TRENTONIAN ALL CVC SOFTBALL: Notre Dame's Dimon is our player of the year
Published: Friday, June 11, 2010
BY THE TRENTONIAN
As might be expected, Mercer County
Tourney champion Steinert and state semifinalist Notre
Dame both have the most first-team players on this year’s Trentonian
All-Colonial Valley Conference Softball team with three apiece.
The Player of the Year is Notre Dame junior pitcher Chelsea Dimon
and the Coach of the Year is Steinert’s Jeannie Ruppert.
CHELSEA DIMON
Our Player of the Year, Dimon compiled a 16-3
pitching record in her junior season and led Mercer County in strikeouts with
201. She also pitched the Irish to the state semifinals where they lost a tough
10-inning game to eventual state champion St. John Vianney.
On course to become the school’s leader in career pitching victories, Dimon is also dynamite at the
plate as either a lefty slapper or power hitter. She hit .453 this year out of
the leadoff spot and also slammed three home runs.
JEN PETRILLA
A player her coach described as a team leader on and off the field, Petrilla compiled a 14-2 record and 132 strikeouts in 110
innings of work. She had some of the biggest wins of the season, including a
2-0 victory over Notre Dame in the Mercer County Tourney semifinals when she
struck out 15. Petrilla was also excellent at
shutting down bunting games and had just two errors all year.
AMANDA LENARSKI
A senior catcher at Ewing, Lenarski had a monster
year for Dan “The Man” Bernoski’s Blue Devils. Lenarski had 42 hits in 75 at bats for a whopping .560
batting average. She also had 11 doubles, two triples, three homers and
finished with 104 career hits. Very few teams even attempted to try to steal on
Lenarski, who was a a four-year starter and is headed to Cedarville College in
Ohio.
KRISTIN TAFT
A senior first baseman for Allentown, Taft ended up
with one of the highest totals in Mercer County softball with 148 career hits.
This year she hit .393 with seven doubles, two triples, two home runs and 15
RBIs. Taft, who has a tremendous swing and is an excellent fielder, has
received a scholarship to play at Lehigh University.
JENNA GIAQUINTO
Another excellent fielding senior first baseman, Giaquinto
had some of Notre Dame’s biggest hits batting out of the No. 3 hole throughout
the season. Giaquinto ended up with a .420 batting
average was second on her team with 18 RBIs. Gianquinto
also smacked seven doubles and two home runs.
LEXIE FORSELL
One of the greatest players in the history of the
rising West Windsor North program, Forsell finished
up in style by hitting over .400 and ending up with over 100 career hits. Forsell is also an excellent third baseman and made it
difficult to bunt on the Knights. Forsell will be
playing at Drew University next year.
SYDNEY TURCHIN
A junior shortstop for West Windsor North, Turchin
hit close to .500 out of the lead-off spot and already has 95 career hits. Her on base average was close to .700 and she’s a superior
defensive shortstop. Turchin has already made a
verbal commitment to the University of Pennsylvania after helping North reach the MCT finals.
LAUREN MANFREDI
The anchor of Steinert’s infield as a rangy and
steady shortstop, Manfredi played a big role in
helping her team win two championships. The Steinert
senior had an .885 fielding percentage and collected
36 hits for a .429 batting average. She also showed good power with five
doubles, four home runs and a team-high 17 RBIs.
DANA SENSI
The Allentown shortstop was an instant sensation as a freshman and nothing
changed this year in her sophomore season. Sensi
batted .380 with a county-high seven home runs and 13 doubles. Her most
impressive statistic, however, was her staggering Mercer County-leading 34
RBIs. Sensi is also a force in the field for Bob Dubina’s Redbirds.
MARY ROSSI
The Notre Dame senior would have been an all-league middle infielder, but made
a move to help her team out by catching for the first time. She did a great job
there by cutting down on the team’s passed balls. Rossi was also big at the
plate with a .486 average out of the No. 2 hole. This four-year starter also
developed into a team leader as she matured. Rossi is headed to Mercer County
College.
ANGELA MARINOS
The Steinert senior was on course to quite possibly
be the Player of the Year before she suffered an injury. Prior to that she was
on fire with a county-high .567 batting average, nine doubles, two triples, six
home runs and a team-high 26 RBIs. She only struck out just seven times in 60
at bats. To help out her team, Marinos played a lot
of first base, but she is an exceptional defensive catcher who is headed to
Mercer County College.
