Though the name implies a negative connotation, JV teams are an essential part of a high school’s sports program. They help prepare the student-athletes to play at the next level and provide a pipeline whenever the big club needs replacements for their graduating seniors.
There are a few schools in Section VIII that are unable to field a JV team, and East Rockaway softball suddenly faces that predicament for the first time in years. With just three seniors returning, coach Joe Lores was forced to put a slew of underclassmen on his roster in hopes that a baptism-by-fire approach would work out fine following a 14-win season in 2024.
So far, so good.
The Rocks are off to a 4-2 start, including three wins in their first five conference games, and some of the underclassmen have been credited for the early success. The bats especially came alive in the last two contests as they beat Cold Spring Harbor and Great Neck North by a combined score of 32-8 that removed the bad taste of consecutive two-run losses to the top two teams in Conference VII.
“What that’s done is giving me nine ninth graders on the varsity and we had to switch gears a little bit and treat it almost like a college team,” Lores said of not having a JV. “The kids are paying dividends right now.”
East Rockaway has a new middle-of-the-order combo in freshman Kristina Wilkerson and Leila Perez, who helped the Rocks score 83 runs already, and sophomore outfielder Caroline Cronin has also been penciled in at the cleanup spot. Second baseman Cara Agro has hit safely in her first three games and is batting .429 overall and fellow freshman and right fielder Julianna Thorgersen had four hits in her first five trips to the plate this season to kickstart her .400 average.
The excitement of the Rocks’ 18-6 win over Cold Spring Harbor on April 4, however, was tempered a bit after star shortstop Charlotte Webster suffered a knee injury after colliding with the Seahawks’ first baseman while hitting the base. But there was a sigh of relief after learning that Webster, the team’s leadoff hitter who blasted five home runs last spring, suffered just bruise and will miss about two weeks.
As a result, pitcher Isabella DeCunzo will move to the top of the order. The senior hurler collected four hits in an easy 23-0 win at Sewanhaka on March 27 and two more against Cold Spring Harbor to raise her average to .471.
“She went from being a 7-8 hitter [two years ago] to where I want her up as much as possible now,” Lores said.
DuCunzo is also racking up the strikeouts in the circle and tossed a one-hitter with a career-high 11 K’s against Great Neck North.
Sofia Tizio slid from third base to shortstop on defense and the senior is batting .412, highlighted by her 3-for-4 performance at Roslyn on March 29.
