For the North softball team, youth may be its strongest weapon. The Knights are on a roll with a record of 9-2 in their first year in the Colonial division.
Behind stellar pitching from sophomore Kaitlin Perrine, who struck out 10 batters in the team’s 11-1 rout of South Brunswick on April 24, the girls have earned the top seed in the Mercer County Tournament.
The tournament will begin Friday, April 30, with six preliminary-round games. North, which gets a first-round bye, will face the winner of the Allentown-Princeton game.
With wins already over Allentown, Hopewell Valley, South, Nottingham, Ewing, Lawrence, South Brunswick, and Trenton, the team has only fallen to Steinert in the Colonial Division.
While the Knights knew they would be contenders in this year’s Colonial Division and have had a great start, the team has only played South once and has yet to face Notre Dame, pointed out Coach Jason Petrone.
“Now that we are consistently winning, almost every game is a challenge,” added Petrone. However, the team is motivated to carry out a few of its goals, including taking the Colonial Division and Mercer County crowns, end the season with 20 wins, and eventually claim the title in the Central Jersey Group III state tournament.
While a loss to Steinert, 3-2, on April 28 sets the team back a bit, these goals are not too far out of reach. “If we can continue to have fun and lean on each other for support, good things will happen,” said Petrone.
The younger players, including Perrine, seem to have contributed the most to the team’s success so far this season.
Standout sophomore batters Sarah Bush, who went 3-for-4 against South Brunswick, and Brianna King, have been coming up strong for the Knights. King and Perrine each had three RBIs against South Brunswick.
Against Trenton, in the 16-0 blowout, Perrine pitched a no-hitter, striking out seven batters. King had a double in that game.
Petrone said it is great to see the younger players blossom as athletes. “On offense, we feel it is important to stress pitch selection, aggressiveness, and confidence,” he said of his work with the rising stars. “Defensively, the focus is on fundamentals and communication.”
But what has been most important, Petrone said, is team support and its togetherness. He said Perrine’s daily hard work has inspired the rest of the team. “This continuous stability is what encourages all of the other players to go the extra mile and have the understanding that we can make it work if we all do our part,” he said.
At South, a mix of veteran and young players are leading the team to a 8-3 season so far. The team has earned the fifth seed in the tournament and will host the 12th-seeded Hopewell Valley on Friday, April 30, at 4 p.m. The winner faces the winner of the Nottingham-Hightstown match.
Although star pitcher Liz Mendez is only a sophomore, the team has seen big contributions at the plate from senior Johanna Schutzer and junior Anna Schnitter. The two veterans combined with sophomore Ella Alter and freshman Hye-Jin Kim, to drive in RBIs in the team’s win over Steinert, 6-2, on April 22.
Kim, however, is the newest and one of the youngest players to be making an impact this season. In addition to her RBI single against Steinert, she hit a double and drove in a run in the team’s win over Hamilton, 10-0, on April 19. Mendez has also been productive at the plate.
The lacrosse and tennis teams at both schools are also doing extremely well, with South tennis still remaining undefeated and the South girls’ lacrosse team stealing the spotlight from their crosstown rivals, who began the season on an undefeated streak, but have since suffered three losses to stand at 7-3.
The South girls, however, bounced back from a loss early in the season to head into the middle of the season with a 10-1 record, most recently upsetting Hopewell Valley, 14-13, in overtime on April 28. The girls’ teams will face each other on Friday, May 7.
Michelle Morris, Alex Thumm, Kendal Borup, and Dani Stiefel have come up strong for the Pirates. Morris had five goals against Hightstown, three goals against East Brunswick, four goals against Princeton, and two against Allentown. Borup had four goals against East Brunswick, three against Allentown, and five against Princeton.
The North and South boys’ lacrosse teams are off to commanding 9-3 and 7-3 starts, respectively. Especially important for the Knights this year was their 7-6 win over Montgomery, which beat them in overtime during the regular season and then again in the state tournament last year. Killian Brakel had 18 saves in the game, helping North to keep the edge over one of the team’s fiercest competitors.
The North and South tennis teams are in the middle of the Mercer County Tournament, and as of April 29, both were embroiled in a three-way tie for first. South has the top seed at second and third singles, with Julian Richardson and Daniel Ng. North has top seeds at frist doubles, with Abishy Pandita and Kevin Shi, and second doubles, with Zach Kurfirst and Kevin Shock. — Cara Latham