KIM MURL
The team leader for Nottingham, Murl doubled as her
team’s No. 1 pitcher and clean-up hitter. As a pitcher he had 10 wins, 88
strikeouts and pitched to an ERA of 1.12. She hit .357 with a program-high 11
doubles and had 24 hits to finish with over 100 for her career. The respect the
opposition had for her was reflected in the fact she was walked 23 times. Murl will be playing at West Chester University next year.
LIZ MENDEZ
A sophomore at West Windsor South, Mendez handled all
her team’s pitching and ended up with 16 wins and 173 strikeouts. She also
pitched the Pirates all the way to the Central Jersey Group IV championship
game. In addition to her pitching, Mendez was also West Windsor South’s top
hitter with a .431 average and 28 hits.
JEANNIE RUPPERT
They say you can’t go home again, but Ruppert certainly proved that wrong in her second stint at
the Steinert helm. Ruppert
guided the Spartans to a 22-4 record, the Mercer County Tournament championship
and the Colonial Valley Conference’s Colonial Division title. She had some
excellent seasons in her first go-round as the Steinert
coach, but this one ranked right up there with the best of them.
TRENTONIAN ALL-CVC SOFTBALL TEAM
FIRST TEAM
Position Name School Class
P Chelsea Dimon
Notre Dame Jr.
P Jen Petrilla Steinert
Sr.
C Amanda Lenarski Ewing Sr.
1B Kristin Taft Allentown Sr.
1B Jenna Giaquinto Notre Dame Sr.
IF Lexie Forsell
West Windsor North Sr.
IF Sydney Turchin West Windsor North
Jr.
IF Lauren Manfredi
Steinert Sr.
IF Dana Sensi Allentown So.
U Mary Rossi Notre Dame Sr.
U Angela Marinos Steinert
Sr.
U Kim Murl Nottingham Sr.
U Liz Mendez
West Windsor South So.
Player of the Year - Chelsea Dimon (Notre Dame)
Coach of the Year - Jeannie Ruppert (Steinert)
SECOND TEAM
P Lauren Fischer
Robbinsville Fr.
P Kaitlin Perrine West Windsor North So.
C Courtney Whittaker Steinert Fr.
IF Johanna Schutzer West Widnsor South Sr.
IF Amanda Toomer Steinert
Jr.
IF Lexi Chianese Notre Dame Fr.
IF Cassie Chianese Notre Dame Jr.
OF Kaitlyn Nelson
West Windsor North Jr.
OF Kathryn Philbin
West Windsor South. Jr.
OF Bryanna Smith Allentown Fr.
OF Annie Marcopolus Notre Dame So.
OF Lisa Burd
Nottingham So.
U Carley Wood Steinert
Fr.
HONORABLE MENTION
ALLENTOWN: Courtney Drennan (Jr., IF), Maddie Brunck (Fr., OF); EWING:
Ally Coryell (Sr., 1B); Brittany Szafran (Sr., OF), Bria Wilkins (Fr., IF); HAMILTON: Brianna Castellano (So., IF); HIGHTSTOWN: Kelsey Brennan (So., IF);
HOPEWELL VALLEY Classica Cruz (Jr., IF); Cassidy Straniero (Jr., IF); LAWRENCE: Kim Ragazzo
(So., U), Lindsey Mills (Sr., P), Amanda Toto (Fr., C); NOTRE DAME: Liz Fedorak (Fr., OF), Gabby Milo (So., OF); NOTTINGHAM:
Lindsay Buckley (So., IF), Valerie Suto (Fr., IF);
PRINCETON: Marissa
Gonzalez (Fr., IF), Dee Boehm (Sr., IF); ROBBINSVILLE: Lauren Hunter
(So., 3B), Nicole Piet
(So., SS); Rebecca Freeman
(Fr., C); WEST WINDSOR NORTH: Emily Weinberg (So., IF), Sarah Bush (So., 1B), Brianna King
(So., C); WEST WINDSOR SOUTH: Dana Kong (So., IF), Anna Schnitter (Jr., C).