and are 9-7 with the Garden State Athletic Conference and Region XIX schedule still ahead of them.
The Blues answered any questions about their bounce-back capabilities by rebounding so strongly from the slow start.
“You’re always concerned [with losses],” said Scannapieco. “We had one bad day where we got beat up pretty good [dropping a double-header]. They showed their resilience. The came right back the next day and played their best game.”
During the trip to South Carolina, Scannapieco, who led the Blues to second place at last year’s national championships, was still getting a handle on his team and who played best in the field, which explained some tough defensive games. Since returning north, the defense has been solid and Scannapieco is confident that he’ll have a set lineup when the team begins GSAC play this week.
The team’s pitching was inconsistent during the early-season struggles but is now rounding into shape.
Kelly Hughes (Toms River North), one of only two sophomores on the 2007 Blues, has the most wins (4-3). Stefanie Reitzel (Life Center Academy) has been the team’s power pitcher, averaging a strikeout per inning, and frosh
Elizabeth Erbig (Brick Township) is 2-2 and coming on strong.
Amy Bankos (Monsignor Donovan), the third freshman in the rotation, is 2-0.
“Our pitching is improving,” said Scannapieco. “All of them have contrasting styles, which is very good.”
When not pitching, Erbig and Bankos are critical to the Brookdale infield defense through the middle. Erbig is at shortstop, and Bankos, second base.
Kristen Moledo (Middletown South) has settled in at third base and has been outstanding there.
Skye Rubel (Ocean Township) is the starting catcher with Carrie Sciancalepore (Union) spelling her. Both are good defensive players.
Center fielder Allyson Melia (TRN) catches everything in her path and has great range.
Kristen Rivera (Union) starts in left, with Rubel and Danielle Smith (Neptune) splitting time in right.
Jenna Criscuola (Middletown North), the only other sophomore on the team, plays second when Banko is on the mound and first base the rest of the time, with Danielle Smith (Neptune) and Jackie Zieser (Union) seeing playing time there as well. Rachael Pyle (Neptune) starts at short when Erbig toes the rubber.
“I’m encouraged,” Scannapieco said of the shape of his team on the eve of starting conference play (they hosted Sussex in a twin-bill on Tuesday).
Today, the Blues will host Morris in a double-header (3 p.m.) in another early-season conference and region match-up.