H.S. softball: Gloucester Catholic's Green throwing another type of curve

DEPTFORD  - Adrianna Green never has a problem when her mom tags along to her pitching lessons.

“That’s who catches me,” the junior right-hander said. “I always throw to my mom.”

While Danielle Green was a standout player during her ng days at Paulsboro High School, her daughter has established herself as one of the top strikeout artists in the circle with the Gloucester Catholic High School softball team.

Following a 214-strikeout performance in her first season, the junior has been just as efficient racking up the Ks this spring. The fireballer has punched out 186 batters, including eight in four innings of the Rams’ 10-0 postseason win over Holy Cross on Monday.

“My mom has always told me to stay calm and have a good attitude, to be a team player,” the younger Green said. “I think I’ve been able to do that.”

More:H.S. softball: Highlighting South Jersey's best from first week of playoffs

Green’s fastball sits in the 63-64 mph range, but the addition of a pesky screwball to go along with a plus curveball has made a big difference in her game.

“Last year, I only threw curveballs (as a breaking pitch) and I wasn’t as accurate,” said Green, who has 10 double-digit strikeout games this spring including a career-high 17 against Schalick on April 29. “(The screwball) is my favorite pitch right now.”

The same could be said for Gloucester Catholic head coach Carly Todd.

“It’s been a phenomenal pitch,” Todd said of Green’s screwball. “Last year, her curveball was her dominate pitch but once teams kinda caught up to it, they were looking outside or, if a lefty, they’d be looking inside.

“With a curve and screwball, she can move it in and out. It makes it tough on me to call pitches sometimes.”

It’s also difficult on Todd when she tries to take the softball out of Green’s hand. But that’s OK, that’s the way the coach wants it.

“She always want the ball in her hand and will fight with me when I want to make a chance. As a coach, I love that. You want a pitcher who wants to be in there,” Todd said.

But Green couldn’t have fought with her coach after being taken out in the fourth inning with a comfortable lead and another big game on Thursday, right?

“Oh yeah, she did,” Todd said. “But we’re always on the same page. She knows we have two other arms that need to get work in there, too.”

Opposing hitters haven’t been fighting to get to the bat rack to face Green. The junior has yielded just 50 hits and 26 walks in 100 innings this spring. The Lancers had two singles and a walk in Monday’s game.

“The growth she’s made as a player, a hitter, a pitcher and even a person of the field has been tremendous,” Todd said. “It’s about maturity. She didn’t get her freshman year because of COVID. She didn’t get a chance to get some high school softball experience that year. So, she’s still young in that way.”

What it means

Third-seeded Gloucester Catholic (17-6) will host seventh-seeded Holy Spirit in Thursday’s semifinal round. Holy Spirit upset second-seeded Timothy Christian, 11-4, in the other quarterfinal-round game.

The Rams are seeking their first sectional title since they won back-to-back titles in 2010-11. Those teams went on to win state titles.

Holy Cross, which had five freshmen in the starting lineup, finished its season at 7-9.

Sister, sister

Carly Todd got a little emotional when talking about her senior first baseman and younger sister, Cambrie.

“To be able to coach her, it’s very special,” said Carly Todd, wiping away a few tears. “We lost a year (because of the pandemic), but I got three years with her and that’s meant everything to me.

“Having such a great relationship off the field has helped with our relationship on the field. If you didn’t know she’s my sister, you would never know by the way we interact on the field. She’s grown so much and she’s fun to watch.”

The senior went 2-for-2 with a triple, homer, a sacrifice fly and an intentional walk. Her fourth homer of the season was a solo shot to right-center field.

Headed to Indian River State, a junior college in Fort Pierce, Florida, in the fall, Todd is hitting .500 with 32 runs scored and 30 RBIs.

Game balls

Gloucester Catholic’s Emily McGinn had three hits and three RBIs, raising her team-high total to 33. The sophomore ended the game with a two-run double in the fifth inning.

In two seasons, McGinn owns 59 hits and 65 RBIs in her career.

Junior Bella Connearney had an RBI in each of her three at-bats, including a pair of knocks.

Carly Todd also praised sophomore catcher Zoie Mantzell, who had a run-scoring single and played flawless defense behind the dish.

“Zoie has made so, so, so much growth in her game,” her coach said. “It’s all confidence with her, she knows she has the ability to do it now.”

Wait ‘til next year

Holy Cross endured some ups and downs throughout the spring, but head coach Mike Sacca believes the growing process will lead to success soon.

“These kids, they have a bright future,” Sacca said. “There’s some talent on this team, we just couldn’t put everything together on a consistent basis. We’ve had some nice times, we’ve had some bad times. But the freshmen got a lot of playing time and hopefully they will grow from this experience.”

Tom McGurk is a regional sports reporter for the Courier-Post, The Daily Journal and Burlington County Times, covering South Jersey sports for over 30 years. If you have a sports story that needs to be told, contact him at (856) 486-2420 or email tmcgurk@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter at @McGurkSports. Help support local journalism with a digital subscription.