By DAVE O’SULLIVAN
Staff Writer
On X @GDsullysays
WOOLWICH TOWNSHIP — It’s hard to tell what’s bigger with the Kingsway Regional High softball team — the Dragons’ bats, or their personalities.
The top public school team in the state, the Dragons are having all kinds of fun while pounding out hits, runs and wins against just about anybody who gets in their way.
On Friday afternoon, host and top-seeded Kingsway rapped out 14 hits, including two doubles and a home run, and cruised to an 8-2 win over No. 3 Rancocas Valley in the South Jersey Group 4 championship game. The win helped ease the pain of last year’s crushing 4-3 loss to Egg Harbor Township in the sectional semifinals, and marked the second championship and third title game appearance in the last four years for the Dragons.
Kingsway advances to next week’s Group 4 state semifinal, where the Dragons will host Central Jersey Group 4 champion Hunterdon Central on Tuesday at 3 p.m. The winner of that game will play for the state championship.
“This has been the goal all season — not only this, but a state championship — so it’s incredible to be able to come out here and achieve one of our goals. We really wanted this win,” said third baseman Hannah Weismer, one of nearly two dozen seniors on the Kingsway roster. “Every single game, no matter if we start out hot or if we start out a little queasy, we’re always ready to hit the ball. We’re always attacking. We’ll take walks, but we want to hit. We want to get runs on the board. This is one of the best lineups that we’ve had, ever. Top-to-bottom — Olivia (Sciulli) gets on and starts everything, or if it’s not her it’s Karsen (Taylor) normally starts us off, and everybody gets going.”
“The way last season ended — it stung, a lot. And I think everybody, from that moment, decided that wasn’t our destiny. THIS was our destiny,” said Dragons coach Jill Ward. “They never get worked up, they never lose their cool. It’s always, ‘let’s get to work.’ They are very strategic, and they are so talented. A lot of these girls are really elite and playing on these travel teams all over the country, so they know and have been taught well how to take care of themselves. My four captains (Hannah Weismer, Laney Thorp, Olivia Sciulli and Jess Pieters) have been starting since their freshman year, and I’ve coached a majority of these girls since they were 8 years old, so it’s kind of like I’ve come full circle with them.
“Our goal, obviously, was to get here, No. 1. But the job’s not done,” she added. “We wanted to against all the best teams in South Jersey, we wanted to play against (the state’s No. 1 team) Donovan Catholic. We wanted to put ourselves out there against the best and see where we stood.”
Kingsway shortstop Reese Whitzell blasted a solo home run to get the Dragons (24-2) off to a 1-0 start in the bottom of the first as part of a 4-for-4, three-RBI day at the plate. But Rancocas Valley (19-7) answered in the top of the second when senior pitcher Gianna Simone answered with a home run of her own, knotting the score, 1-1.
From then on, it was all Kingsway. The Dragons scored four runs in the bottom of the third and three more in the fourth to blow the game open. In the third, five straight singles — by Sciulli, Whitzell, Weismer, Ava Snyder and Laney Thorp helped Kingsway get out to a 4-1 lead, and another run came home on fielder’s choice by Brenna Herker.
Kingsway loaded the bases in the fourth and Whitzell came through again, ripping a two-run single to left to push the lead to 7-1, and two batters later Snyder added an RBI single as the lead reached 8-1.
That was plenty for starting pitcher Jess Pieters, who scattered five hits in a complete game victory in which she didn’t walk a batter and fanned four.
“There are always those playoff nerves, but we’ve been so strong throughout this whole season that I just knew that we had it. We had beaten them before — and it wasn’t our best game when we played them about a month ago, but we came out here firing (today). We knew we needed this win. It just means so much to me and the other nine seniors on this team,” Pieters said. “I know (Rancocas Valley) is such a good hitting team, so I knew I had to focus in and consistently hit my spots. I knew it was OK if they hit the ball because I knew my team behind me was going to make the plays. Every time the ball is hit, I know they will go all out for it.”
“There was a little bit of pressure, but it was more of us putting it on ourselves. We didn’t feel it from the outside,” said Weismer. “We’re a very cool, collected team. We stay within ourselves. Almost all of our starters have been here (on varsity) for at least three years and we know what it takes. This year, we were able to put it all together and make it work.”
Kingsway is going to be a tough team to beat going forward. There are only six underclassmen on the varsity roster, and only three of them have been able to crack the starting lineup. It’s a team that has experience, maturity and, most importantly, talent. The Dragons are hitting nearly .400 as a team, they have 29 home runs, 48 stolen bases, they’ve scored 222 runs, and the pitching staff of Pieters and Snyder have a combined 2.20 ERA.
“This team is so special. We’ve all grown up together, and it’s really important that we keep going and keep playing for each other and not just ourselves,” Pieters said. “We’re always so confident because we’re always having fun and playing at ease. We’re out here having a good time.”
“This team is wild. They make me laugh every day. Every time I’m trying to be serious they say something really outrageous to make me laugh. The mood is always light here. The maturity of not getting tight or tense in these types of games — these girls have been here, or almost at this point, every year, so they are very mature in how they handle it,” Ward added. “They have put in so much work. They would practice twice a day if they could, and some of them go home and practice after we have practice. And they absolutely love each other. Their chemistry is insane. I’ve been coaching most of them since 8U — and the thing I love about Kingsway is we don’t lose a lot of kids to private schools because they want to come play her and they want to stay together. It’s a great atmosphere.”
WHAT’S NEXT: South Jersey Group 4 champion Kingsway hosts Central Jersey champion Hunterdon Central on Tuesday at 3 p.m. in the Group 4 state semifinal. Rancocas Valley’s season is complete.
