Rebels Outlast Patriots in Freehold

Despite a late rally to pull within one run, the Freehold Township softball team opened their season with a 4-3 loss to Howell on Saturday afternoon in Freehold.

Howell was lead by stellar pitching from Stephanie Gilbert, who pitched a complete game and struck out six on the day. The Rebels, however, owe their opening day victory to Stephanie Grainger, who blasted a solo home run over the fence in the top of the sixth. The monstrous drive turned out to be the game winner for Howell.

As heartwrenching as it was to fall just short of beating a rival on opening day, the Patriots seem unphased and poised to tackle the rest of the season.

"It's opening day, what are you going to do? Howell is a very good team," said Patriots coach Beth English, whose ever positive personality seems to be the heart of the team.

Her outlook is far from unwarranted: a number of players performed admirably in the loss, which gave the coach confidence that her team will get in the win column soon enough.

One such player was Freehold pitcher Jordan White, who struck out 10 and only allowed five hits in a complete game effort, while also adding an RBI.

"She's only a sophomore, so I thought coming in and holding them only to five hits was very good. That's the lowest we've held them to in years," English praised.

Freehold senior Ashley "A-Rod" Rodriguez was another star for the Patriots during the game. She successfully stole first during the bottom of the fourth inning, which eventually lead to her scoring Freehold Township's first run of the year on White's single.

Senior short stop Taylor Kuzma also made her presence known in her first game with the Patriots after transferring from Colts Neck High School. She had a big double in the seventh to keep the potential rally alive and made an incredible diving grab and throw to first in the top of the inning to make sure Howell didn't tack on anymore runs.

While she is a known star player from her time in Colts Neck, her late game all-star-like plays can possibly be attributed to the Wheaties she was fed by her coach just a few minutes earlier. Yes, you read that correctly, and no this didn't magically turn into a commercial. Before Freehold Township went to bat in the fifth inning Coach English passed around a box of Wheaties as a way to light a fire under her players.

"One game I said, 'Swing the bat like you just ate red meat and Wheaties!', and it became our thing," English explained.

"I'm a little different," she said, chuckling.

Her style may be different, but judging from the late runs Freehold scored to almost tie the game, her style can also make a difference.

Freehold Township hits the field again on Wednesday at 3:45 p.m. when they host the Middletown North Lions.