The College of New Jersey softball team already led New York University, 10-1, in the fourth inning. Both teams were taking part in the Sunkissed Games in Osceola, Florida, March 13, and with one more run (and inning), the Lions would be able to invoke a mercy-rule win.
Junior center fielder Gaby Bennett steps up to bat with runners on second and third. She belts a single to center field, scoring the clinching run. When the next batter pops out to end the inning, Bennett returns to the dugout and receives appreciation by her teammates and coaches. One of these faces is new to the Lions this year but extremely familiar to Bennent: assistant coach Valerie Suto, whose guidance has aided the outfielders like Bennett this season with individualized drills.
It’s a stark contrast to five years prior where both Bennett and Suto were on opposite teams as they battled in high school softball in and around Hamilton.
And the new partnership been to the benefit of the Lions, who were 23-5 and sat atop the New Jersey Athletic Conference standings entering the final week of the regular season. Bennett is one of just four players to start all of TCNJ’s first 28 games, and ranked second on the team in batting average, hits and doubles, as well as first in runs scored and total bases.
Bennett, a 2015 graduate of Steinert High School and Suto, a 2013 graduate of Nottingham High School, have known about one another for most of their lives. For Suto, she’s never had the chance to get to know Bennett personally even when they were both in the Hamilton Softball Association.
“She played at HSBA,” Suto said. “She was on the younger team for the Hurricanes and I was on the older team…because we were different ages we usually didn’t play [each other]. It’s funny now getting to know her because I never knew her before. I always knew Gaby as ‘the player from Steinert.’”
For her part, Bennett says she’s always looked up to the older Suto during their time playing for Hamilton-based teams. Having the chance to learn and get to know her better is a great opportunity but nothing out of the ordinary.
“I don’t think it’s a big difference for me,” Bennett said. “I knew her as a player but since we have that two-year age gap I’ve looked up to her as an outfielder because she’s very fast and she has a great arm.”
The two of come to know a lot about one another. Bennett has been able to absorb outfield knowledge from Suto, a former Seton Hall University softball player, with Suto learning about her player’s infectious personality.
“She’s funny,” Suto said. “She throws things out that has nothing to do with the situation but she’s very funny. She doesn’t try to be but she’s very funny.”
Suto joined TCNJ this season after graduating from Seton Hall last year. She started all 54 games of her senior year, and, in a banner 2016 season, hit .364 and earned a spot on the Big East academic all-district team. TCNJ softball head coach Sally Miller says Suto’s work with the Pirates and her previous time in TCNJ-hosted training clinics were some of the reasons why she reached out to Suto so soon.
“I’ve known Val since she was 9,” Miller said. “She’s a student of the game, she knows it. She’s local, and I wanted to see if she had any interest in helping. I want people around me that I’ve known so I can make my own reference.
“I think Val is beyond her years. She might be right out of college, but she certainly doesn’t carry herself that way. She carries herself as a coach, and I think understands the type of program I run… I don’t hire anybody if the line is I don’t think they can handle being right out of school.”
Suto admits she was on the younger age end for her class in college, meaning some of the seniors she’s training this year seem like fellow classmates at times. But she believes her relationship with the athletes, including Bennett, isn’t affected by this.
“I think with all the outfielders it’s been pretty easy to communicate,” Suto said. “I’m not too far out of the game. I understand what they are thinking and feeling. Working with them, they understand what I’m saying.”
Miller explained that Suto, along with the other coaches on the team, are one of the biggest reasons behind the team’s success this season.
“Not just (Val Suto), but both Gina (Massaro) and Kim (Ragazzo). Being able to have a more consistent coaching staff at practices and games has really been able to help this team. It’s been a big reason of more success because more eyes on the kids and I don’t have to leave them alone.”
“I think having Coach Suto come is a big help,” Bennett said. “We’ve never really had somebody that trains us in the outfield and does a bunch of drills with us… Now we get some more one-on-one attention which is really nice. Really focusing on getting behind the ball and the mechanics which has helped us a lot in games.”
“She’s motivational and helping us with the mechanics and all that kind of stuff,” she added.
Miller said that her team’s success stems not only from a large pool of younger talent, including 13 freshman and sophomore players, but from its group of experienced upperclassmen.
“We have some experienced players back mixed with some first years that have stepped in and done a great job,” Miller said. “We have more numbers on the mound and our defense for the most part very solid.”
Bennett says she believes the team’s success is due to a number of factors, including the new coaching and younger players, but also the break in the middle of March due to the snow storms that caused six games to be postponed giving the team more time to prepare.
‘We’re vibing really well,” Bennett said. “Everyone is stepping in and filling up a role. We’re stringing up hits together, playing as a team. Our pitching has been really good this year.”
Although Gaby Bennett (left) and Val Suto came up through the Hamilton softball ranks nearly at the same time, they had never been on the same team until this year when Suto joined Bennett’s TCNJ Lions as an assistant coach.,
