Cedar Creek softball aiming for multiple titles

Last year Cedar Creek went 22-4 and won two championships. This year’s version is again competing for multiple titles.

The Pirates beat Delran, 8-7 in eight innings to win last year’s South Jersey Group 2 title. Cedar Creek also tied Millville for the Cape Atlantic National Division title, with an 11-1 mark.

This year the Pirates already own a title, winning the 16-team Overbrook Tournament by beating Gloucester County Institute of Technology (GCIT), 9-5, in the championship game.

Cedar Creek began the week with a 10-1 record.

The only loss was a 4-2 decision in eight innings to Paul VI in the semifinals of the Ron Vinick Tournament in Millville.
(Paul VI began the week 5-0).

In the South Jersey Group 2 power ratings, Cedar Creek began the week as the No. 1 seed team, according to figures published by NJ.com.

Haddon Heights, Sterling and Delran were the next three teams.

Article continues below

---

advertisement

---

While it is early in the season, Cedar Creek has proven that it can compete with anybody on its schedule.

The Pirates also own an 8-1 win over a talented Haddon Heights team that should remain a major contender in SJ Group 2. That victory came in the quarterfinals of the Overbrook Tournament.

Last year as a freshman, righthander Liz Martin went the distance on the mound, striking out 10 in the sectional title win over Delran. She is now a sophomore and still enjoying great success.

Martin and classmate Giavana Torres have done most of the pitching for the Pirates.

In her first 47 innings this year, Martin had a 1.34 ERA and had struck out 73.

Torres had a 2.45 ERA and has struck out 14 in 20 innings. The Pirates have plenty of firepowers.

In the title win over GCIT, senior left fielder Olivia Catalina earned her 100th career hit. She entered the week batting .575 and was leading the team with 16 stolen bases.

Chasedy Johnson, a senior infielder, was hitting .512 with three home runs and a team-high 18 RBI.

There is offense throughout the lineup and the Pirate's veteran coach Shawn Cohen has adeptly guided this team.

What will help Cedar Creek as the season goes on is the difficult schedule that the Pirates play. The Pirates have already beaten quality Group 4 programs Rancocas Valley and Clearview, both in the Millville tourney.

There was the aforementioned win over Haddon Heights and a 6-3 triumph over a Gloucester team that began the week No. 2 in the SJ Group 1 power points race.

There have been wins over solid South Jersey Group 3 teams Ocean City and Mainland.

So the Pirates should be well prepared once the NJSIAA tournament begins in less than a month. (First round games have to be played by May 17).

The success of last year only seems to have spurred the Pirates to shoot for greater achievement this year. For a defending sectional champion, Cedar Creek looks like an improved team.
 

Author: Marc Narducci