When Jania Long came to the plate for her final at-bat during last Friday’s game against Highland, someone in the rain-drenched crowd near home plate implored the Deptford High School senior to “hit a bomb.”
Long complied, launching a moonshot over the left field fence for a three-run home run that ended Deptford’s 17-6, six-inning Senior Day win over the Tartans.
It was likely the final hit for Long on her home field as the Spartans aren’t expected to get any home games when the NJSIAA tournament begins this week. If so, it was fitting that her final home hit was a “Long” ball.
She is, after all, Deptford’s home run queen.
It was her ninth of the season – she had previously broken Annie Murphy’s single-season program record – and it was the 16th of her career, also a program best.
“It feels good because I had never known what the record really was,” said Long, a first baseman/pitcher. “Every season I want to strive to do better. I had six my sophomore year, so I wanted to go bigger than that, not even knowing there was a record to chase.”
SEE VIDEO OF JANIA LONG’S HOME RUN VS. HIGHLAND BELOW
It’s been a great final season for Deptford’s humble star who, in addition to leading the Spartans in several offensive categories, is the team’s top pitcher as well.
“She’s come up clutch for us numerous times this year,” Deptford coach Mindy Coxe said. “She’s just a joy to watch. She is a phenomenal player. She’s so exciting to watch - in every aspect of the game.”
Entering the playoffs, Long leads the 11-7 Spartans in hits (32), RBI (34), doubles (7), homers (9), walks (9) and steals (12), and is second to Brianna Stocklin in runs scored (32).
On the mound, she leads the team in innings pitched (61.1), allowing just 33 earned runs with 29 walks and 61 strikeouts and teaming with fellow senior Lindsey Acker to give the Spartans a solid 1-2 punch.
Long has 75 career hits, so losing her junior season to COVID-19 cost her a shot to reach 100 – a significant milestone for high school softball players. Stocklin recorded her 100th hit for the Spartans on May 15 in a win over Collingswood and has 102 in her career.
But Long hasn’t wasted her final year lamenting what could have been. Instead, she’s directed all of her energy into being the best player she can be, in the moment.
“I have a new attitude on the field, and I feel really good,” she said. “I think things through, three steps ahead. When I’m at the plate, I try to imagine ‘Well, if I put the ball here, how will it help my team more?’ If I’m put in a situation where I have to do a job, I put the pressure on myself to try to help them. It always feels good to give back to my team in a time of need.”
Long looks forward to continuing her softball career next year at Eastern University, a private Christian university located in St. Davids, Pa.
But before that, she hopes that the senior-laden Spartans can make some noise in the NJSIAA South Jersey Group 3 tournament, where they’ve earned the 10th seed and will play at No. 7 Delsea on Tuesday. The Spartans, winners of five straight games, split two meetings with their Tri-County Conference Liberty Division rival this season.
In addition to Long, Stocklin and Acker, Deptford’s other seniors are Kylie Bythrow, Brianna Cahall, Mackenzie Danenhower, Kaylee Helwig, and Gabby Sandone.
“When we band together, we can beat the odds,” Long said.
Win or lose, Long has made her mark on Deptford softball.
“She’s just a joy, and I’m sure thankful that she’s on my team,” Coxe said.
CENTURY CLUB
Williamstown’s McKenzie Melvin became the latest area player to hit the 100-career hit mark, reaching the milestone in a 6-0 win over Atlantic Tech last Monday. The Delaware State commit has a team-high 34 hits on the season and enters the tournament with 101 for her career.
The Braves are the 11th seed and open the South Jersey Group 4 tournament against a familiar opponent – Tri-Co Royal rival GCIT, the sixth seed. Although GCIT beat Williamstown, 10-0, in the regular-season finale last Tuesday, the Braves did register a 10-9 upset of the Cheetahs on April 30.
