MCCC finding ways to win despite departures
In what is a typical occurrence in the junior college ranks, the semester break was not kind to Mercer County Community College softball coach Ryan Zegarski.
Prior to the spring semester, due to various reasons, Zegarski lost two pitchers, his leadoff hitter and “a freshman who looked to be our best player from top to bottom.”
“We had a lot of holes to fill when these girls left,” Zegarski said.
Those holes have been filled with victories – lots of them. Mercer heads into Thursday’s doubleheader at Rowan at Burlington CC with a 26-5 record, a 10-game winning streak, a .364 team batting average and a 2.32 team earned run average.
The mainstays have been Hamilton West grad Kelly Tohill, Robbinsville’s Kaitlin Stahlbrand, Hillsborough’s Casey Murphy and Delaware Valley’s Bailey Ferrara. The difference-makers have been the emergence of Burlington Township’s Laura Gould, Steinert’s Lauren Bracco and Rancocas Valley’s Tori Carpenter.
“Those (latter) three girls have really improved fast, which is making a huge difference in our team,” Zegarski said. “Ferrara, Tohill, Stahlbrand and Murphy have been our rocks, they’ve been consistent so far this year. And the improvement of Carpenter, Bracco and Gould have provided depth.”
Tohill has experienced a softball re-birth. After an outstanding freshman year at Burlington, she ran into injury and academic issues last year and left school. She’s back with a vengeance, going 12-3 with a 2.45 ERA, 100 strikeouts and just 13 walks in the circle. At the plate, Tohill is hitting .432 with 15 RBI.
“She threw a lot of innings her freshman year and she was a little injured,” Zegarski said. “She had a few issues, but she’s come here and she’s better academically. She passed all her classes in the fall with f lying colors and she’s been our ace.”
Stahlbrand and Hamilton grad Autumn Sharkey have been stellar No. 2 and 2A starters as both are 7-1. Stahlbrand has a 2.50 ERA and is tied for second in the nation with three saves, while Sharkey has a 1.90 ERA with 34 strikeouts against eight walks.
“All three pitchers have been great from day one,” Zegarski said. “They throw strikes. We lost another good pitcher, and that just provided more time for them. It’s good to see them step up.”
Stahlbrand and Sharkey are freshmen who didn’t garner a lot of headlines in high Lauren Bracco, a Steinert grad, is batting .390with 16RBI and 26runs scored in her freshman season for MCCC.
school.
“Autumn has been a Godsend for us,” Zegarski. “She throws strikes and moves the ball in and out, up and down. She’s learned how to be a softball player here and she’s showing she can be effective.”
Stahlbrand has been even more impressive as a hitter, batting .382 with 29 RBI and a team-leading six home runs.
“She starts, she comes in in relief, she does it all,” Zegarski said. “She’s hitting the ball outstanding and has had some really big hits for us.”
Another girl who has blossomed in college is Bracco, who had a relatively anonymous career on some powerhouse Spartan teams. The freshman middle infielder is batting .390 with 16 RBI and 26 runs scored.
“She was overshadowed by some big names at Steinert,” Zegarski said. “The three things we talk about every day at practice is having great atbats, making plays and running the bases correctly. She does all three of those things, and wherever we put her in the lineup she’s been giving us quality atbats.”
Murphy leads the team in hits (43), batting average (.462), doubles (9) and on-base percentage (.731). She has four home runs and 30 RBI. Gould is batting .370, Ferrara is at .365 with 20 walks, 20 RBI and eight extra-base hits, Carpenter is hitting .390 with 17 walks and 16 RBI. Florence’s Rachael Levach (.310), leads the team with 31 RBI and Notre Dame’s Alexa Spak (.309) also helps the attack.
“The last two weeks we have really crushed the softball,” Zegarski said. “Our team average has gone from .315 to .350. Our on-base percentage is high and we’re making contact. We’re two to one with walks to strikeouts.
“With the people we lost we had some holes defensively and brought three or four people into new spots. We had a lot of errors but we’ve been getting better the last two weeks.”
When the latest NJCAA Division II rankings came out Wednesday, Mercer made its first appearance in the Top 20 at No. 19.
“Kudos to the girls for their hard work to put us on the national scene, which is where we want to be and where we’ve been before,” Zegarski said. “I think there are still good things to come. I don’t think we’ve peaked yet.
“We’re in a position where we can do some damage if these girls continue doing what they’re doing. We have to stay positive, stay focused and continue on building what’s been going on so far.” opening weekend. The Tigers lost twice to Dartmouth in single games Friday and Sunday that sandwiched around a doubleheader split with Harvard on Saturday.
The losses against Dartmouth (15-9, 4-0 Ivy) were particularly tough to take. In a 12-9, 10-inning setback the Tigers blew leads of 5-0, 8-6 and 9-7. In a 5-4 loss, Princeton rallied from a 5-1 deficit to within 5-4 and had the tying run on first before two fly balls ended it.
Princeton (8-20, 1-3) heads to New England this weekend with a Saturday doubleheader at Yale and a Sunday twinbill at Brown.