Senior Lindsey Williams attempts to tag out a member of the Pope John varsity softball team. Williams was the key player in this game.

Roxbury beat Pope John XXIII in a game that Coach Diane Naugle said that “Roxbury came through on a clutch.” The final score of this game was Roxbury 5, Pope John 4.
The first run of the game wasn’t scored until the fourth inning. The first three innings, however, consisted of a lot of strikeouts, a few singles, and runners being out at first. By the fourth inning, Roxbury Lady Gael’s sophomore pitcher, Ashtin Helmer, had already pitched a total of five strikeouts, with the third inning being a no hitter. In the fourth inning, senior Johanna Lutz’s hit was able to bring freshman Holly Arentowicz home, scoring a run for Roxbury.
In the fifth inning, Helmer pitched one walk, and one strikeout. For Roxbury, senior Lindsey Williams hit a homerun, the third one of the season for the Lady Gaels. Williams’ homerun also brought senior Linda Stierli home, making the score Roxbury 3, Pope John 0. From then on, the game got rather heated.
In the sixth inning, Pope John came back. Pope John started at the top of their batting order. When their fourth batter, shortstop Katelyn Miele was up at bat, she hit the ball to the right field where junior Amanda Figurelli caught it. It was this time that first batter, center fielder Kristen Carter, was able to come home, which started a series of runs being scored for Pope John. Next, catcher Aileen Burgos, hit a single, which caused second baseman Christina Marinaro to come home. After that, first baseman Caitlin Whelan, hit a do  ...Read More

Ashtin Helmer's courtesy runner, junior Jill Fiebel, slides into second base during the game against Morris Knolls.

Roxbury dominated Morris Knolls due to power hitting by certain players, strong defense, and the ten strikeouts pitcher Ashtin Helmer provided. The final score was Roxbury 5, Morris Knolls 2. There was multiple doubles, a triple, and a homerun by Roxbury in this game.

By the end of the first inning, Roxbury was already proving to Morris Knolls that they were strong at bat. Senior Joelle Cancelliere hit the first double of the game, followed by Freshman Holly Arentowicz, who also hit a double. Cancelliere came home from Holly’s hit. Sophmore Helmer stepped up to plate next and hit a triple, which brought Arentowicz home. Roxbury also had a fielding switch for this game. Junior Kristyn Ewton played third base, instead of sophomore Dana Brady. In the first inning, Helmer pitched one strikeout and one walk. When the fourth batter hit the ball, the ball hit Helmer. Instead of letting that stop her, Helmer continued to play the rest of the game just as strong as she started. With the end of the first inning, the score was already 2 to 0.

During the second inning, not a single runner got to first base. For Roxbury, senior Johanna Lutz, junior Savanna Dybus, and Ewton were all out at first. Helmer threw a no hitter inning, which quickly ended the inning. In the third inning and fourth inning, no runs were scored. In the combination of the two innings, Helmer pitched one strikeout and one walk.

It was the fifth inning, when Roxbury again took control of the game  ...Read More

Roxbury's infield contemplates strategy in the fourth inning when Mount Olive scores the first run of the game. In the end, Roxbury won the second round of the tournament, advancing on to the quarter-finals verse Chatham.

After an excruciating nine inning game against Mount Olive in the Morris Country tournament, Roxbury pulled out successfully, guaranteeing themselves a spot in quarterfinals. According to Coach Diane Naugle, this win was possible because “every player contributed.” In the end, the Roxbury Lady Gaels beat Mount Olive in a score of 6 to 2. It was also in this game that sophomore pitcher Ashtin Helmer had her most strikeouts to date, with a massive total of eleven strikeouts.

No runs were scored until the fourth inning for either Roxbury or Mount Olive. Helmer pitched her strikeouts when she needed them. For example, she pitched a no hitter in the first inning. In the second inning, Helmer struck out the opponent when the bases were loaded with only one out, and then the next batter ending the inning with a runner on every base.

During the fourth inning, a run was scored for Mount Olive. However, this failed to get Roxbury’s hopes down. Freshman first baseman Holly Arentowicz got up to bat, and hit the ball with such force that it hit the back wall of the field. Arentowicz made it to second, and seniors Lindsey Williams and Joelle Cancelliere both came home. Roxbury was now in the lead, with a score of 2 - 1. The sixth inning continued with no runs scored.

In the seventh inning, Roxbury’s hopes were high. It was bottom of the seventh, and Mount Olive was up at bat. Roxbury was winning by one, and Helmer struck out the first batter. Then, Mount Olive hit a  ...Read More

Sophomore Ashtin Helmer steps up to bat during Roxbury's first game of the Morris County Tournament. Roxbury beat their opponent, Madison High School.

Roxbury played Madison in their first game in the Morris County Tournament, and came out with a win. Sophomore pitcher Ashtin Helmer had a total of twelve strikes and one walk during the game where Roxbury defeated Madison with a score of 2 - 0.

The first inning of the game was definitely in Roxbury’s favor; Helmer pitched three stikeouts, which hyped up Roxbury for the game. When it was their turn at bat, every player hit the ball. Senior Lindsey Williams hit first with a single, followed by Senior Joelle Cancelliere who was out at first. Next, freshman Holly Arentowicz hit a single and continued to steal second after Helmer hit a single, which brought Williams home. Courtesy runner, Jill Fiebel, was subbed in for Helmer, who then stole second when sophomore Dana Brady stepped up to plate, which ultimately ended the inning via a double play. Brady was out at first, and Arentowicz was out at home.

The second inning went by fast, with no significant plays in the game. Both Madison and Roxbury only got one single during their turn at bat. Roxbury also got two walks off of the Madison pitchers, Junior Amanda Figurelli and sophomore Katelyn Milling. It was only Milling’s second game playing Varsity. The third inning flew by as well, with Helmer pitching two strikeouts. During the bottom of the third all three Lady Gaels, Cancelliere, Arentowicz, and junior Kristyn Ewton, hit pop ups that Madison caught. Helmer pitched two more strikeouts in the fourth inning. Senio  ...Read More

Shortstop Lindsey Williams attempt to tag the opponent from High Point High School out at second base.

After a forty five minute drive to High Point High School, Roxbury’s Lady Gaels softball team was unsuccessful in beating them. For this game, the Lady Gaels switched up their batting order. Pitcher Ashtin Helmer pitched 10 strikeouts and 2 walks during the game. Coach Diane Naugle felt that in this game, “There were good points, and then there were bad points.”

Normally batting third, senior Lindsey Williams batted first, while the usual first batter, Joelle Cancelliere, batted second. Both hit singles. The third batter, Holly Arentowicz, who typically bats fourth, also hit a single, which brought Williams home. Helmer, who normally bats fifth, batted fourth and Dana Brady batted fifth (she usually bats second). Both Helmer and Brady struck out in this inning. Next up was Johanna Lutz, and her single brought Cancelliere home. Arentowicz attempted to go home, but a run down with the ball landed her safely back on third base. Kristyn Ewton then struck out, ending an eventful top of the first for Roxbury. The Lady Gaels scored two runs and Helmer pitched two strikeouts in this inning.
Roxbury struck out 3 times in the second inning, while High Point scored a run after Lutz overthrew the ball. Yet, it was in the third inning when things went south for Roxbury. Cancelliere, Arentowicz, Helmer and Brady all went up to bat, yet none of them made it home. When it was High Point’s turn at bat, Helmer threw two strikeouts and one walk. A total of five runs were sco  ...Read More