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Its being dubbed as an alumni week-end for the Sacred Heart High
Schoolsoftball program, but it will feel morelike a family
reunion.
Cunningham Park will be themeetingplace tonight and Saturday as
the LadyLions celebrate the past and present oftheir storied
program. However, it willalso have a slightly somber backdropsince
there wont be a future of the pro-gram tolook forward toas
theschool willclose forever next month.
Its definitely going to be bitter-sweet, said Trish Birmingham,
a pitch-er/first baseman who played on the1999sectional
championship team, a memberof the schoolsAthletic Hall of Fame
andgraduated from SHHS in 2000. But Icant wait to see everybody and
put thatuniform on once again.
According to Sacred Heart coach LesOlson, Birmingham will be one
of about20 former Lions who will suit up for thealumni game, which
will be played at 4p.m. on Saturday. All alumni will be hon-ored
along with the Sacred Heart Soft-ball Hall of Fame and Senior Night
withceremonies around 6:15 p.m. followed bythe Middle
Township-Sacred Heart var-sity game at 7 p.m.
Its going to be great to see all thegirls and there will be all
kinds of story-telling Im sure, Olson said. SeniorNightis never
aneasynight and this oneis goingto have a little more meaning
be-causeitsthe last one. Its goingto beSen-
ior Night for everyone.Allalumniwill receive a
SacredHeartt-shirt with the inscription Family For-ever, a fitting
description of the pro-gram according to Birmingham.
The school really did feel like a fam-ily,she said.It wassmall
enoughwhereyou got to how everybody on a personallevel. I feel bad
for the future kids thatwont be able to experience somethinglike we
had at Sacred Heart.
AmandaRiegelwasone offoursisterswho attended and played softball
at Sa-cred Heart. She fondly remembers hersenior season when the
2004 team wonthe sectional final, but she says she hadeven more
enjoyment watching heryoungest sister Allison be a part of
lastyears historic state championshipsquad.
Ill always remember when we beatMcCorristinCatholic in the
SouthJerseyfinal, but I was even more proud when Igot to see
mysisterwin states, AmandaRiegelsaid. Itgaveme some closure
inaway.
A pitcher that hitters didnt want toface back inher playing
days, Riegelwillstep into the circle again for the alumnigame.
Its going to bea lotof fun, said Rie-gel, whokeeps herarm
inshapewhileof-fering pitching lessons to local athletes.
Olsen said that some of thealumni willlikely be a little rusty
for the big game.However, RachelGaviganwontbe oneof
them.Gavigan is coming off a stellar fresh-
man season at Mount St. Marys wherethe third baseman led the
team in hits(44)and runs(24). Lastspring,she helpedguide
SacredHeart to its first-everstatechampionship in softball.
Gavigan just laughed when she askedif she felt like a ringer for
the game.
Its going to be a great night, some-thing Im really excited to
be a part of,she said. I just hate the fact that its go-ing to be
the last one.
Sacred Hearts all-time hit queen Ari-
elle Bruno would loveto bebackin Vine-landfor the big event, but
shes got somebusiness to take care of in Louisiana.Bruno helped
Central Connecticut Stateto its first-ever Northeast
Conferencechampionship andwill play in the NCAARegional at
Louisiana State Universitythis weekend.
Olson also said he hopes former Sa-cred Heart coach Andy Bloom
will beable to attend the festivities. Bloomcoached the Lions from
1986-2003, win-ning a South Jersey title in 1999.
ALL IN THE FAMILY
FormerSacredHeartsoftballplayersTrishBirmingham(left),AmandaRiegel
andRachelGaviganare readyfor
Saturday'salumnigame.STAFF PHOTO/
CHARLES J.
OLSON
S. Heart to celebrate
alumni weekend
By [email protected]
SACREDHEARTALUMNIWEEKEND
At CunninghamParkTonight6:40p.m.Pregame ceremony to honorthe
juniors on the team and the alumnion the field before the game.7
p.m.Sacred Heart hosts GloucesterCatholicSaturday3:15 p.m.Alumni
Game warm-up4 p.m.Alumni Softball Game
6:15 p.m.
