Gloucester softball star Taylor Chain out with injury

Gloucester's Taylor Chain, the most dominating pitcher in South Jersey, will not be in the circle tomorrow night against Gloucester Catholic.

Chain suffered a shoulder injury in a 4-0 win over Penns Grove on Monday and will not pitch until further notice, Gloucester coach Dave Light said.

Chain, a senior, had a 14-0 record including four perfect games, seven no-hitters and 188 strikeouts and did not yield a run. Her replacement will be senior Jill Stafford or sophomore Sam Bryszewski.

Gloucester is scheduled to host Gloucester Catholic at 7 p.m. at the Gloucester City Pony Tail League complex on Johnson Boulevard for the unofficial softball championship of Gloucester City.

The Lions were 18-0 and ranked No. 2 in South Jersey by The Inquirer at the time of Chain's injury. No. 5 Gloucester Catholic was 16-3, mainly behind the pitching of junior Nicole Hagerty.

Chain had been looking forward to the game and playing against centerfielder Kristen Collins, with whom she played in the Amateur Softball Association for years.

"It's funny when we go up against each other because she gives me that look, like 'Don't strike me out,' and I give her that look, like, 'I am striking you out,' " Chain said.

Hagerty, used to play with Chain in the ASA, too.

"We definitely want to beat them, but we want to remain friends," said Hagerty, who has pitched most of the Rams' games.

Game of the week. After Kingsway upset No. 1 Williamstown, 6-2, Monday, winning pitcher Dominique Ficara felt redeemed.

Ficara yielded a 10th-inning, two-run homer that lifted Williamstown to a 4-3 victory on April 17.

Pennsville's distractions. In his 28 years as Pennsville's softball coach, Herb Bacon said he has never seen a season like this.

Between time taken by a senior class trip and rainouts that followed, the Eagles lost 12 days of field time between April and May.

"At GCIT, we left nine runners on base and we struck out seven times from not seeing live pitching," Bacon said about a 4-3 loss to the Cheetahs on May 8.

Today, the senior and junior proms take place and the countdown for the June 18 graduation has begun.

Pink ladies. Cherry Hill West is hosting a freshman softball tournament tomorrow that will conclude a week of solicitations for contributions to the Susan G. Komen Fund for the cure of breast cancer.

Moved by the loss of a student's parent to cancer last year, West softball coach David Gurst decided to have the freshmen, junior varsity and varsity teams dress in pink this week to raise awareness and money for the fund.

More than $1,000 has been collected by helmet-carrying players. They are members of the Cherry Hill Youth Athletic Association and Cherry Hill National Little League, which also helped with the fund raising.

Drought ends. Riverside got off to a slow start this season, but by the May 9 playoff cutoff date the Rams had an 8-6 record and qualified for the Group 1 state playoffs for the first time since 1992.

Delsea's duo. Junior Jessica Zeilman and sophomore Kristen Knorr have been leading Delsea in hitting. Zeilman, a shortstop and catcher, was batting at .660 and Knorr, a catcher and pitcher, .520 when the week began.

No problem. Sterling had no worries about qualifying for the Group 2 postseason tournament; however, the Silver Knights have bad memories about cutoff day.

Sterling lost, 10-4, to Gateway in an upset, when two pitchers who needed work couldn't get the job done.

But coach Kelly Tallant isn't worried. The pitching that carried the team all season should rebound to complement the team's speed, power and defense.

Team Record

Records are through Wednesday.

Last week's rankings in parentheses.

1. Gloucester (2) 19-0

2. Cherokee (3) 14-1

3. Kingsway (4) 13-3

4. Williamstown (1) 13-1

5. GCIT (NR) 12-4

6. Gloucester Cath. (5) 17-4

7. Vineland (NR) 11-3

8. Overbrook (NR) 16-2

9. Oakcrest (NR) 13-3

10. Hammonton (9) 15-4

Under consideration (listed alphabetically): Cumberland (12-3), Pennsville (9-5), Sacred Heart (19-5), Sterling (14-5), Rancocas Valley 12-4.

- Bill Iezzi
EndText