Scotch Plains Teen Helps Lead Union Catholic Softball to Winning Season

With a freshman pitcher, you kind of know what you have.

But you really don't know until she gets on the mound when the games count for good.

So far the early returns on Union Catholic frosh right hander Colleen Dow have been more than favorable. The Scotch Plains resident has led the Viking softball team to a 6-2 start, with her pitching record the same.

As of today – Friday, April 23 – she leads Union County in shutouts with five, which is two more than Union senior lefty Amanda Kardys, who is 9-3 and her team 10-3, and three more than Cranford senior righty Kelly Hardman, who is 5-1 and her team 9-2.

Kardys and Hardman are the best pitchers in the county, with both having won county and sectional championship games during their careers.

Dow could be headed in that same direction.

In her six wins she has allowed only one run. In a 7-0 conference home loss to Cranford, six of the runs she yielded were unearned because of six Viking errors. She also pitched well against first-place Mountain Division squad GL, with Union Catholic falling 3-1 at home.

"Colleen has done very well and has adapted to the lineups," Union Catholic head coach Ed Ryan said. "She pitched a great game against GL and was very good against Brearley last Saturday."

Dow tossed a six-hitter in beating the visiting Bears 4-0 in a non-conference contest. She struck out 13 and did not walk a batter.

"She's been hitting her spots very well," Ryan said. "She has 4-5 pitches that are working for her, including a rise ball and curve."

Dow hurled a two-hitter on April 9 when she blanked conference foe Summit 10-0 in a five-inning road game. She struck out eight, did not walk a batter and went 2-for-3 at the plate with two RBI.

That put the Vikings at 3-0, with their first two wins also coming in conference competition against Roselle and Hillside.

Against Cranford - which was a game that Hardman threw a one-hitter, with 14 strikeouts and just one walk – Dow gave up seven hits in seven innings, striking out four and walking two.

The team's second three-game winning streak began with its win over Brearley and continued with a 16-0 triumph at Plainfield Tuesday and a 10-0 home win over Dayton Thursday. The Plainfield and Dayton wins were non-conference victories as well. Plainfield is in the UCC's Watchung Division and Brearley and Dayton are situated in the UCC's Valley Division.

Dow shut out Dayton on a three-hitter, striking out three and walking just one.

"Colleen will pick up a good amount of strikeouts, but she gets a lot of ground ball outs too," Ryan said. "She's more of a ground ball pitcher. Our defense is settling in right now and is starting to play well behind her. We had the one bad game against Cranford, but other than that our defense has been solid."

With six wins under their belt in eight games, a much more confident Union Catholic squad now can't wait to get back on the field against conference foes such Cranford, Gov. Livingston and Johnson.

"I'm happy with the way the girls are playing," Ryan said. "Our offense has been a little bit surprising."

Union Catholic's first conference game against Roselle Catholic was moved from Friday to Monday and is scheduled to be played at Warinanco Park at 4 p.m.

The Vikings are then scheduled to host Johnson Tuesday at 4 p.m., facing the Crusaders of Clark for the first time in conference play.

There's rain in the forecast for Sunday, Monday and Tuesday, so those games might have to be moved.

Those are also the kinds of games where the Vikings will have to step up their play in all phases if they want to come out on top.

Union Catholic could be challenging Johnson and a team like Roselle Park for possibly as high as the fourth or fifth seed for next month's Union County Tournament. The seeding meeting is Sunday, May 2.

"The only thing we need to do a better job of now is to play better offensively against the better teams," Ryan said. "We need to come up with more clutch hitting against them."

Senior shortstop Toniann Beckman went 1-for-2, with two runs and two RBI in the win against Summit. She missed her junior year because of an ACL injury she suffered during basketball season. As a sophomore two years ago, Beckman came of the bench and played center field on the varsity level.

Returning senior catcher Erin Farley was 2-for-3, with three RBI in the win over Brearley. Both of her hits were triples, which is uncommon for a backstop to have two triples in one game.

Sophomore first baseman Ashley Straile, who played on the junior varsity team last year, is off to an outstanding start at the plate. She leads the Vikings in home runs with five and RBI with 14. In her team's first eight games, Straile is batting .583, with 14 hits in 24 at-bats.

"She generates a lot of power," Ryan said. "Her bat speed is very quick and she's aggressive at the plate."

Straile is batting third in the lineup at present time. She slugged a solo home run off of GL's Ariana Bannos, which was one of only two Viking hits in that contest. A sacrifice fly by MacKenzie Liss put the Highlanders in front 2-1 in the top of the sixth and then they added on an insurance run.

In Thursday's win against Dayton, Straile slugged two home runs, drove in four runs and scored twice.

She blasted a two-run homer in the first inning and led off the bottom of the sixth with a solo shot that ended the game by the 10-run mercy rule.

NOTES: Union Catholic's other two games next week are conference matchups at Roselle Thursday, April 29, at 4 p.m., and at home against Hillside Friday, April 30, at 4 p.m.

UNION CATHOLIC VIKINGS

(6-2, 3-2 UCC-Mountain Division)

April 1 (H) Union Catholic 19, Roselle 0

April 6 (A) Union Catholic 20, Hillside 1

April 9 (A) Union Catholic 10, Summit 0

April 13 (H) Cranford 7, Union Catholic 0

April 15 (H) Gov. Livingston 3, Union Catholic 1

April 17 (H) Union Catholic 4, Brearley 0

April 20 (A) Union Catholic 16, Plainfield 0

April 22 (H) Union Catholic 10, Dayton 0

Overall record: 6-2

UCC-Mountain Division mark: 3-2

Wins: Roselle, Hillside, Summit. Losses: Cranford, GL.

REMAINING SCHEDULE:

April 26 vs. Roselle Catholic, 4 p.m.

At Warinanco Park

April 27 Johnson, 4 p.m.

April 29 at Roselle, 4 p.m.

April 30 Hillside, 4 p.m.

May 3 at Roselle Park, 4 p.m.

May 4 Summit, 4 p.m.

May 6 at Cranford, 4 p.m.

May 7 at Gov. Livingston, 4 p.m.

May 11 Roselle Catholic, 4 p.m.

May 13 at Johnson, 4 p.m.

May 14 at New Providence, 4 p.m.

May 18 Scotch Plains-Fanwood, 4 p.m.

Union County Conference-Mountain Division for 2010 only (8 teams):

Cranford, Gov. Livingston, Johnson, Union Catholic,

Summit, Roselle Catholic, Roselle, Hillside.