Lady Lions Family Forever
ceremony, all alumni in attendance willbe honored on the field
along the SHHSSoftball Hall of Fame and Senior Night7 p.mSacred
Heart hosts MiddleTownshipApprox. 8:45p.m.Food and drinksfor all
Lady Lions softball alumni
C4 Friday, May 17, 2013 T H E D A I LY J O U R N A L
Question1 ) Have you ever triedto coaxcoach AlexGomez into
lettingyouhit?
A:No, I havent at all. (Editors note: Murrayhasnt had one at-bat
in her entire scholasticcareer)
2)Whatis yourfavorite restaurant andwhatis the best item toget
there?
A: Kawa in Millville, probably the autumn roll.
3)What phone app cantyou live with-out?
A: Instagram.
While short in stature, Vineland High Schools DemiMurray has
always come up big in the pitching circle.Armed with a blazing
fastball and much-improvedsecondary pitches, she has amassed 43
victories overthe last three years and is a two-time Daily
JournalAll-Star. The southpaw recently took some time to talkabout
Vineland softball and other things.
4)Who is the biggest jokester ontheteam?
A: Kayla Rodriguez. She just always has some-thing to say.
5) If you canbring only one thingfromhomewith
youtoKutztownUniversity,whatwould it be?
A: I guess my glove. Thats why Im goingthere.
6)Doyou like the designatedhitter rule?
A: Yes, because its useful for us.
7)Whatwill youmajor in and why?
A: Criminal Justice. I think I just have one ofthose
personalities.
8)What are your plans for the summerbefore you gooff
tocollege?
A: Probably get another job and go to thegym and guest play for
other (softball) teams.
9) You havean inscriptiontattooedonyour forearm, what is
thesaying?
A: The past is practice.
DEMIMURRAY
VinelandSeniorPitcher
STARTING NINE
1. Washington Twp ...............................23-22. Haddon
Heights .................................19-23. Sacred Heart
........................................21-34. Shawnee
...............................................18-85.
Eastern..................................................20-76.
Buena ....................................................17-47.
St. Joseph..............................................14-38.
Camden Catholic ...............................18-79. Florence
...............................................18-010. Millville
..............................................12-611. Gloucester
..........................................17-412. Vineland
............................................12-513.
GCIT......................................................16-514. G
loucester Catholic .........................13-815. Hammonton
.....................................14-7*Records through
Wednesday
MEAN 15
BattingAverageJanna Gaburo,
Schalick...................554Lindsey Gaines,
Cumberland...........508Jodi Cook, Cumberland
..................492Becca Collins, Buena
......................483Janessa Rios, Buena
.......................476Corie Collins,
Millville.....................475Stephanie Walsh,
Buena.................468Gabby Castellini, Sacred
Heart........456Liz Carpani, Vineland......................452Kodi
Pollock, Cumberland...............450Kylee Barton,
Schalick.....................431Casey Derella, Millville
...................427Kylie Finley, Vineland ..............
........418Carly Linus, Buena ........... ...............418Ashley
Surran, Buena.............. ........418Danielle Lugo, Sacred
Heart.... ........416Kaila Smith, Sacred
Heart...............408Natalie Giannascoli,
Buena.............400Emily Pettit,
Cumberland................400
HitsGabby Castellini, Sacred Heart..........36Janna Gaburo,
Schalick.....................36Lindsey Gaines,
Cumberland.............33Jodi Cook, Cumberland
....................32Casey Derella, Millville..
...................32Danielle Lugo, Sacred
Heart..............32Janessa Rios, Buena
.........................30Kaila Smith, Sacred Heart....
.............29Samantha Caterina, Sacred Heart .....28Becca
Collins, Millville......... .............28Corie Collins,
Millville.......................28Carly Linus,
Buena............................28Emily Pettit, Cumberland.....
