South Brunswick Softball wins Opener

While the opener came a day later than expected, everything else went as planned for the South Brunswick High School softball team.

South Brunswick used some great pitching, solid fundamentals and some clutch hitting to defeat Woodbridge, 3-0, in the season opener on Saturday.

"It was a good win, especially against a team like Woodbridge," South Brunswick Coach Danielle Matlack said. "They have a good pitcher and are a scrappy team."

This game was scoreless going into the fifth. Backed by a solid defense, Rachel Vogel did her part to keep putting up the zeros for South Brunswick.

Vogel, a senior, tossed a three-hit shutout. Vogel allowed one walk and struck out four. Vogel totally stayed out of trouble in the game, never allowing a runner to get into scoring position.

"Rachel did a nice job," Matlack said. "She was throwing everything. She had nice off-speed stuff and good command of her pitches."

South Brunswick scored all three runs in the game in the fifth. Megan Grocholske started the rally with a single. Danielle Rybinski then put down a sacrifice. That became a key play as Grocholske was able to score when Vogel's fly ball was misplayed.

Although one run would be plenty for Vogel on this day, South Brunswick played it safe and continued to apply offensive pressure. Ally Mischke and Melissa Micklo both followed with run-scoring hits.

Vogel and Jen Resnick both finished the game with two hits for South Brunswick. 

"It was just a matter of time," Matlack noted of the offense. "We had runners on in six of the seven innings. The first game of the season is different than the scrimmages. Somestimes it just takes a little while to get going."

Rain wiped out the majority of the high school schedule in the state on Friday, including South Brunswick's game at Colonia. That has been rescheduled for Apr. 18.

South Brunswick will be hoping to avoid adding too many more makeup dates as it gets back to action this week. South Brunswick is scheduled to play at Edison on Tuesday.