Softball ballot: Vote for Central Jersey Player of the Week for Week 4
We’re coming up on the one-month mark of the 2024 season, as teams continue to work toward conference titles, county seeds and playoff position. With it comes another round of fantastic individual performances around Central Jersey last week.
Here are the nominations for this week’s Central Jersey Softball Player of the Week award. All stats through Saturday, April 27.
More: Softball Player of the Week: Immaculata’s Caitlin Maychrich wins Week 3 honors
More: Softball roundup: Daily results and links for Skyland Conference, GMC, area Union County
Voting ends Friday at noon. Nominees selected by Simeon Pincus and Josh Rosenfeld. Voting winner will be featured as the Player of the Week.
TRINITY BERNARDINO
Carteret
Freshman
Shortstop
Nobody’s perfect, but the Carteret freshman has come close. Bernardino went 8-for-8 last week and drove in seven runs, as the Ramblers began last week with triumphs over Piscataway and St. Dominic — the school’s first back-to-back wins since 2022. That was part of a five-game tear in which she went 14-for-14 with two home runs, two triples and 13 RBI. She has excelled in defeat as well, homering in Carteret’s last two outings, and now has five round-trippers. She is batting .722 and slugging 1.526 for the season, with four doubles, five triples, 27 RBI and 19 stolen bases.
MADDIE BOGART
Scotch Plains-Fanwood
Freshman
Infield/pitcher
The Raiders are rolling, winners of four straight and eight of nine, including two wins last week, with one coming over perennial Union County power Cranford. And while SPF has gotten plenty of impact contributions from its veterans, Bogart, a rookie, has been right in the middle of things. The freshman went 6-for-6 in two games last week, doubling twice and driving in six runs. She’s hitting .485 for the season with three doubles, a homer, four runs and 10 RBIs, while also contributing some innings in the circle.
BRIANNA ESTEVES
Perth Amboy
Junior
Center field/pitcher
Perth Amboy (4-8) went 3-0 last week and the Manhattan-bound Esteves — the school’s first D-1 softball commit — went 8-for-11 and drove in eight runs with a triple in each contest. She also struck out nine batters while walking one in 4 2/3 innings in a win over J.F. Kennedy. She is batting .514 and slugging .917 for the season, with seven doubles, six triples and three homers. She’s struck out 15 batters in nine innings in the circle, compiling a 0.78 ERA.
AVA KWITKOSKI
Monroe
Senior
Shortstop
The Falcons put together a three-game winning streak last week, including divisional wins over J.P. Stevens and Metuchen, before falling to division-leading South Plainfield. Kwitkoski went 7-for-14 in the wins with two home runs and seven RBI. She’s batting .405 and slugging .757 for the season, with 10 doubles, the first three home runs of her career, and 24 RBI.
JULIA LAROSE
Ridge
Senior
Center field
The four-year starter got off to a slow start this season, but has certainly kicked things up a notch, especially last week as Ridge followed up a hard-fought loss to Pingry with two straight wins, including a 4-3 victory over Franklin in Saturday’s county tournament game. LaRose went 5-for-7 last week, scoring three times and drove in three runs to get her average over .300 for the season.
AVA MORMILE
Spotswood
Sophomore
Pitcher/third base
Spotswood swept its three outings last week with Mormile in the circle for each, yielding 10 hits and three runs (none earned) in 21 innings, while striking out 40 and walking seven. Included was a seven-inning no-hitter against Sayreville, during which she struck out 15 and walked two. She’s compiled a 1.77 ERA for the year, with 122 strikeouts and 26 walks in 75 innings. She’s also batting .333 with five doubles and 11 runs driven in.
RYLEE RHINEHART
Warren Hills
Senior
Third base
The Blue Streaks are rolling, winners of four straight, and are 6-3 for the season, firmly in the race in a brutally tough Raritan Division, and Rhinehart has been a major reason why. The four-year letterwinner went 5-for-9 with two doubles, four runs, two RBIs and three stolen bases during Warren Hills’ 2-0 week, featuring wins over Gill St. Bernard’s and Philipsburg, and she has notched at least one hit in every game this year. She’s hitting .525 for the season with six doubles, 12 runs and seven RBIs, and has swiped 10 bases.
RISA RIVETTI
Bernards
Senior
Catcher
The Mountaineers have had no shortage of contribution from its deep, experienced lineup as they’re off to a 7-3 start with a firm hold on the Raritan Division race. And while the veteran catcher has certainly had an impact offensively, it’s been the little things at the plate and behind it that’s been the most key. Rivetti, who is hitting .333 for the season with four sacrifices, and has provided leadership and a steady force at catcher, committing just three passed balls all season.
ARALYN TORRES
East Brunswick Magnet
Senior
Pitcher
The Gold-Division-leading Tigers have reeled off nine consecutive wins since falling to White-Division-leading Spotswood and with Torres throwing every pitch in all of them. She begins the week with a string of 17 scoreless innings and has struck out nine or more batters in seven of her 12 starts, despite the fact that East Brunswick Magnet has only played seven innings on four occasions. She’s nearly as effective at the plate, batting .619 and slugging 1.048 with 10 doubles, a triple, two home runs and 22 RBI.
ZOE TOTARO
Hunterdon Central
Junior
Shortstop
The Red Devils are coming off a great week and seem to have found some consistency after some early struggles in close games, and, as she has all year, Totaro was right in the middle of things, as Central won three of four last week, including huge Delaware Division wins over Immaculata and North Hunterdon. The junior went 6-for-16 last week, with a double, triple, homer, seven RBIs and five runs scored, plus a pair of stolen bases. She’s hitting .405 for the season with two doubles, two triples, a homer and 10 RBIs, adding 11 runs scored.
VOTE NOW!! POLL CLOSES NOON FRIDAY!!
Staff writer Simeon Pincus has been covering NJ sports since 1997, and has been on the softball beat since 1999. He can be reached at CourierSoftball@aol.com. Follow him on Twitter/X @SimeonPincus
Follow GMC softball writer Josh Rosenfeld on Twitter/X @JoshPRosenfeld
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This article originally appeared on MyCentralJersey.com: NJ Softball ballot: Vote for Central Jersey Player of the Week, Week 4
