Ameerah Brown-McMullen and Valeria Velez were part of the Ewing High School softball team’s steady improvement over their four years.
The senior starters graduated and will continue playing in college after helping the Blue Devils go 14-10 this spring, their best record since 2019. Ewing won 11 games last year, 10 games in 2022 and six games in 2021 as freshmen. Their season didn’t end until a Central Jersey, Group 3 quarterfinal loss to Middletown North on May 28.
“The year went well,” said Brown-McMullen. “I feel like we’ve definitely grown as a team since we all played together last year. This year we just developed and we all learned how to play together better. And I’ve grown stronger and I know my team has grown stronger and we made progress. It didn’t end how we wanted it to, but we definitely made progress.”
Ewing graduates only the two along with Courtney Wentzel, the senior who scored a pair of runs in their sectional opening 11-0 win over Somerville. Most of the other standouts are expected to return along with the raised expectations that have produced better results.
“We just had positive energy all around and we just created a really strong team out of that,” Velez said. “This year, we focused more on teamwork and really uplifting each other up when mistakes were made. We were just always having each other’s backs.”
Even the mistakes and losses were different than in the recent past. There were far fewer mistakes in general, and games that Ewing lost came against top competition with only one coming via the mercy rule all season. Even those sort of defeats were memorable for Velez because it showed how much more competitive the team had become.
“Playing those really tight games against, like Allentown, Notre Dame, we played full seven-inning games, and we haven’t done that in the four years that I’ve played,” she said. “Robbinsville too. We played really well against them. So those are some of my highlights.”
While Ewing is excited about building on this season next year, Brown-McMullen and Velez have been key members that will be critical to replace if the Blue Devils are to take another step. Ewing will have to replace the right side of the infield with Brown-McMullen having played first and Velez second base. They brought important strengths to the team that was coached by Katie Schuh.
“Ameerah brings a ton of positivity,” said the second-year head coach. “She’s got a good bat and she is one of those people that you can just depend on to uplift the girls. She struggled at the plate this year more than she would have liked, but defensively she was a huge piece to the puzzle in the infield. She saved a lot of balls at first base when we made bad throws. Losing her is going to hurt just because she’s one of those welcoming people that makes you feel important and has your back no matter what.”
Brown-McMullen was a career .303 hitter for the Blue Devils. She still had 20 hits this year, just in the middle of her 19 hits as a freshman and 21 as a sophomore and trailing the 24 hits she had as a junior. Brown-McMullen also had a power surge this year with the first three home runs of her career.
“I’ve definitely gotten stronger mentally and physically,” she said. “During the summer I tried to just lock in at the gym and just try to get stronger and I’ve also gotten a hitting coach, so he’s helped me a lot and I’ve changed my swing completely. So I was trying something new this year, and it ended up paying off. It didn’t end how I wanted it to, but it did end up paying off. I felt way stronger.”
Brown-McMullen has proven versatile in the field through her career. She began as an outfielder for the Blue Devils as a freshman, and she enjoyed it. She felt a move to shortstop her sophomore year was difficult, but the new position challenged her in a different way.
“I’ve tried new positions,” she said. “I’ve tried things that I never tried before, so I really am thankful for that and then going into my junior year, there were freshmen coming up that played the outfield so I tried first base and it ended up working well for me because I danced and I was already kind of flexible so it worked. I started hitting splits and stuff on first base and so she put me there and she kept me there. And I can honestly say I’ve grown so much as a first baseman and I just love first base. Now I don’t even want to go back in the outfield anymore.”
Velez enjoyed her best season at the plate yet. She hit a career-best .353 with a new high of 10 RBI, eight walks and four stolen bases with 20 runs scored.
“She is a utility player,” Schuh said. “She could play the outfield. She could play the infield, she can slap, she’s got speed. So losing her, we’re going to need to find somebody to replace her as a slapper with speed on the bases next year.”
Velez didn’t need much convincing to go from being a conventional hitter to a slap hitter from the left side. She combined two of her strengths to continue to develop her slapping. She got more comfortable with that style with each at bat.
“I was down for it,” Velez said. “Really I just wanted something new. That was kind of beneficial since I had the skill and the speed. I just went right into it and I didn’t find it as hard as I thought it would have been. I just kind of worked my way into it and it became really fun after learning everything. It came in clutch a lot of the time.”
The two were strong fielders for a defense that returned its battery combination of top pitcher Abby Singer and catcher Emily Gamboa Ordini. Singer finished with an ERA of 3.35 while No. 2 pitcher sophomore Morgan Dwyer was excellent as well with an ERA of 3.17. At the plate, Abbie Mahan paced the attack with a .429 batting average, Singer hit .415 and Amonnie Wertz Panniel hit .398.
“Last year was my first season with them and I came into the season trying to get them to see how good they really were and have that confidence level,” Schuh said. “It was like my major goal in year one. And then this past season, I think they finally started to believe in themselves and see that they could really compete with other teams out there, so that I finally got them to buy in and increase their skill level and get that mentality right.”
Schuh has a solid core back to continue to build that confidence. Meanwhile, Brown-McMullen and Velez will be trying to help their new teams. Both are taking their games to southern schools, with Brown-McMullen heading to Clark Atlanta University in Georgia to play and be a business major and Velez playing for South Carolina Sumter (with a great Fire Ants nickname) and majoring in psychology.
“I’m excited for the competitiveness,” Brown-McMullen said. “I’m excited to just play on another level and play with new people and just adjust to the new environment. That’s what I’m excited for. I’m going to be out of my comfort zone so I’m going to try to adapt and hopefully it works in my favor.”
Both are continuing to play through the summer to stay ready for the next level. They are ready for another step in their softball careers.
“A lot of conditioning for sure,” Velez said. “I’m still playing with the Ewing Edge whenever they need me or they want me to guest play, and I’m joining in their practices, just trying to keep up so I don’t fall behind on anything.”
Both will be rooting on the Blue Devils from afar next year. They anticipate Ewing being good again after they replace the duo.
“I’m going to miss literally everything,” Brown-McMullen said. “I’m going to miss my team. I’m going to just miss the bond that I have with my team and the relationships that I’ve grown with, not only the players, but also the coaches. They were great, even though I only had them for two years. They were great. And then my teammates, we’ve known each other since T-ball so growing up with them and playing with them for so many years, I’m definitely going to miss that.”
Said Velez: “I just think that they have a really great group of players for the future.”
Blue Devils softball players Ameerah Brown-McMullen (left) and Valeria Velez.,
