By Wayne Witkowski
Jackson Memorial High School’s softball team, with three freshmen starters and two sophomore pitchers, moved back into contention for a tournament berth when it won three of four games coming into this week, setting its record at 4-5.
Consistency is the key, according to senior catcher Jill Parinello, as the Jaguars head into a big week in the Shore Conference A South Division. Plenty will be expected of sophomore pitchers Breanna Sorochka, who relies more on ball movement, and Tori Aguilar, who has power on her pitches and a swing at the plate. Aguilar leads the team with a .520 batting average and nine RBIs.
Jackson Memorial played Toms River High School North April 25 and then April 26 against Lacey Township High School in the Ocean County Tournament quarterfinals. The Jaguars had a road game April 27 against Southern Regional High School and go back on the road April 29 to visit Lacey, which beat the Jaguars, 2-0, earlier in the season.
“We played great in our first game this season against Toms River South (a 13-4 victory) and after that, we played great defense and [did] not hit in one game and in another we’d have 13 hits but commit errors,” said Parinello, who is headed to Bentley College in the fall and has been one of the Jaguars’ team leaders. “It’s about putting it together as we have the last couple of games.”
Aguilar drove in a pair of runs with a single in the fifth inning that gave the Jaguars a 3-2 lead over Toms River High School South en route to a 5-2 victory April 21. Jill McGuinness, a junior who has shared innings at shortstop with Aguilar when she isn’t pitching, drove in two runs with two hits. Senior first baseman Dana Variello drove in the other run.
“All the potential is there. We have great hitting and defense. It comes down to our focus in games, especially in (Shore Conference) A South, where it’s so competitive,” Parinello said. “It’s no one team out there. It comes to us getting out early scoring runs and then being focused and intense. It’s who wants it more.”
Parinello said she is doing her part defensively in settling down the two young pitchers.
“I’m very comfortable behind the plate. Experience is the biggest part of it,” she said. “I’ve changed the mechanics of my throwing a little. I was throwing from my knees, but now I throw getting up.
“Our two pitchers are doing an excellent job. They’re very young and both struggled as varsity pitchers last year, and now they’re used to things.”
It showed in a 6-3 victory April 16 over Brick Township High School, avenging an 8-7 loss five days earlier. Aguilar had two hits and an RBI, and she and Sorochka shared in the pitching as they have done at times during the season.
An 8-6 loss to Toms River High School East April 19 marred the streak, as junior Sam Herzog had two hits for two RBIs. Herzog is the second leading hitter on the team coming into this week with a .316 batting average and six RBIs.
Four starters are back in the lineup this year, including Parinello, Variello, junior third baseman and cleanup hitter Jordyn Calderon and senior center fielder Morgan Novak, who will continue her field hockey career at Rowan University in the fall.
Freshmen Gianna Palmieri at second base, Angelina Lopicolo in left field and Abby Reist in right field complete the starting lineup.
