SSI Softball Week 2 Top 10 Rankings

SSI Week 2 Softball Top 10

 

 

1. Donovan Catholic (8-0) Last Week: 2 – Donovan moves into the top spot after St. John Vianney fell to Red Bank Catholic on Tuesday. The Griffins are one of three teams to remain undefeated and won two Class A South games against Jackson Memorial and Southern this week. Donovan has seven hitters batting over .400 this season with Olivia Kurth and Christina Ginex both batting .542. Donovan starts next week on the road against Toms River East on Tuesday and follows that with a home game against Point Boro on Wednesday. in Class A South action. They also play Kellenberg (NY) later in the day on Wednesday

 

2. Red Bank Catholic (6-1) Last Week: 3 – The Caseys put an end to the longest win streak in the Shore Conference, defeating previously No. 1 ranked SJV 5-3 in 10 innings. RBC is on a four game win streak since losing to Immaculate Heart on 4/6. They went 4-0 in Class A North against all top 10 teams, ending the week with a 7-0 victory over No. 4 Middletown North. Freshman Mackenna Savage has started her high school career with a .481 batting average for RBC. RBC will have a busy week coming up with five games in five days all on the road. Wednesday they play Morris Catholic and Thursday they travel to No. 5 Marlboro and follow that with a trip to No. 9 Southern. RBC ends the week traveling to Watchung Hills. 

 

3. St. John Vianney (5-1) Last Week: 1 – After winning their first five games of the season, SJV fell to No. 3 Red Bank Catholic in a 10 inning battle. It was the first Lancer loss inside the Shore Conference since the Shore Conference Tournament on 5/19/2023 against Donovan Catholic. SJV rebounded with a 7-0 victory over Class A North rival Freehold Township. Madison McDougall has a 0.85 ERA to start the season on the mound over 41 innings. Sophomore Brynn Utter has been hot at the plate in the early part of the season with a .500 average. Next week SJV has two Class A North games, they host No. 7 Colts Neck on Tuesday and travels to No. 4 Middletown North on Thursday. 

 

4. Middletown North (5-2) Last Week: 4 – After winning five straight games, Middletown North fell to No. 2 Red Bank Catholic. Both the Lions’ defeats this season have come from the Caseys. Seton Hall commit Madilynn Boyce continues to set batters down, striking out 95 in her first seven games and sits 92 strikeouts shy of 1,000 on her career. Adrianna Lisotto and Hailey Keiser continue to cause problems for opposing pitchers, both batting over .300 for Middletown North. Middletown North plays Morris Catholic on Saturday and hosts  No. 5 Marlboro on Tuesday. Middletown North defeated Marlboro 5-4 earlier in the season. The Lions also host No. 3 SJV on Thursday and Immaculata on Saturday. 

 

5. Marlboro (4-4) Last Week: 7 – After losing four straight games to teams ranked in the top ten, Marlboro has rebounded to win three in a row to get back to .500 on the season. After a lopsided win against Freehold Township, the Mustangs beat No. 7 Colts Neck 6-4. Colts Neck started Marlboro’s losing streak back on 3/31. Marlboro ended the week with a 8-0 victory over No. 8 Middletown South. The Mustangs bats are starting to get hot with Isabella Wuelfing, Aimee Notaro and Adison Ditillo all batting over .300 on the season. Marlboro travels to Freehold Boro on Saturday and hosts Rumson-Fair Haven on Monday in the first round of the Monmouth County Tournament. On Tuesday the Mustangs travel to No. 4 Middletown North in a Class A North rematch. Middletown North won 5-4 against Marlboro on 4/2. Marlboro ends the week hosting No. 2 Red Bank Catholic on Thursday. 

 

6. Pinelands (8-0) Last Week: 10 – Pinelands is one of three teams to remain undefeated in the Shore Conference this season after going 2-0 last week. The Warriors biggest win of the season came against Point Boro in the Ocean County Tournament semifinal. Point Boro was the No. 1 seed and the defending champions. Elianna Meola collected her 300 career strikeouts and 100 career hits this season. Pinelands has five players batting over .300 with Hannah Theuret hitting .423 to lead the team. Pinelands travels to Howell tomorrow in a Class B South game to end the week. Next week the Warriors host Manasquan on Monday and Howell on Wednesday in Class B South action. Pinelands will play in the Ocean County Tournament Final on May 6th against the winner of the Jackson Memorial/New Egypt winner. 

 

7. Colts Neck (2-4) Last Week: 6 – Colts Neck is the only team in the rankings below .500, but all four of their defeats have come to teams ranked in the top 10 with three of them in the top four. Colts Neck fell to No. 4 Middletown North 2-0 and No. 5 Marlboro 6-4 this past week. Angela Sasso has been dominant on the mound and at the plate, batting .526 and striking out 48 batters so far this season. Gabriella Bryce has been hot at the plate with a .455 average. Tomorrow they play at Mount St. Dominic, who is one of the top teams in New Jersey. Next week they travel to No. 3 St. John Vianney on Tuesday and Freehold Township on Thursday in Class A North action. They end the week against Johnson on Saturday. 

 

8. Middletown South (5-1) Last Week: 8 – Middletown South started the season winning five straight games, but fell to No. 5 Marlboro on Thursday. Sophomore Riley Smith has a 1.08 ERA and 56 strikeouts in 26 innings of work so far for the Eagles. Smith has also started the season strong at the plate, batting .500 to start the season. Catcher Nora Sarcone also started the season strong at the plate with a .462 average. Middletown South hosts Shore in the first round of the Monmouth County Tournament on Monday. The Eagles end the week with three games on the road. Thursday they travel to play No. 10 Raritan who is currently 8-0 on the season and 4-0 in Class B North. Middletown South ends the week at Howell on Saturday. 

 

9. Southern (4-4) Last Week: 9 – Southern rebounded from a short-handed early exit in the Ocean County Tournament with two convincing wins against Class A South opponents. Southern ended the week losing to newly No. 1 Donovan Catholic. The Rams finished the season series against Donovan, who were the favorites to win the division. Junior Emily Zellman has been red hot at the plate with a .593 average and 12 runs scored. Sophomore Abigail Krill has driven in 14 runs so far this season and is batting .464. Southern hosts Point Boro on Monday and Jackson Memorial on Wednesday in Class A South match-ups. Southern has a big home game against No. 2 Red Bank Catholic on Friday. 

 

10. Raritan (6-0) Last Week: Not Ranked – Raritan is the only Monmouth County team to remain undefeated after picking up wins against Shore, Matawan and Manalapan last week. Freshman pitcher Katelyn Ruta has started the season with a 1.31 ERA and four batters are hitting over .400. Freshman Brielle Brosonski has started the season with three triples and a .611 average. Janelle Clausi is batting .381 and has 10 RBIs for Raritan. Raritan hosts Lacey tomorrow and then three Class B North games. The biggest game of the week is on Thursday against No. 8 Middletown South, who is 4-0 in the division. Raritan is on the road against Holmdel on Monday and Freehold Boro on Tuesday. 

 

Bubble: Barnegat, Point Boro, New Egypt