Brett Carroll
Staff Writer
The road to a state tournament championship can be long and treacherous.
Those are the issues that the South Brunswick High School softball team must endure in its pursuit of a state championship.
South Brunswick is bidding to first win the Central Jersey, Group 4 state sectional tournament title. Then the Group 4 crown will follow.
South Brunswick started its ride when it cruised past Princeton High School for a 10-0 victory on May 21 in South Brunswick.
South Brunswick coach Heather Wells was pleased with the opening showing of her Vikings.
“I think our pitchers were doing a pretty good job locating,” Wells said after the victory over Princeton. “Our defense was pretty solid today. And, once we adjusted to the difference in speed, our bats were pretty hot today as well.”
“One through nine hit today,” senior shortstop Carly Rybinski said about the triumph against Princeton. “Our defense was on today, too.”
Next up on the path came Marlboro High School on May 23 when the Vikings advanced with a 2-1 victory.
That victory in that state sectional quarterfinal on May 23 improved South Brunswick’s record to 20-2 on the season.
The Vikings realize that they must be at their best as the state tournament rolls on.
“I think we need to stick with the good defense,” Rybinski said. “If we do that, the bats will come against the good teams.”
Wells said that she would rely on her clutch players and her pitchers in South Brunswick’s bid to improve on the 2017 season when the Vikings were eliminated in the state sectional tournament’s quarterfinals by Sayreville War Memorial High School.
“We got our big bat, Lindsey Warick,” Wells said. “She’s got our top number of RBI’s this season. She’s our clutch hitter. She always comes through in the clutch. So we need her. We also need our freshman at the bottom of the lineup to get on base so we get some extra runners. We also need our pitchers to pick it up.”