Williamstown's McKenzie Melvin (14) comes up throwing after fielding the ball in center during a game against Clearview in April. Melvin picked up her 100th career hit last week. Al Amrhein | For NJ Advance Media
Other area players to reach 100 career hits this season include Deptford’s Stocklin, Delsea’s Alexis Harkins, Kingsway’s Sarah Cancila and Schalick’s April Laury.
Schalick senior Paige Coleman enters the tournament with 94 career hits, so if the Cougars can extend their run in Group 1, she has a good chance to join Laury.
HIGHLAND SEARCHING
After an 11-1 start this season, Highland (12-7) has dropped five straight games and six of its seven, giving coach Jamie Minix some concern as her sixth-seeded Tartans prepare to open the South Jersey Group 3 tournament at home against No. 11 Toms River East on Tuesday.
The Tartans clinched the Tri-Co Liberty title – their first conference title of any kind since winning one in the Olympic Conference back in 1976 – with their 13-0 win over Triton on May 14, but haven’t won since.
“We do a lot of reflection – self-reflection, team-reflection. What’s working, what’s not working, and why isn’t it working?” said Minix, who pitched Kingsway to the 2008 state Group 3 championship. “We came out hot in the beginning of the season and won a whole bunch of games and got on a nice winning streak.
“For the past two weeks, I’m not getting 100 percent out of the girls. We’re going to take a couple days off, and then we’ll come back and practice hard and get ready for Tuesday. We need to go full steam ahead. It doesn’t matter what your record is. It doesn’t matter that you’re the conference champs. The only thing that matters is that seven-inning game we’re playing against Toms River on Tuesday.”
SENIOR TRIP IMPACT
A lot of schools are doing their Senior Trips around this time, so some teams could be impacted during the tournament.
Such is the case for Washington Township, with its class trip to Florida scheduled to run from Tuesday through Saturday, meaning the Minutemaids will open the tournament without some key players. The school traditionally does its trip in late March, but it was moved to June this year because of the pandemic.
Township, seeded fifth in South Jersey Group 4, opens at home against No. 12 Rancocas Valley on Tuesday. If the ‘Maids get by the Red Devils, they’d also be missing players for the quarterfinals later in the week.
Among the seniors who won’t be available are outfielders Marisa Oldrati and Sophie Rollins, second baseman/pitcher Kelliann Hammond and pitcher/first baseman Angelina Saverase.
Fortunately, Township’s other top pitcher, senior Juliana Zorn is available. She’s pitched 35 innings, allowing just 14 earned runs with 13 walks and 28 strikeouts.
Washington Township's Juliana Zorn (17) pitches during a game against Eastern on May 10. Joe Warner | For NJ Advance Media
The ‘Maids (14-5) enter the tournament on a roll, having won six straight games, including last Monday’s 13-2 win over Cherry Hill East that clinched the Olympic Conference American Division title.
JUNE MADNESS
After not having a season last year, kicking off June with a tournament is a welcome change.
The area is well represented, with several teams in contention for South Jersey crowns.
Consider how good the Tri-County Conference Classic Division was this year. Clayton, the division champ, is 21-1 and has the top seed in South Jersey Group I, where third-place Pennsville is the fourth seed and much tougher than its 12-9 record might indicate.
Division runner-up Gloucester Catholic has the third seed in Non-Public B and boasts an elite pitcher in sophomore Adrianna Green, who leads all South Jersey pitchers in strikeouts with 182. The Rams are 19-3, with two losses to Clayton.
Top-seeded Kingsway (19-1) is the favorite in Group 4 and will try to defend the title it won in 2019.
Get our HS sports newsletter here
"lasting" - Google News
May 31, 2021 at 06:01PM
https://ift.tt/3vOYrZi
South Jersey Times softball notebook: Deptford senior will leave a Long-lasting legacy - nj.com
"lasting" - Google News
https://ift.tt/2tpNDpA
Shoes Man Tutorial
Pos News Update
Meme Update
Korean Entertainment News
Japan News Update
Bagikan Berita Ini
0 Response to "South Jersey Times softball notebook: Deptford senior will leave a Long-lasting legacy - nj.com"
Post a Comment