Middletown North Softball Ready To Build On Success Of 2015

Photo above taken at the Jersey Sporting News photo shoot: (L to R) Kayla Gallo, Christine Gebhardt and Riley Kernan

MIDDLETOWN – The Middletown North softball program made huge strides during the 2015 season winning its first Shore Conference Tournament title since 1974 beating No.3 seed Middletown South 1-0 as the No.9 seed while putting an end to the Eagles 15-game winning streak in the process. It was their second straight win of the season against their cross-town rivals after a loss in their first meeting.

However, that win came after a disappointing 4-3 loss to No.3 seed Steinert as the No.2 seed in the NJSIAA Central Jersey Group III quarterfinals.

The Lions rebounded nicely after that loss and no team had a better finish to the season without winning a state title. In their final three games, the Lions beat Saint John Vianney, Donovan Catholic and Middletown South to win the SCT title. Saint John Vianney was ranked No.1 in the Shore Conference, Donovan Catholic No.5 and Middletown South No. 3.

“That run was unbelievable,” Lions second year head coach Marc Rosner said. “The fight that our girls had was unbelievable; the team never gave up and always stuck together and that gave us opportunities to win. When we played Saint John Vianney the day after the Steinert loss we just felt very loose going there and I think we came out more together than them with more urgency and on that day we were the better team. That win was huge for our confidence and it built the rest of the tournament and into this season.”

The good news for the Lions is that they accomplished all this with only one senior in the starting lineup, along with two juniors, four sophomores and two freshmen.

That bodes well for the 2016 team that returns eight of nine starters from last year’s squad including first team All-State outfielder Kayla Gallo, second team All-State first baseman Christine Gebhardt and first team All-Shore pitcher Riley Kernan.

Gallo – a Florida International University commit - who will be in right field, hit for power and average batting .565 with 11 home runs and 55 RBI’s while accumulating 47 hits, 23 of those for extra bases. The Mannhattan College-bound Gebhardt averaged .521 with 44 RBI’s and will be back at first base this season with University of Rhode Island commit Riley Kernan returning to the mound where she went 21-6 with 3.18 ERA while batting .441 as a sophomore.

The Lions will need to replace second team All-Shore shortstop Nikki Alfano, the teams leadoff hitter and table setter from a year ago who made things happen hitting .545 with league-leading 48 runs scored.

Sophomore Milena Wilton will lead off this season and play third base but no one player is expected to fill Alfano’s shoes.

“It’s not so much Milena taking Nikki’s spot,” Rosner said. “It’s everybody getting a little bit better and doing their part to give us the best chance to win. So it’s not necessarily Milena having to duplicate what Nikki did last year but it’s more Milena doing her part and everyone else doing their part and building off of last season’s success.”

Junior Liz Dorsa (.297, 24 RBI) returns at second base, Alyssa Vetrano is at shortstop after playing third as a freshman last season, junior Ryan Rasmussen will be back behind the plate and centerfielder Payleigh Behan (.395, 25 runs) also returns with junior Emily Kernan taking over in left field as the only newcomer to the lineup.

Sophomore pitcher Adrianna Noterile has looked good in preseason scrimmages and Rosner feels she can be used on the mound to spell Kernan when needed while sophomore Adrianna Cerbo will be the first player off the bench in the outfield, catching or at third base.

Halina Purcell (So. OF/C), Megan DeMatteo (Jr. IF/Of), Alyssa Aurin (Sr. OF) and Gabriella Cerbo (Jr. 3B/C) are key newcomers adding depth to the bench.

“This is our last season in Class A North and the idea is to take our little goals then those will lead up to the big goals,” Cerbo said. “It all starts with winning the A North championship then winning 20 games again. We want to be a top 10 team in the state at the end of the season and we want to make deep runs in the county and state tournaments.”

After last season’s success, the Lions won’t be able to sneak up on anyone and the days of being overlooked on anyone’s schedule are long gone.

“I think the team is ready to welcome the target on our backs,” Kernan said. “I’m used to playing with that pressure and so are my teammates. I think we play better under pressure, and it should help us have a very good season.”

The Lions opened the 2016 season with a 13-0 win over Class A North adversary Freehold. Kernan (1-0) allowed two hits and struck out three over four innings of work, while finishing 3-for-4 at the plate with a double and two RBI. Vetrano added two doubles and scored two runs going 3-for-4 on the day. Gallo had a three-run homer and Gebhardt scored a run and knocked in two more.

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