H.S. softball: Kingsway's Brianna Sciulli only knows one speed - fast

WOOLWICH – Brianna Sciulli loves to put pressure on her opponent at all times.

The senior leadoff hitter brings her game at top speed and never takes her foot off the gas pedal.

Her relentless style for the Kingsway Regional High School softball team was on full display during a 9-4 victory over Cherokee in the quarterfinal round of the South Jersey Group 4 tournament.

Sciulli delivered three hits, three runs scored, five stolen bases and one great diving catch in right field, but for the senior, it was the W that outweighs everything else.

“I’m very competitive and I love to win,” said Sciulli, who is batting .468 with 44 hits and a club-best 43 runs. “Two out of the four years I’ve been here, we’ve won the (South Jersey) title. I want to win that third one, that’s what we’re here for.”

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Sciulli’s pesky play can be irritating for opposing defenses. When she puts the ball in play with her slap-hitting style, Sciulli often beats the throw to first base even if the defense fields the ball cleanly.

“Bri just brings energy all the time,” Kingsway head coach Jill Ward said. “When she leads off the inning with a hit and steals second base, everybody’s energy goes up because we’re getting to the heart of our lineup.”

And Sciulli’s base-stealing ability can turn a single into a triple very quickly. She swiped third base twice against Cherokee, both times using a great slide to avoid the tag after the ball had arrived ahead of her.

“When I see an opportunity to take the next base, I’m going to do it,” said Sciulli, who raised her season stolen base total to 30. “I love to be in scoring position at all times.”

Ward said she always gives Sciulli the green light on the base paths.

“Two of those stolen bases were on her own,” the coach said. “She’ll make the read and go. I give her free rein, if you see something and you want to take that chance, take it. She does know if she doesn’t make it, I’m going to yell at her though.”

That hasn’t happened often, though. And it’s that type of scrappy play that will come in handy at the collegiate level when Sciulli goes to Kean University in the fall. She’ll study nursing in college.

However, Sciulli says there’s still plenty of work to do in the next few weeks.

“We really showed out (Thursday),” she said. “I think we’re playing pretty good all-around right now. We’re playing for the seniors, you never know when it’s going to be our last game.”

What it means

Second-seeded Kingsway (21-4), the two-time defending champion, will host the Lenape/Southern winner in Tuesday’s semifinal round.

After finishing at 9-11 a year ago, Cherokee put together the most wins in a season since 2018. The Chiefs went 15-8 this spring, including the team title at the Rancocas Valley Elite Tourament. The team only loses three seniors – Katie O’Connor, Paige Brennan and Madison Donnelly. The future is bright for this young squad, which features a super-charged battery of junior pitcher Sammie Friel and junior catcher Kyle Berg.

Heart of the order

While Sciulli set the table, Kingsway’s No. 4 and 5 hitters cleaned up as freshman Hannah Weismer had three hits and three RBIs and winning pitcher Tori Griffiths helped her own cause with two hits and three RBIs.

Weismer has quickly established herself as one of the top hitting freshmen in the region. She’s reached base by hit or walk in 24 of Kingsway’s 25 games and owns at least one hit in 22 of those contests. Fourteen of her 37 hits have gone for extra bases and she’s driven in 36 runs this spring.

“(Hannah’s) incredible,” Ward said. “She’s always been so strong, but now she’s really maturing as a hitter. She’s excelling at situational hitting, too. There are times I tell her we don’t need a home run, we just need a single. Now, she’ll get us the sac fly and she’ll even put a bunt down too.”

Sciulli added, “She’s a stud, absolutely amazing.”

Well deserved

Kingsway showed plenty of energy during a pre-game dance off, but it was something that was said during the post-game talk that drew the biggest cheers.

Ward gave the team off from practice on Friday.

"Most of them are going to the Tim McGraw concert," Ward said.

Best plays

While there were a combined 13 runs scored in the game, there were plenty of great defensive work to keep the total from being even higher.

Kingsway shortstop Delaney Patella made an incredible diving stop on a ground ball to her left, popped up and made a strong throw to complete the play in the second inning

Her double-play partner, Noelle Flail, snagged a liner to prevent a leadoff hit in the third.

Sciulli provided Kingsway’s biggest web gem with a sliding catch in the sixth, avoiding Flail, who was converging on the play down the line as well.

“Our defense is what hurt us a little bit earlier in the season until we got our mojo,” Ward said. “Now it’s working and it’s coming together at the right time.”

Cherokee threw plenty of leather, too. Center fielder Katie O’Connor made a nifty sliding catch to rob Sciulli of a hit in the fourth. She also made a tough catch of a ball in the gap in the sixth, ending up in an embrace with left fielder Sarah Masters as the two players avoided a collision.

Cherokee’s catcher Kylee Berg had the play of the day as she dove from her crouch to snag a pop-up bunt attempt.

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.

This article originally appeared on Cherry Hill Courier-Post: H.S. softball: Kingsway's Brianna Sciulli only knows one speed - fast