Despite Growing Pains, Hawks Softball Poised to Rebound

Starting 0-10 in any sport might cause most teams to throw in the towel. That is not the case for the Manchester Hawks girls varsity softball team.

"Absolutely not," said Hawks head coach Mike Colombo. "If anything, the rough start has made the girls play harder. There has been no quit, everyone is working hard."

With a coach carrying that attitude, it becomes more clear to see why Colombo believes his team holds a bright future.

The young Hawks -- composed of only four seniors -- were lead by a trio of captains. Seniors Marissa Ortiz, along with left fielder Erin Ross and right fielder Brianna Kelusak led Manchester.

Ortiz, who has been a four year starter, earned high praise from her coach. She is currently hitting .393, with five doubles and a triple.

"Marissa has been one of better players for years now," Colombo said. "Not to long ago she eclipsed the 90 hit mark for her career, but the most important thing she does is having a knack for getting on base."

The Hawks secured their first win in a play-in game for the Ocean County Tournament. Manchester came from behind to defeat Point Pleasant Boro 5-4, and beat the Panthers in another match-up the following week.

"We were hit hard with graduation this year," Colombo said. "We were replacing five starters. There was an influx of people in the lineup in the beginning of the year trying to recover, once we hit the 10 game mark we started to be close in every game."

No underclassmen stood out more brightly than freshman Nicole Penna. The third baseman hit over .300 in her first high school varsity campaign. 

Complimenting Penna's bat, is sophomore pitcher Kendall Kieran, who pitched in all three of the Hawks wins so far.

"We struggled at first, but certainly have made improvements," Colombo said. "Some of the growing pains really got to the younger players, but they have started to get pretty comfortable -- I see a lot of potential with this team."

The Hawks most recent win came Friday, May 13, against Lakewood.

"Being such a young team this year, we are really trying to establish ourselves now, so we have a solid starting point for next season," Colombo said.

Along with Penna and Kieran, two juniors will be leaned on heavily next.

Junior short stop Shug Lychock has been producing well for the Hawks in the three spot all year, while fellow junior Tori Kratzvoff has been performing well as a clean up hitter. Kratzvoff has blasted two home runs while driving in ten runs.

"I definitely think they are going to be cornerstones for us next year," said Colombo, who spoke of the pair possessing leadership and mentioned the duo as possible captains.

Manchester will close out the season with two road games. This Friday they will travel to Neptune to take on the Scarlet Flyers. The Hawks will wrap up their season with a trip to Red Bank Regional on Monday.