Lady Rebels Bounce Back With Win Over Jaguars

When the Jackson Memorial Jaguars came to town on Wednesday for a battle with the Howell High School softball team, the Rebels opted to not use their designated player position with junior Carsin Connor throwing the regular season finale. 

With one swing in the home half of the fourth inning, Connor showed why her coaches have faith not only in her arm, but also in her bat as she throttled a Jackson offering over the left field fence. By the time the game was done, the Lady Rebels bounced back from a disappointing loss to Manalapan the day before with a 4-2 victory. 

The game may not have been perfect for the Howell squad, but Connor's strong pitching helped to keep Jackson in check, while the defense behind her did a solid job of keeping the visitors off the board. All told the junior gave up just two hits while striking out six and walking four. 

As the game got underway, both teams came close to scoring, but it was the home team that got things started in the top of the third inning.  Junior Cassidy Brozowski kicked things off with a single to center before being brought home on a hit by fellow junior Lauren Saal. While Saal was called out trying to stretch the hit into a double, the run still came home and the Lady Rebels had a 1-0 lead.

The lead did not last long though as the Jaguars came right back with a run of their own in the top of the fourth. After Connor induced a fly out to left and struck out the next batter, a throwing error by the pitcher allowed the third batter of the inning to get to second. Much like the Lady Rebels in their last half inning,  the final out for Jackson came when their next hitter tried to stretch out an inside the park home run before being tagged out at home. The runner on second came in to score and just like that the game was tied at one.  

With the score tied, Connor lead off the bottom of the inning and with one quick swing put her team on top to stay. After the game she said it was important for her to make up for the error that had just brought in a run for the opposing squad. "It was just kind of to give back to my team," she said. "If you make an error you've got to make up for it. You don't keep your head down, you've got to keep on going."

The Lady Rebels tacked on two more runs in that inning as senior Christina Polihrom followed Connor with a single to left before being driven in on a single to center by fellow senior Lauren Van Wie. After stealing second, Van Wie was able to come home on a key ground rule double by Annmarie Bartow.

Jackson Memorial scored once more in the top of the fifth inning on a one out walk and a two out single to left, but they were unable to get back in command of the game. 

Coach Sandra Hempel said she was glad to see her team come out ready to play after taking the 4-0 loss to the braves just 24 hours earlier. "The girls came out, they wanted to play like a team and they won like a team," she said. 

By the time Monday ends, the Lady Rebels should know where they stand when it comes to both the Shore Conference and Central Jersey Group IV Tournaments. As of Wednesday night, there were no games scheduled between then and the tournament cutoffs, but the coach said she was not worried about her team getting rusty before taking the field again. "We just work hard in practice the same way we do at games," she said. 

Connor said that as the season winds down the team is continuing to work together and learn from each game, while underclassmen like her prepare for bigger roles next year. "We have great leaders this year," she said. "They're definitely teaching us and mentoring us to where we need to be." 

The junior hurler said the goal now for the team is to get into the postseason tournaments and see what they can do before the final out is called.