Brett Carroll
Staff Writer
Duplicating a memorable season is not an easy task.
Especially if the good chunk of the team was graduated.
At Metuchen High School, that’s exactly what the softball team and coach George Micak has had to deal with this spring.
The 2017 edition of Metuchen softball won the Central Jersey, Group 1 state sectional tournament championship and then the Bulldogs advanced to the state final.
But Metuchen was defeated by Cedar Grove Memorial High School in the Group 1 state title game last June.
The Bulldogs have been rebuilding.
Metuchen’s record stood at 10-8 after the Bulldogs fell to South Brunswick High School, 6-2, on May 8 in South Brunswick.
Micak is thrilled on how his young squad has performed and has grown this spring.
“We can compete and we play hard till the very end,” Micak said. “We don’t give up, no matter the score. We’re a young team, made up of mostly sophomores. I love the progress that we’ve made from the beginning of the season till now. ”
With the state tournament on the way, Micak hopes that the progress that his team has made will continue as Metuchen bids to successfully defend its Central Jersey, Group 1 crown.
“We’re still working on the county and state tournament,” Micak said. “We want to kind of get on a roll in a positive way so that we can play well in those two venues.”
In 2018, Micak didn’t want to put any expectations on where the team will finish in the county and state tournament, but just wanted to see the squad play hard every game.
“We just want to go as far as we can in both tournaments,” Micak said. “We’re young, but we’re battle tested. We had a tough non-conference and non-divisional schedule this year, and I think that’s really going to help us.”
Despite having a young team, Micak does have a few key players left over from last year’s state finalist.
The coach will count on them to guide this young club.
“Our returning seniors from last year, Molly Walters and Julie Pirro,” Micak said. “They’re from last year’s championship team. They’re our leaders. Them and [junior] Bridget O’Connor. She’s our pitcher. We also have a junior catcher in Rachel Wyetzner. She’s been great as well.”
