CJ giving softball program unexpected lift

It’s been a few years, about 16 of them, since Chaminade Julienne High School softball coach Dee Werbrich lifted then-2-year-old Erin Heiney atop her shoulders for postgame walks back to the parking lot.

These days Heiney, now a senior catcher for CJ, and the Eagles have returned the favor. The Eagles – a mix of veteran experience and youth – have raised program expectations with an impressive regular season. The Eagles enter the postseason seeded No. 6 in the Division II Dayton upper bracket sectional tournament.

Not bad for a program down to 10 players.

“You have very few teams that you come across that you consider special. This group to me is special,” Werbrich said. “Kids that I’ve known for a long time. Kids that are working hard. Kids that are doing things I don’t even ask them to do. That’s the joy of coaching for me.”

CJ won the Greater Catholic League North Division in 2016 and holds a two-game lead over Alter with three games remaining. CJ won the first meeting 4-0. The second meeting is still on tap after getting postponed.

The Eagles boast a 1-2 pitching punch of sophomore Carly Fugett and junior Natalie Northern. Fugett is 8-3 with a 3.71 earned-run average. Armed with five pitches including a fastball approaching 60 mph, she’s struck out 109 batters in 71.2 innings. Northern is 2-3 with a 4.47 ERA and in 31.1 innings.

“They’re both more on the power end of it,” Werbrich said. “Carly throws hard and straight. Natalie has a lot more junk. She’s not as fast as Carly but she’s not slow by any means. Her release point because she’s so tall (at 6-foot-1) is probably two feet further than where (the 5-8) Carly’s is.”

Fugett has been getting it done at the plate, too. She leads the team in batting average (.625), runs batted in (27), doubles (4), triples (8) and home runs (4). Among league leaders she’s ranked No. 2 in average, No. 3 in home runs and No. 4 in RBI.

“I’ve coached for 18 years and I’ve never had anybody with the offensive stats she has,” Werbrich said.

As a pitcher, Fugett is second in the GCL in strikeouts and third in wins.

Other offensive standouts are senior Caroline Nevius (.423, team-leading 29 runs), senior Erin Colbert (.358) and Northern (.353). First-year varsity players Cheyenne Coyle and Queen Peters-Thornton both had key defensive catches in the outfield. Seniors Hannah Schwager and Ally Burneka and sophomore Natali Rojas have also contributed.

“It’s kind of funny because they’re so unassuming,” Werbrich said of the Eagles’ success this season. “The work hard every practice. They talk about goals before the games. And anything I’ve ever asked them to do they’ve done. … This group is close. Four of the five seniors are four-year starters.”

Werbrich estimates the last time CJ reached a district final was 2001.

This year’s group has a chance to end that drought. CJ (10-6) hosts the winner of No. 8 Valley View and No. 9 Bellbrook on Thursday. If the seeds play out then CJ would meet No. 4 Eaton in the sectional final on Tuesday.

“I think we’re positioned in the best bracket we can be to achieve the most success,” said Werbrich, whose team avoided the likes of No. 1 Monroe, No. 2 Greenville and No. 3 Clinton-Massie. “I tried to give my girls the best chance at success. If we get through the sectional finals that one’s thing. We’ll just go one game at at time.”

That’s how the Eagles have taken the season, too. The team expected to have about 14 players this season. But one was ruled ineligible and two more elected to play lacrosse.

“(The seniors) are making an impact whether they know it or not,” Werbrich said of their increased importance with a young team. “My catcher, she’s never caught before and is having a very good year catching. My third baseman is a Hoover over there. Next year I don know what I’m going to do because she’s been sitting at third base four years for me. There’s impact players all over the place. … If you’d told me six weeks ago where we’d be with what we had, I’d be like okay!”

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