South Brunswick ringing up milestones this softball season

Brett Carroll
Staff Writer

With the softball postseason on the horizon, South Brunswick High School will seek to put the finishing touches on what has been a historic season.

“I think we have a really talented group,” South Brunswick coach Heather Wells said. “However, we have a bunch of different age levels. They all depend on each other. We have a wonderful senior captain in Carly Rybinski. She gets them all together and focused. She stays on them. I can turn my head and know things are getting done because she’s taking care of it. We also have a lot of versatile players. We’re moving people around throughout the season, and we’re seeing success. They all have each other’s back. I have three freshmen starting in the outfield, but the upperclassmen make them feel like they’re supposed to be there.”

The Vikings continued their winning ways on May 8 when they defeated Metuchen High School, 6-2, in South Brunswick. The victory lifted South Brunswick’s record to 11-1 for the spring.

That game against Metuchen also produced three historic milestones–each hitting the number 100.

The victory presented Wells with her 100th coaching triumph while junior third baseman Lindsey Warick connected on her 100th career hit and freshman pitcher Gabby Rappoccio recorded her 100th strikeout this spring.

With the tournaments approaching, the Vikings are looking to vamp up the defense.

“We have to tune up some of our defensive strategies,” Wells said. “We want to mix things up a little bit when it comes to different defensive looks. Especially teams that play a lot of small ball. We want to change that up a little bit. Just making sure we’re focusing on higher level hitting.”

“I just want to focus on one game at a time,” Wells said. “This team has a lot of talent, but if we don’t stick together, than we’re not better than any other team. We need to stay focused and humble and know that it’s going to take everyone contributing to get this done.”

Wells praised her key players.

“Warick is a phenomenal defensive and offensive stud this year,” Wells said. “She’s killing it this year. We moved her to third to fill a whole, and she’s been really good. At bat, her timely hits and her RBI’s have been on point all year. We have Rappoccio and [sophomore] Alex Zetchus who are our two pitchers, and they’ve both been great. I’m really happy for both of them. They both work hard and deserve these milestones. I’m not even worried about me, it’s all about them. I couldn’t be happier for Lindsey and Gabby.”