The Mt. Laurel Sun
After 10 years, six as head coach, Jim Scott of Lenape High School just enjoyed the most successful season the Lady Indians softball program has had in many years.
He attributed the success to a total team effort.
“We’ve always been a team that prides itself on being defensively sound,” Scott said.
“But this year, our pitching as well as our offense really came together and became a strength.”
The Lady Indians finished the season 11–10 for their best record in seven years.
They entered the NJSIAA tournament as a №9 seed — their highest since the seeding system began — before losing to Williamstown, 5–0.
“The goal as a program is to help these girls improve their skill level,” Scott said. “We want them to get better every day that we work with them.”
Beyond that, the goal set before every season?
“Winning,” Scott said. “Ultimately, we want to win more games than last year, than we ever have.”
This year’s team benefitted from contributions not only from seniors but underclassmen as well.
“We had a solid team from top to bottom, three seniors in the starting lineup to a good core group of juniors, as well as some sophomores contributing,” Scott said.
One of those juniors, pitcher Lindsey Manera, was a big part of the success.
“Lindsey really put it together for us and had a great year,” Scott said. “She put us in a position to win every time she pitched.”
Seniors Paige Lillie, Lindsey Modugno and Brittany Simonka provided the leadership the team needed to foster its success.
“We’ll have big holes to fill next year,” Scott said. “Paige has been my cleanup hitter for years. Lindsey is our starting right fielder, and Brittany holds down second base for us. None of them is easy to replace.”
Lucky for Scott, the future of the Lenape softball program looks bright following the freshman team’s historic season.
The freshman Lady Indians went 14–0, outscoring their opponents 220–25 while averaging 16 runs scored per game. As a team they batted .446 with an on-base percentage of .600.
They only trailed for three innings all season. But don’t just credit the offense; the pitching staff had a combined ERA of 1.70 while allowing only nine walks all season.
“I’ve never seen a team like this one,” freshman coach Eric Krastek said. “This truly was a memorable season.”
“We knew before the season that, even though these girls were only freshmen, they knew what they were doing,” Scott said. “We figured out pretty early that they could play but we couldn’t anticipate that level of success.”
With another class graduating in just a few weeks and a new one entering in the fall, the routine doesn’t change for Scott and his staff going forward.
They’ll continue to work to ensure that next season is even better than this one.
“Our team will keep developing well.
“We’ll continue to put the work in and make sure that the level of success remains consistent.” Scott said.
