J.P. Stevens High School jumper Javon Scott is airborne as he competes in the triple jump at the inaugural Mustang Invitational hosted by John F. Kennedy Memorial High School in Iselin April 25. SCOTT FRIEDMAN BISHOP AHR
Missy Collazo was not pleased the Bishop George Ahr High School softball team she coaches played two of the best teams in the Greater Middlesex Conference (GMC) last week pretty much on even terms.
The Trojans lost both games to Monroe Township High School and South Plainfield High School by identical 3-0 scores, and Collazo is a strong believer of the school of thought made popular by former New York Giants coach Bill Parcells, who authored the book “No Medals for Trying.”
“All of [Monroe’s] runs were unearned,” Collazo said about the game with the Falcons. “Both teams hit the ball well, but [Monroe] took advantage of their opportunities and we didn’t.”
What did in the Trojans was a series of fielding errors that led to Monroe posting two runs in the second inning and another in the third in the game played April 23. It did not help that a sustained cold wind made every batted ball an adventure.
Against South Plainfield two days later, Bishop Ahr allowed the Tigers to score all their runs in the first inning while failing again to cross the plate.
Bishop Ahr is 7-4 overall and in third place in the White Division, but Collazo hopes to reverse the trend of losing to quality teams.
“We’ve lost to very good teams,” she said. “Once in a while, you like to win those games. We still have a chance to get them a second time around.”
Actually, the Trojans can only earn another shot at beating South Plainfield if they meet in the GMC Tournament next month. In the season-opener, the Tigers won an 8-5 decision and an earlier regular-season meeting with Monroe that was postponed due to inclement weather needs to be made up.
An important reason why Bishop Ahr has been competitive has been the strong pitching of Christine LaRochelle. In 69 innings, the senior has yielded only 16 earned runs, 13 walks and has struck out 57. Fellow senior Ragen Reddick has been a dependable shortstop and hitting star. She is the leader with a .459 average, including 17 hits, 16 runs scored and 19 runs batted in.
Freshmen Katie Eicher and Ryleigh Greenwald have been impressive in their varsity debuts and average .378 and .333, respectively. Junior Brandi Carrion (.286), senior Amanda Julve (.297) and sophomore Kayla Simon (.269) have also contributed.
J.P. STEVENS
Another area softball team with an outstanding record is J.P. Stevens High School (8-2), which is a game behind East Brunswick High School in the GMC Red Division. The Hawks can tie for the division lead if they beat the Bears April 29.
J.P. Stevens is well balanced in the field and at the plate, but freshman Ashley Lombardi’s pitching has been the main reason the Hawks are one of the top teams in the conference.
She has thrown every inning, registered 69 strikeouts and given up only 11 earned runs.
Junior Rebecca DiSerio is the team leader in nearly every offensive category, including hits (18) and RBIs (13). A strong supporting cast of five regulars has averaged .300 or better, including junior Gabrielle Young (.375), freshman Amanda Leary (.346), junior Kayla Smith (.346), senior Amanda Lombardi (.345), and sophomore Julie Siecinski (.324). Smith also has five stolen bases and is the leader in runs scored (10).
After the contest with East Brunswick, the Hawks play Sayreville War Memorial High School May 1.
Boys tennis
It’s a good thing the J.P. Stevens boys tennis team features players who are also outstanding mathematics students.
Head coach Ellen Pisano said a rule change in how points are awarded provided multiple scenarios for which teams would be in the GMC Tournament April 25, the final day of competition.
Fortunately for the Hawks, they relied on the best course, which was to win all their matches. J.P. Stevens finished with 44 points, while South Brunswick High School and East Brunswick tied for second with 32 points.
“It was a little stressful because of the rule changes,” said Pisano, who has presided over the boys and girls programs since 1996. “I’m proud the team won the conference tournament outright because we tied South Brunswick last year. But we now have more goals to achieve.”
The next objective is to win the NJSIAA sectional tournament, which the boys have not done since 1979. Pisano is optimistic about her team’s chances.
“It looks like it will be a battle between [us] and Westfield [High School],” she said. “Another goal is to qualify every regular for the state individual tournament.”
The Hawks flexed their muscles in the GMC by winning the second and third singles titles and both doubles championships, although they had to come from behind in some matches. In second singles, junior Vishal Walia defeated South Brunswick’s Vijay Chockalingam, 6-3, 7-5. And in third singles, four-year senior captain Sarthak Mohanty overcame 3-4 and 4-5 deficits in the second set to score a 6-2, 7-5 win against Harold Trakhman of East Brunswick.
Both doubles finals were between J.P. Stevens and South Brunswick, with the Hawks prevailing in each. In first doubles, junior Gouttham Chandrasekar and sophomore Alex Telson came from being down 2-5 in the first set to win, 7-5 and 6-1, over Viknesh Lakshmanan and Ben Wang. And in second doubles, senior captain Brian Ho and sophomore Arjun Krishnan defeated Prince Ghosh and Aditya Murali, 6-2, 6-1.
Walia and both doubles teams are 15-0 on the season. The Hawks’ first singles player, senior Gokul Murugesan, lost in the semifinals, 6-7, 4-6, to eventual champion Josh Marchalic of East Brunswick.