HPHS softball moves up a division following tournament success
Veteran squad returns to the diamond 'excited and ready' for Blue opponents
Sunday, March 13, 2011
An experienced squad lifts the Owls to the more competitive Blue Division this year (Dan Dobalo / The Mirror)
Coming off a 15-7 record and back-to-back appearances in the Central Jersey Group 1 tournament, the Owls return all but three players to create an upperclassmen-dominated lineup.
The Highland Park team moves up to the Blue Division of the Greater Middlesex Conference (GMC), after posting wins in both the county and sectional brackets.
“The team is back and ready more than ever,” Szentgyorgyi said. “We moved up to the Blue and it’s only going to help us down the road for states. You’re only as good as your toughest opponent and the girls are excited about stepping it up a level. That surprised me a bit, but I’m happy they’re ready for this.”
Highland Park softball received unprecedented recognition following 2010’s accomplishments. Szentgyorgyi was named GMC-Gold Division Coach of the Year and four Owls — three of whom were returning players — were given All-Division honors.
“Winning that award was amazing,” Szentgyorgyi said. “Being a coach, your efforts sometimes go unnoticed. But, now I need to step it up and see what happens. We can definitely contend in the division and I’m able to feed off my kids’ enthusiasm, so I’m expecting a great year this year.”
Szentgyorgyi says she has a team that believes “they could beat anybody on any given day” due to perspective in its approach to each game. While hitting was a focus in the ’10 preseason with a younger squad, the teaching has been more advanced this spring.
“We’re focusing more on the polishing end,” Szentgyorgyi said. “We did the basics of hitting last year and we had phenomenal fielders who showed our bats were a big part of our accomplishment. Now it’s about the short game and strategy in situations which you’ll see more in the Blue. Some of these girls, five of them actually, are in their fourth year starting and couldn’t be more excited.”
Senior pitcher Ilyssa Schwartz returns to toe the rubber for the Owls after grabbing command of the No. 1 spot during April of last year. The veteran is one of the keys to HP’s success, as softball rotations in high school are normally limited to one or two options.
“As a pitcher, she’s developed a very consistent fastball,” Szentgyorgyi said. “Ilyssa stepped up as a leader and got the most improved award from us. She went above and beyond to get where she is at this point.”
Schwartz is joined by three other seniors in the captain positions — catcher Dahlia Moyal, first baseman Jasmin Robertson and outfielder Lexi Schickner. Schwartz, Moyal and Robertson were joined by graduated utility player Samantha Mundy as All-Gold players. Their leadership has been a crucial component in building off the squad’s recent success.
“The girls have been preparing on their own,” Szentgyorgyi said. “Two of the four captains have taken them to batting practices in cages during the offseason in February. As a whole, they’re really ready.”
“The desire and determination is where it needs to be,” Szentgyorgyi said. “That’s not something that I can coach and they’ve just bonded as a team. We have leadership in the infield and Schickner leads the outfield. I’m being overly cautious with Jasmin but she’s a very confident player.”
Szentgyorgyi’s expectations for arguably her strongest top-to-bottom Owls squad to date parallel her mindset heading into the season.
“I’d like to top last year’s record,” Szentgyorgyi said. “We are up in a tougher division with different competition. The goal of getting to states is always in the back of our minds. We take small steps toward a winning start and we’re just excited and ready to get going.”
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