Softball Falls to RCSJ - Cumberland

Sussex Softball traveled to Rowan College of South Jersey - Cumberland Campus on Saturday, March 20th for the season opener. Although Sussex came up short in the double header, many strong qualities and actions played a larger role than just a double loss. For game 1, Freshmen, #25 Hailey Langenfeld took the "L" as her team tried to rally behind her. She was lead off for the top of the 7th and started a chain reaction with a single shot over the short-stops head. Ashely Romano hit a center field single, scoring Langenfeld and Amanda Ross took her base as she harnesed a hit-by-pitch. Sammy Jennings shot a deep single to score them both. Amanda Ross and Dani Bayles had doubles in game 1 and Freshman Sammy Jennings hit a liner in the 4th for a deep triple. 

In game 2, the Dukes opened up their line up in the 2nd inning against Freshman Pitcher Sam Fundell. The defense was able to hold off in inning 3 but cumberland busted open again in the 4th leaving sussex behind. The Skylanders opened the top of the 5th in a last attempt to push forward with 4 more runs as Cameron Brown started it off with a long double. Freshman Short-Stop Ashley Romano went 2-3 with 3 stolen bases and 2 runs in game 2. Jennings also went 2-3 with 1 run. 

Head Coach Jamie Borger says, "As tough and as skilled as these young athletes are, Cumberland was just loving our pitching. As we move forward with our season, we can take this double header to the chin and learn from it. The fight in the first game is what matters to me most. The togetherness, relentless effort and drive to be better than the last inning was there, we just started to catch our groove a little too late. As for the second game, the score does not reflect who this team is on the field. We will take this week to learn and improve our skills as a team and coaching staff."