Courtney Wilde delivers a pitch.
NUTLEY, NJ – Under the guidance of head coach Luann Zullo, the Nutley High School varsity softball team can always be counted to be one of the best in the county, year in and year out. Zullo doesn’t have to worry about her team in big games. That’s because the Raiders seem to field a team that’s been there before.
But this spring is quite different. The Raiders are fairly inexperienced, enduring the growing pains. The Raiders, who had a 4-5 record through April 19, have only two seniors: second baseman Samantha Echevarria and first baseman Lauren Hogan, both of whom are returning starters. The other returning starter is junior center fielder Sydney Kunz.
“This is a very new group,” said NHS head coach Luann Zullo, moments after her team defeated Columbia on April 11 at Yanticaw Park. “We have two seniors. We’re young, and our goal is to get better every day.”
Zullo, indeed, likes the team’s potential. Among the other key players are sophomore left fielder Emily DeAngelo, junior catcher Emily Hewett, freshman third baseman Brianna Cruz, sophomore pitcher Courtney Wilde, freshman right fielder Cecelia Mielnicki and sophomore shortstop Melanie Conca. Other players include Alexa Hergenhan, Isabella Fogle, Jillian Stark, Natalia Bascunan, Gianna Joyce and Rebecca Granata.
“It’s a very nice group of girls,” said Zullo, who has been at the NHS helm since 1999. “There’s a great deal of potential, but we have to really focus on the little things in the game. It’s still very new to a lot of them. The SEC — Super Essex Conference — American Division is an extremely competitive division. It’s a much faster game than what they are used to, and there are a lot of little intricacies of the game that they are still learning. If we’re getting better every day, then that’s our goal.”
The Raiders have shown strong signs, but there’s more work to be done.
“To play Nutley softball the way we want to play, there are a lot of things we have to fix, and we’re working on fixing them every day,” Zullo said.
The Raiders won their season opener in thrilling fashion. Down to its final three outs, NHS rallied to a 6-1 win over Kittatinny on April 3 on the road in a non-conference game.
Trailing 1-0 in the top of the seventh inning, the Raiders exploded for six runs. Hewett hit an RBI double to tie the score, and Echevarria and Hogan each drove in two runs. Wilde fired a three-hitter, allowing just an unearned run while striking out four and walking four.
The Raiders then fell to Montclair, 8-5, in eighth innings in the second game on April 5 at Monsignor Owens Field in SEC-American Division play. Montclair scored four runs in the top of the eighth to break a 4-4 tie. Nutley scored a run in the bottom of the eighth. Kunz went 5-for-5; DeAngelo went 3-for-5; Echevarria went 1-for-3 with two RBI and Hogan went 1-for-4 with an RBI.
The Raiders dropped a tough 7-5 decision to West Essex on April 10 in North Caldwell in a SEC-American Division game.
The next day, the Raiders got their second win with a 10-5 victory over Columbia at Yanticaw Park field in a SEC non-division game. Echevarria went 3-for-4 and Mielnicki went 1-for-2 with an RBI and two runs.
The Raiders returned to Yanticaw Field the following day and defeated divisional foe Livingston, 2-1, in walk-off fashion. Conca went 3-for-3 and scored the winning run in the bottom of the seventh inning on a wild pitch.
NHS lost its next three games, falling to Cedar Grove, 5-0, April 13, at Yanticaw Park in a SEC-American Division game, Watchung Hills, 7-2, April 15, in a non-conference game; and Caldwell, 5-3, April 17, on the road in a SEC non-division game.
NHS defeated Newark Academy, 7-6, April 19, at Yanticaw Park in a divisional game. Cruz had two hits and three RBI; Hergenhan had two hits and two RBI; and Wilde and Echevarria each had two hits and an RBI.
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