Yankees prospect Spencer Jones talks torpedo bats, plate consistency
Spencer Jones, the Yankees’ No. 6 prospect according to Baseball America, will be the big name to watch in Somerset to begin the 2025 season.
Courtesy of Somerset Patriots
The 2025 season is in full swing as we enter the fourth week of action in the Skyland, Greater Middlesex and Union Country conferences, and Week 3 brought another round of great individual performances across the area
Here are the nominations for Week 3’s Central Jersey Softball Player of the Week award. All stats through Sunday, April 20.
Voting ends Friday at noon. Nominees selected by Simeon Pincus and Josh Rosenfeld. Voting winner will be featured as the Player of the Week.
Poll closes Friday at noon
SAMANTHA COLON
North Plainfield
Senior
After failing to win a divisional game in its it first two GMC campaigns, the Canucks have won three in a row. The senior third baseman has gone has gone 10-for-10 in those games and scored 10 runs with 12 RBI and five extra-base hits, including a pair of home runs. She’s batting .933 (14-for-15) after hitting .143 over her first three varsity campaigns.
ADDISON FALLON
Phillipsburg
Junior
The second baseman had a huge week as the Stateliners won three of four, including a Skyland Raritan split in two games against Bridgewater-Raritan. Fallon went 6-for-10 for the week with three walks, notching a double, home run and six RBIs, scoring three runs. She’s hitting .409 for the season and has driving in eight runs in her first varsity campaign.
AVA HEUCK
Westfield
Freshman
The rookie pitcher has joined classmate Darby Revok in giving the Blue Devils a huge infusion of young talent, and the newly anointed ace really showed it last week, as Westfield swept four games. Heuck, who is 6-3 overall with a 2.98 ERA, allowed just four earned runs in 27 innings last week, on 14 hits and seven walks, and she struck out 18. The run included a shutout of Elizabeth and an eye-opening win over North Hunterdon on Saturday, as the freshman allowed no earned runs on three hits and two walks, fanning six.
DANIELLE MAHER
Rahway
Junior
The Indians are off to a 6-1 start and Maher has gone 12-for-17 (.706) in those victories. After her first 0-fer in Rahway’s first loss to Roselle Park, she responded by going 5-for-6 in back-to-back wins over Linden and Roselle Catholic. She now sports a .481 career batting average with 74 hits.
ELLA MARTINELLI
Gill St. Bernard’s
Junior
The three-year starting catcher had a big hand in the Knights’ impressive week, one that started with a huge win over reigning Somerset County champ Immaculata, as we as a two-game sweep of Bound Brook. Martinelli even had a hit in Saturday’s 9-1 loss to Ridge. The junior went 7-for-15 for the week, with a walk, two doubles, a run and six RBIs. She’s hitting .385 for the season with three doubles and has driven in 12 runs.
AVA MORMILE
Spotswood
Senior
The Chargers’ ace appears to have overcome an early-season spate of wildness when she issued 18 walks over 27 innings, and has yielded just four free passes over her past two starts. She recorded her 500th career strikeout in a loss to South Plainfield last week, followed by an eight-strikeout, one-walk five-hitter against Metuchen. Her ERA is a career-high 3.32, but that is also trending downward.
IZABELLA PARDO
Perth Amboy
Junior
Perth Amboy is on a four-game heater and the Albany-bound junior is one of the most prominent reasons. She’s gone 10-for-13 and scored 11 runs during the four-game run to lift her batting average to .760 (19-for-25). She also takes an occasional turn in the circle and closed out a one-run decision over J.F. Kennedy by escaping a pair of one-out threats with runners in scoring position over the final two frames. She enters the week with 88 career hits and a .512 batting average.
LILY SANDHOLM
Governor Livingston
Junior
The Highlanders’ third baseman if off to a roaring start, one of several big bats in a lineup that’s averaged close to 8 runs per game. But Sandholm has certainly stood out and that was the case again last week as GL swept through the teeth of the Union County Conference, beating Cranford, reigning county champ Dayton, and then-undefeated A.L. Johnson. Sandholm went 6-for-10 over the three games, with three doubles, two homers and four RBIs, brining her eye-popping number for the season up to a .633 average with four doubles, a triple, six home runs and 15 RBIs. She’s also walked three times, been hit by a pitch and scored 15 runs.
MIA SIMON
Watchung Hills
Senior
The pitcher/DH had a massive season for the state Group 4 champ Warriors last year and she’s turned it up even another notch. Simon has not only put up big numbers, but she’s also been clutch, with several game-tying, go-ahead and game-winning hits to her credit during Watchung Hills’ 7-0 start. She went 7-for-13 with three doubles, two homers and six RBIs in four wins last week, and is hitting .600 for the season (15-for-25) with five doubles, three homers and 11 RBIs. She’s also walked four times. Simon is 3-0 in the circle with a 0.70 ERA, having allowed just two earned runs on 14 hits and 10 walks in 20 innings, striking out 33.
ISABELLA WARRINGTON
East Brunswick
Sophomore
East Brunswick swept its three games last week to improve to 8-0 and its second baseman went 6-for-8 with two doubles and five RBIs. She’s batting .565 and slugging .957 for the season, with six of her 13 hits going for extra bases. Warrington is following up a stellar freshman campaign in which she batted .408 and has 42 hits in her budding career.
VOTE NOW!! POLL CLOSES NOON FRIDAY!!
Staff writer Simeon Pincus has been covering NJ sports since 1997, and has been on the softball beat since 1999. He can be reached at CourierSoftball@aol.com. Follow him on Twitter/X @SimeonPincus
Follow GMC softball writer Josh Rosenfeld on Twitter/X @JoshPRosenfeld
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