When their school closed, these North Jersey softball players found a new home together

RUTHERFORD − They brought their Immaculate Conception letter jackets, they brought their uniforms and their softball traditions.

Except the wolf on a stick, which remains missing.

“I don’t know how you’re supposed to put a Gael on a stick,” laughed St. Mary junior Ryann Burke.

When Immaculate Conception High School in Lodi closed at the end of last school year, the girls were sad, angry and confused. But IC alum and former Blue Wolves softball coach Sarah Piening saw an opportunity.

She worked with the bulk of the Blue Wolves team (at least seven players) to transfer just a few miles away to St. Mary High School in Rutherford, and she assumed the job as Gaels head softball coach.

The loss of Immaculate Conception has been a gain for the Gaels. Once a state power in softball, St. Mary is having its best year in recent memory. The Gaels are 7-2 after a win over Manchester on Tuesday. Their only two losses came to North Jersey powers Weehawken and Rutherford.

Before closing, all-girls Immaculate Conception was also state power in softball, winning seven straight Non-Public B titles from 2013-2019. That winning tradition, including the wolf head on a big stick in the dugout shaken after big plays, is what brought a lot of players to IC, and now, to St. Mary.

“At first, it was very much an adjustment,” junior Gabrielle Higgins said. “Especially going from an all-girls school to co-ed. St. Mary is pretty good with academics, and it took us a little bit to pick up the pace, but once we got it, I love it. I am kind of happy we are here now.”

“Senior year for me, it didn’t feel like senior year in the beginning,” senior Gabriella Weiss said. “Because, you know, senior year, you walk in and you’re like ‘I’m going to own the school’ but now I am walking in as a new kid. My whole mindset was that I was basically a freshman.”

St. Mary did everything it could to make the transfers feel comfortable right away (there was no mandatory sit period because the school closed). IC girls could wear IC uniforms to school, a splash of baby blue mixed in with the darker blue of St. Mary. They wear their IC letter jackets with pride.

There were some differences in the schedules (IC had block schedules, longer periods) and course requirements, but good things too.

“The cookies are so much better,” laughed Burke. “Better than IC.”

On the softball diamond, St. Mary was struggling to field a full varsity team the last few years and churned through multiple coaches. Piening got a position in the admissions department at St. Mary and spends a lot of time with her players on campus.

“This would not have happened if it wasn’t for her making the calls right away,” said Higgins, who has committed to Rider for softball. “She could have easily just been a coach somewhere else and just said the school is closing, that’s it, but she said she wanted to stay with us and that really speaks to me.”

Every Wolf/Gael is grateful to have found a welcoming home that recognizes and lets them honor their past, while preparing them for the future.

“I feel like we’re still a family,” Weiss said. “We've just added new siblings.”

This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: When their school closed, these North Jersey softball players found a new home together