Last-minute heroics are becoming their calling card.
From filling a head coaching vacancy just a week before the season started, to traveling across the state to win a playoff game in dramatic fashion, there’s certainly a lot of excitement around the Wildwood Catholic Academy softball team’s 2022 season.
“It’s definitely been a rollercoaster ride,” said first-year coach Mark Krause. “But the girls have really played well and responded well with adversity.”
And they dealt well with uncertainty leading up to the season. Opening Day was quickly approaching, and the Crusaders didn’t have a head coach. Krause, who has a freshman daughter on the team, was concerned about the vacancy. He called the school and ended up taking the job.
“It was nine days before the start of practice, and I called the school,” Krause said. “They said no one had reached out to express an interest. I talked to my boss to see if it was something he could let me do, and here I am.”
All the pieces from the team that reached the State Championship in 2018 were gone. But Krause knew there was talent. Junior pitcher Becca Cessna is as reliable as they come, both in the pitcher’s circle and at the plate, where she bats cleanup.
Cessna was the hero May 23 as Wildwood Catholic traveled an hour and 45 minutes north to take on Doane Academy in Burlington City in the quarterfinal round of the South Jersey Non-Public B playoffs. The Crusaders pulled out a 6-5 victory in 10 innings. Cessna threw her normal heat and struck out 15 batters during the marathon game, but she also mashed a two-out, three-run triple in the bottom of the seventh inning to extend the game when the Crusaders were down to their last out.
Wildwood Catholic ended up producing a run in the 10th inning on an RBI groundout, and Cessna held the Spartans off the board in the bottom half of the frame, recording the final out via strikeout.
“It’s huge,” Cessna said of the win. “I know we were all nervous leading up to the first round of the playoffs but … everyone played their position well. We’re really happy about it.”
It was a signature win for a team that was still meshing personalities from a few different geographic areas. Cessna drives about 45 minutes to school each day from Millville. Freshman shortstop Julia Wallace, who is quickly becoming a star, travels about 30 minutes on the bus from Somers Point.
The commute is a minor inconvenience, she said, in exchange for her Catholic education and time on the ball field with her friends. “It really feels like a family,” Wallace said of the school. “Everyone is so close and the team is great. We all get along really well.”
That includes five sensational sophomores who all live locally including center fielder Joanna McShaffry, catcher Emily Evans, left fielder Dani Shaw, second baseman Sienna Sawyer and third baseman Allyson Vessels.
The combination has yielded a 9-4 record through 13 games, which included the road playoff win. It’s been a learning process for the players and the coach.
Krause will admit that good players, especially a dominant player like Cessna, can make a new coach look pretty good. “That’s what she’s shown all year long,” Krause said of Cessna. “She doesn’t get frazzled, even when players make mistakes behind her. She just stays with it and focuses, and keeps coming at the next hitter. She’s solid.”
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