By BRIAN TORTELLA
Correspondent
On X @tortreports
WOOLWICH TOWNSHIP — Reese Whitzell holds herself to a high standard.
At the beginning of the season, the Kingsway Regional High junior infielder, who bats second in the lineup, wasn’t meeting the expectation she set for herself at the plate.
But if there’s any time to get hot, it’s now.
Whitzell went 2-for-3 with three RBIs — including a two-run home run in the first inning — to spark top-seeded Kingsway to a 10-4 victory over No. 4 Southern Regional in the semifinal round of the NJSIAA South Jersey Group 4 playoffs on Tuesday afternoon.
It was the third consecutive win for Kingsway (23-2), as the Dragons have outscored opponents 33-6 through three games in the state playoffs. The Dragons will host the winner of Wednesday’s semifinal matchup between No. 3 Rancocas Valley and No. 7 Egg Harbor Township on Friday.
“This year, it wasn’t really my best year starting off, and now I’m starting to get hot,” Whitzell said. “I think it’s giving me a lot of confidence, especially in the postseason. Olivia (Sciulli) drives me home every day and we always talk. There have been times when my ball always goes right at people. She always says, ‘it will come,’ and now it’s finally coming.”
Sciulli, a senior captain who’s played with Whitzell since she was in third grade, noticed one day that Whitzell was upset with herself because of her performance at the plate.
Sciulli wasn’t too worried, though, as she knows the type of player — and person — Whitzell is. It was only a matter of time.
“Reese is one of my best friends. I’ve been playing with her since 8U and she’s always been a beast of a softball player,” Sciulli said. “She always has your back no matter how she does in a particular game. I drive her back home from every practice and every game and there was one specific time that she just didn’t look herself and I told her, ‘your hitting is going to come when we need it most.’ And that’s exactly what happened today.”
Said Kingsway coach Jill Ward, “I know she’ll say she didn’t start off well this season, maybe statistically not, but she has always, always done exactly what we need her to do in the two spot. And when she wasn’t hot, we’d be bunting and she always gets the bunt down and moves runners over for our Nos. 3,4 and 5 hitters. But right now she’s hot. We’re letting her roll. She’s been hitting the ball well all season, she just had some hard luck in the beginning of the season.
“It’s never a doubt with her. She’s been starting every game since her freshman year. You know she’s going to come around, she’s that good.”
Hannah Weismer contributed three hits and two RBIs, Ava Snyder recorded two hits and made it home three times, and Karsen Taylor went a perfect 2-for-2 for Kingsway. In total, seven players recorded hits for the Dragons.
It was a particularly sweet triumph for the Dragons, as they fell 4-3 to Egg Harbor Township in the sectional semifinal round at home last year as the top seed.
“It was definitely a heavy weight on our shoulders,” Ward said. “I think to get past this game when we knew that we thought we should’ve been in the championship game last year — it’s great to be back here and it’s exactly where we want to be.”
Whitzell said she didn’t have a doubt heading into the semifinal this time around, and admitted that last year was a learning experience for her squad.
“I think this team is so awesome to where I didn’t have a bad feeling about this at all,” said Whitzell, a Binghamton University commit. “I knew going into it that we were going to do awesome.
“I do think (losing last year) was a learning experience. From that game there was a lot to learn, especially as a team, and I think we grew as a team, so that was awesome. I’m so excited (for the South Jersey final).”
Ward said she hopes to be in attendance at Rancocas Valley on Wednesday to scout her potential opponent.
In three games combined against Egg Harbor Township and Rancocas Valley, Kingsway owns a 27-9 scoring advantage. The closest affair came in the lone contest against R.V. back on April 27, with Kingsway winning 8-5 in the RV Elite Tournament Final.
“I’m so excited. We’re in a nice spot that we get to kind of sit and wait for tomorrow’s game to play out,” Ward said. “I hope to make it there. We’ve played both of those teams. We just have to be prepared and we have to do what we’ve been doing and keep our energy up and just stay hot.”
