Sara Bearden had the kind of season last year that could have either broke her down, or made her mentally tougher.
The Ewing High School senior softball pitcher decided to let her 7-6 2015 campaign do the latter.
“She was really a hard-luck loser last year,” coach Dan Bernoski said. “Four of her losses were by one run. She lost to Robbinsville twice by one run and it was just errors. She lost a state game to Middletown South 1-0 and we had bases loaded twice and didn’t get a key hit for her, and she pitched an outstanding game.”
But Bearden looked at those games as a learning experience.
“It hurts still, because they were such tough losses, but they were still big games,” she said. “I’d always rather have a tough loss, knowing we were fighting for it, than getting beat by a lot. Those tough losses are exciting games. They helped me work on things. They made me realize what I can do different this year and stuff like that.”
Bearden finished the season with a 3.24 ERA and 76 strikeouts in 82.1 innings. The defense allowed 14 unearned runs behind her.
She will be the Blue Devils’ main hurler this season after splitting time as a junior.
“Her pitches are breaking better this year and she has a nice change-up,” Bernoski said. “We’re expecting a better year. We’re expecting big things from her. I think the pressure is off. She got a scholarship to Caldwell College, so she can just go out there and have fun.”
Bearden comes from an athletic background. Her brother, Matt, is a former cross country andtrack standout at Ewing who now runs at West Point. Her dad, Ray, coached varsity girls soccer at North Brunswick High School, and her mom Lisa coached three different sports at South Brunswick High.
She started playing T-ball when she was four, coached by her parents.
From there she went to Ewing recreation before moving to travel ball with the 10U Edge. After several years, Ray and Lisa became her coaches on the Edge before she moved on to the Cheetahs Premiere team and then the New Jersey Gators Gold, where she still plays.
During that time, she evolved into a pitcher, though it took her awhile to get there.
“When I was little, I wasn’t the greatest pitcher,” Bearden said. “I also played first base, but then I really started to like [pitching] after a while. I was having a ball and throwing all these different pitches to get the batters out so I just kept working on it.”
As a freshman at Ewing she saw limited action, going 4-0 with a 3.33 ERA and 20 strikeouts in 21 innings. She in a rotation with several other freshman pitchers as Bernoski tried to get them all some innings.
“I did get into a couple of big games,” Bearden said. “I remember pitching against (state champion) Robbinsville and I remember thinking ‘Yeah, Robbinsville!’ It was really good. We lost really bad but it was still a good experience.”
But that freshman year was unlike any that she ever experienced, due to the fact she was watching more than throwing.
“It’s definitely frustrating because I always want to pitch,” Bearden said. “This was the first time I was sitting a lot but I knew I just had to keep working harder in order to prove that I should get the ball and I think I did. Mr. B saw what I could do. It just shows, you have to keep working hard for what you want and eventually you’ll get your chance.”
The Blue Devils reached the state finals in Bearden’s sophomore year, when she went 6-0 with a 2.77 ERA and 55 strikeouts in 58.2 innings. She faced more—and tougher—competition.
Then came last year, when Bearden had to learn to stay composed in the face of adversity.
“She got frustrated a little bit, but she came on strong in the second half,” Bernoski said. “We told her, ‘You’ve got to keep your composure, they’re doing the best they can, nobody intends to make an error.’ She’s just such a competitor, it was just frustrating. But she settled down in the second half, got two big wins against Nottingham, one in the county tournament, and another big win against Allentown the states.”
Bearden is looking forward to this year and likes the cast she has behind her. Veterans Sarah Bystricki, who’s closing in on 100 hits, is back along with Jenna Capuano, Alexis Pope, Danielle Rinaldi, Brianna Vaughn and Erica Weber. A strong cast of younger players include Ann DeBoskey, Juliana Misen, Lauren Christensen, Madison Zucek, Kourtney Schneider, Devin Kueny and Dianna Hedrick.
“I think we can be very solid,” Bearden said. “I think our defense is very good. We lost our first baseman but the infield looks good, the outfield looks good. Hitting wise we lost the power we had in the past few years but we also gained some power. Our freshman (DeBoskey) looks good with her power hitting, and I think our lineup should be able to string some hits together.”
In the middle of it all will be Bearden, whose fastball is up to 60 and whose pitching IQ is strong. That shouldn’t be a surprise considering she is a member of the National Honor Society with a 4.3 grade point average.
Bearden plans to major in health science with a minor in Spanish, and then she wants to get her masters in occupational therapy. She will continue to play softball, as Caldwell showed that it wanted her.
“Originally I wasn’t looking at Caldwell,” Bearden said. “The coach saw me and showed interest in me so I looked at the school. When I went to go visit I watched a game and I knew I could see myself being there. Then the coach and I were in contact and he gave me an offer and I said yes. No other schools were really showing interest, or schools that I would go visit weren’t really sparking my interesting like Caldwell did.”
Bearden was told she would probably just pitch at Caldwell and not hit, which is fine by her. She only had 15 at-bats last year and 19 in her high school career.
“I definitely don’t really miss it,” she said. “It’s one less thing I’ve got to worry about. It allows me more time to focus on pitching. I’ve definitely improved on my change-up and I’m working on a rise-ball, and everything else is pretty good.”
Coupled with the mental toughness she was forced to discover a year ago, it sounds like a pretty good recipe for a big year.
,
