By DAVE O’SULLIVAN
Staff Writer
On X @GDsullysays
Coaches always talk about striving for consistency, and the Hammonton High softball team was one of the most consistent Cape-Atlantic League teams all season this spring. The Blue Devils won 19 games and had just one losing streak the entire season.
Head coach Eric Shulman said he’d love nothing more than for his team to take the next step, advance past the sectional semifinals and maybe hoist one of those coveted blue NJSIAA South Jersey Group 3 championship trophies.
It’s going to be a big challenge to do so in 2026, however, as Hammonton is losing it’s star pitcher, Gracie Ravenkamp, to graduation. She posted a 2.45 ERA in more than 130 innings this spring, striking out 106 and allowing just 46 earned runs all season. The only returning pitcher with varsity experience will be rising junior Alyssa Sebazco, who threw just five innings this season.
“That’s the million-dollar question,” Shulman said, when asked how he’s going to replace a pitcher who logged more than 350 innings during her career. “We like where we were at toward the end of this year. We had two down years (in 2023 and 2024), which is not what we expect with our program. We have a lot coming back — we had some really good freshmen and some who in other programs might have had the opportunity to play varsity, and they did some good things at the JV level. We like where we’re headed. Obviously, when you lose a pitcher like Gracie, you have to find somebody to replace her.
“We think we think we have some young kids in the program who can help us out,” he continued. “Are they going to throw 100 innings? We don’t know. But we like what we have and we like to think that those kids are just going to keep getting better.”
One thing that could make things more difficult on Shulman might be a bad thing for his program but a good thing for the school in general. Hammonton now has varsity teams in both girls lacrosse and flag football, giving younger athletes more options when it comes to playing a spring sport. Girls flag football will be an official varsity sport next spring, too. Sometimes it’s easier to find varsity playing time in those sports because there is simply more players on the field at once, creating more opportunities. A player may be tempted to switch sports and play at the varsity level rather than having to play softball on JV.
“We’re in a strange situation. We’re young, and hoping the kids who will be sophomores and the incoming freshmen don’t see (flag football and lacrosse) and decid they don’t want to come out because they may have to wait their turn (in softball),” Shulman said. “We do have a solid young group and we hope kids keep coming out, keep stacking up good players like (freshmen Kamryn) Barker and (Leah) Alexander, and those players can lead the next group and we can get back to a nice cycle of talent. We want to continue the pipeline.”
While the Blue Devils are losing their ace pitcher and standout left fielder Lauren Potter, the cupboard is hardly bare. Barker and Alexander had tremendous seasons, hitting .341 and .391, respectively, and combining for 55 RBIs. They are two of the top freshmen in South Jersey, and junior first baseman Layla Cuneo-Snouffer hit .321 with 18 RBIs. Sophomore shortstop Vivianne Wilson hit .349 with 27 runs scored, 15 RBIs and nine stolen bases.
“We’re going to lose Lauren Potter in left field and she’s a .360 career hitter, so that will be a tough pill to swallow. I think our biggest challenge is going to be finding a leader,” Shulman said. “We had three captains this year — Gracie was the strong-handed captain and Cheyenne Krisak, our center fielder, was the wrap-her-arm-around-you and give you a hug type of captain. (Junior) Alexis Vellucci was kind of in the middle. I think finding the leadership that Gracie provided is going to be a challenge. She was such a competitor, but she knew when it was time to have fun and she could flip that switch. That’s probably a challenge in every program, that’s not unique to us.
“And just finding the right pieces that are coming up to varsity and keep them involved so they are making contributions. You don’t win conference and sectional titles with just a two- or three-player show. It has to be a program-wide operation.
Shulman said he wants to get back to the kind of softball the Blue Devils were playing in 2021, when they went 20-2, won a sectional title and were one win away from playing for a state championship. Going 19-9 this spring with a run to the sectional semifinals could springboard Hammonton to another great season in 2026.
“We have some good kids and we’ll have to mix and match. We got into the Cape-Atlantic League Tournament this year for the first time and we lost a one-run game to Absegami,” he said. “One of the things we always talk about in the playoffs is trying to line up as many home games as possible. This year, we were fortunate to go on the road and beat Pinelands, but you want to try to get a high enough seed where you can play a couple of games in front of the home fans. Now that these kids have that experience, we want to be taking the next step and making a sectional final, and winning a sectional final.”