It's a new season for BCC's national champs

BY TIM MORRIS
Staff Writer

CHRIS KELLY staff Brookdale's Jenna Criscuolo gets ahold of a pitch during the Jersey Blues' doubleheader sweep of Salem on Tuesday in Middletown. For the Brookdale Community College women's softball team, the 2006 season isn't about anything but this year.

Yes, Bo Scannapieco's Jersey Blues are the defending national champions, but this year isn't about what happened last season. That's history. It's all about finding out about what kind of team they will be in 2006.

"You can't compare this year to last year," he said. "They're two different teams."

You only have to look at the roster to see that there will be very little similarities between the two teams. The Blues have six veterans returning from the team that won BCC's second national title, and welcomes eight freshmen. Gone are pitching aces Elyse Papaianni and Cherise Maltais, and All-American Jessica Williams.

"We have to figure out what kind of team we are," said Scannapieco, last year's national Coach of the Year. "It all takes time to build team chemistry."

Brookdale opened the season like it usually does in the South in the Snowbird Tournament, held in Myrtle Beach, S.C. (March 11-18). It was Scannapieco's first look at his team in competition, and he liked what he saw.

"We went 6-3 playing against quality teams, better teams than we played there last year," noted Scannapieco. "We beat a Division I team and two Division II teams. That was a big thing for us.

"I thought we did a very good job," he added.

"I used four pitchers and all won at least one game, which was encouraging. Overall, we hit the ball good and our defense got better as we went along. Overall, I'd give it a B-plus."

Erin Covell (Notre Dame High School), who won nine games last year and is the top returning pitcher, went 2-1 in South Carolina with a fine 2.85 earned-run average.

Sophomore Kara Hertzke (Raritan) and Amanda Roberts (Freehold Township) are poised to play bigger roles in the rotation. Hertzke was 1-1 in the trip South with a 2.92 ERA, while Roberts was 2-0 with two solid outings.

Freshman Kelly Hughes (Toms River North), threw the only shutout for BCC and went 1-1 with a stingy 0.51 ERA.

"All four did OK," said Scannapieco. "I'm going to use all four for the next week or two. Right now, it's really hard to make up my mind on a rotation, so I'll use them all."

Returner Lynn Olender (Sayreville) and Allyson Weinkofsky (Ocean Township) were in mid-season form, batting .433 and .364 respectively at the top of the line. Their job is to get on base, stir things up and score runs.

Former St. John Vianney star Suzanne Gorczynski, a sophomore newcomer, Covell and Hertzke will be the team's RBI producers in the middle of the line-up.

Freshmen Lauren Ceravolo (Freehold Township), Amanda Kapsales (Holmdel), Elizabeth Anastasio (Freehold Township) and Jenna Criscuolo (Middletown North) all hit well in South Carolina, leading Scannapieco to conclude that offensively, this team is more balanced than last year's team.

"Last year's one through six was tougher," he said. "But one through nine, this year's team is a little stronger."

It was also very encouraging to see the freshmen stepping up already and contributing. Jessica Sepe (Freehold Township) and Kelly Kwiatkowski (Manalapan) are the other frosh who will have a big role in determining what kind of season the Blues will have.

So will the five sophomores, whom Scannapieco credited with being fine leaders.

If Scannapieco has been anything in the last 10 years building the Jersey Blues into the country's best program, he has been flexible. He has won with powerhouse lineups that feature Dr. Longball. He's won with pitching and defense, and with teams that play small ball or rely on the big inning.

A sure sign that this is 2006 and not '05 was the way Brookdale went about running the bases in South Carolina. At the Snowbird last year, the Blues stole seven bases; this year they turned games into a track meet with 19 stolen bases.

"We are doing a few different things, stealing bases and playing hit-and-run," said Scannapieco.

As they have since they began their run of 10 straight Region XIX championships, the Blues begin the season with a target on their backs.

"Everybody plays us tough," said Scannapieco.

The Blues head coach expects Gloucester and Camden to be Brookdale's biggest main competition for the Region crown. Gloucester has been the traditional hurdle, while Camden, Scannapieco noted, had a good recruiting season.

On Monday, Brookdale swept a doubleheader from Cecil Community College of Maryland.

Kelly Hughes took the win in the first game, a 4-3 affair, as she allowed just two earned runs while striking out six. Weinkofsky (3-for-3) and Covell (2-for-3) led the offensive attack.

In the second game, the Blues used a seven-run third inning to put the game away, keyed by a three-run double from Jenna Crisulla.

The Jersey Blues kept rolling on Tuesday with another doubleheader sweep, this time over Salem, 15-2 and 15-0. In game one, Lauren Ceravolo led the offense with a 3-for-3, three RBI performance, while Kara Hertzke got the win to improve to 3-1 on the year. Game two's offensive star was Olender (3-for-4 with two RBIs and two runs scored), while Kelly Hughes improved to 3-1 on the mound.

Gorczynski continued her red-hot start at the plate, going 5-for-8 on the day with nine RBIs.

Brookdale continues its home schedule this weekend. On Friday, the Blues host Hartford (Conn.) in a double-header that starts at 2:30 p.m.

On Saturday, Orange (N.Y.) visits Lincroft for another twin-bill that starts at 1 p.m., and on Sunday, yet another doubleheader starts at noon, with Del Tech Stanton (Del.) making a call.

The Region tournament starts April 29-30 with the finals, May 5-6, slated for Middlesex College.