.............28Ashley Surran, Buena.......... .............28Kodi
Pollock, Cumberland.................27Natalie Giannascoli,
Buena...............26Kylee Barton, Schalick
......................25Katie McCormick, Cumberland.........25
RunsDanielle Lugo, Sacred Heart..............34Janessa Rios,
Buena .........................32Carly Linus, Buena
............................31Gabby Castellini, Sacred
Heart..........30
Jodi Cook, Cumberland ....................27Ashley Surran,
Buena.......... .............27Kaila Smith, Sacred Heart....
.............26Stephanie Walsh, Buena...................26Samantha
Caterina, Sacred Heart .....25Janna Gaburo,
Schalick.....................25Natalie Giannascoli,
Buena...............25Emily Pettit, Cumberland.....
.............25Home runsJulia Voluntad, Delsea..................
......6Casey Derella, Millville................. ......5Jackie
Martin, Cumberland.................4Brigitte Garvey,
Vineland....................3Rachel Rivera,
Millville................. ......3Kaila Smith, Sacred Heart.......
............3
RBIsLindsey Gaines, Cumberland.............39Kaila Smith, Sacred
Heart.... .............32Janessa Rios, Buena
.........................27Carly Linus,
Buena............................26Ashley Surran, Buena..........
.............26Becca Collins, Buena
........................24Natalie Giannascoli,
Buena...............24Danielle Lugo, Sacred
Heart..............23Gabby Castellini, Sacred
Heart..........22Samantha Caterina, Sacred Heart .....21Abby
Pettit, Cumberland ..................20
SBsEmily Pettit, Cumberland........ ............8Kayla
Rodriguez, Vineland..................8Gabby Castellini, Sacred
Heart............7Janessa Rios, Buena...............
............7Danielle Lugo, Sacred Heart................6Kodi
Pollock, Cumberland...................6Brittany Rivera, Millville
............... ......6
PitchingWinsRosie LaGrotta, Sacred Heart ............16Shayla
Loud, Cumberland............ .....13Demi Murray,
Vineland................ .....12Janna Gaburo,
Schalick.....................10Cassidy Gorgo,
Millville.....................10Sam Monfredo,
Buena........................9Julia Voluntad,
Delsea.................. ......8Sam Fiocchi,
Buena.............................7
ERASam Fiocchi, Buena........................0.63Julia Voluntad,
Delsea...... ..............1.27Rosie LaGrotta, Sacred Heart
.........1.59Alexa Calareso, Millville................ .1.67Demi
Murray, Vineland........... .......1.72
Shayla Loud, Cumberland....... .......1.82Cassidy Gorgo,
Millville..................1.86Sam Monfredo,
Buena...................2.55
StrikeoutsJulia Voluntad, Delsea......... ............125Demi
Murray, Vineland............. ......103Cassidy Gorgo,
Millville....... .............89Sam Fiocchi,
Buena...........................71Janna Gaburo,
Schalick.....................71Rosie LaGrotta, Sacred
Heart............69Shayla Loud, Cumberland.................69
*Stats compiled by coaches throughWednesday;fora completelistgo
toourwebsite at thedailyjournal.com/play-
makers
AREA LEADERS
Super Six1.Sacred Heart(21-3) The Lions are13-2since their
first-round exit at the HammontonTournament;swept seasonseries
fromBuena.2. Buena (17-4) The Chiefs are the topseed in the Group
II South tournament, chas-ing programs first sectional title in 23
years.3. Millville (12-6) The Thunderbolts are8-2 over their last
10 games; CAL AmericanDivision I champions.4. Vineland (12-5) The
Fighting Clan are9-3 since April 15, with two of the losses torival
Millville.5.Cumberland (14-5) After nine straightwins,the Colts
mustdealwithfirsttwo-gamelosing streak of the season going into
theplayoffs.6. Delsea (9-8) The Crusaders poundedout10 runs in each
of the two games againstKingsway, but surrendered 23 and lost
bothcontests.
*Records through Wednesday.
LOCAL POLLVineland'sBrigitteGarvey
makes aplay on agrounderagainstMillville onMay 9. Thesenior
andthe rest ofthe FightingClan willopen theplayoffs
onTuesday.STAFF
PHOTO/CRAIG
MATTHEWS
E X T R A I N N I N G S
T H E D A I L Y J O U R N A L
