Lower Cape May Regional wins seven in a row, triples win total from 2025
ERMA — The Caper Tiger softball team got knocked out of the sectional tournament early but posted a solid season, which featured a seven-game winning streak after a 2-2 start.
The Lower Cape May Regional High School team finished with a 12-9 record a year after posting only four wins in the entire season.
The girls also showed progress against some of the teams that pummeled them early. They lost to Cape May Tech 21-2 and Buena 20-0 in early April, but by the end of the month had beaten Tech 16-13 and, although they lost again to Buena, it was a much tighter game, 12-10.
“I think the biggest turning point for us was the two scores between Tech and Buena,” head coach Kiersten Price said. “The second time we played Tech we wound up beating them.” (The Caper Tigers scored five runs in the top of the seventh inning.)
Buena had to go eight innings to top LCMR, scoring four runs in the seventh to tie and two more in the eighth to win.
“I don’t think we’ve ever gone seven innings with them with me as a coach here. It was just awesome to see that turnaround,” she said. “Those two games showed them what they can truly do.”
The Caper Tigers picked up eight wins from April 13 through May 1. They beat Pleasantville twice, 30-15 and 29-12; Atlantic City twice, 8-5 and 12-2; Wildwood Catholic 11-1; Winslow 20-5; Bridgeton 28-10; Salem 14-10; and that second game against Tech.
After improving their record to 11-3, the girls lost four straight games — to Glassboro, Middle Township, Wildwood and Our Lady of Mercy Academy — before picking up their last win of the season, 13-3 over Philadelphia Performing Arts Charter.
On May 18, the girls were shut out by Atlantic Tech 15-0, then suffered the same fate against Haddon Heights in the first round of the South Jersey Group II sectionals. Haddon Heights was the No. 3 seed in the tournament; the Caper Tigers were 14th.
The girls finished with a 4-15 record in the United Conference of the Cape-Atlantic League last year and improved to 9-3 this season.
Freshman pitcher Finnley Arenberg picked up 10 wins on the mound.
“She still struggles a little bit with control issues but hey, she’s a freshman. We’ve got to get our walk numbers down but I think next year, working hard in the off-season, she will get there. Once she learns to calm down and trust herself, she’s going to really start to excel,” Price said.
Sophomore Raegan Notch and freshman E’leyna Koerner tied for driving in the most runs with 39 RBI each, with Koerner leading in hits 34-32 and scoring the most runs on the team — 40. Notch scored 31 runs. Notch outdid Koerner in home runs 4 to 3 and triples 6-3, but Koerner had 8 doubles to Notch’s 7.
“Raegan stepped up a lot for us this year,” the coach said.
Koerner, she added, “is a really excellent outfielder” who moved to third base when the third baseman was injured. “She helped us defensively there, too. It was hard to not have her where her talents are super excelled, but she brought every talent from her outfield skills to the infield.”
Junior Abigail Pellicano came close in runs scored with 38; she had 18 RBI, 9 doubles and five triples.
Arenberg also helped her own cause with 10 runs, 10 RBI, 7 singles, 2 doubles and triples and a home run.
Senior Layton Arenberg had 16 runs, 11 RBI, 4 singles, a triple and a homer.
Sophomores Stephanie Byrne and Oleska Domanowski had a home run each. Domanowski also had 22 RBI, 20 hits, 14 runs, a double and a triple.
Senior Bailey Leninger contributed 31 runs, 24 hits, 18 RBI and a team-leading 21 singles.
“We’re going to be losing her, but she was the voice of our team. I mean, the girl loved playing softball. She just went out there with a smile on her face every single day and just played,” the coach said.
“You could put Bailey anywhere in the field that you wanted and she kind of just went out there and did what she could do for us, the best she could,” Price said. “She wound up being a great asset to our team. She’s very positive, and losing that positivity is going to definitely be a little hard, but I think she’s really set a good example for the younger girls.”
Sophomore Kailyn Tait added 15 runs, 15 hits, 12 RBI, 14 singles and a double. Fellow sophomore Kylie Winslow added to the stats with 8 runs, 8 hits, 8 RBI, 4 singles and 4 doubles. Winslow also picked up two wins on the mound.
Sophomore Sophia Crecca scored 15 runs and had 10 hits, 8 RBI, 7 singles, 2 doubles and a triple in a shortened season.
“Crecca’s the one we unfortunately lost; she broke her ankle. The girl slid into her at third base in the Salem game. That hurt us,” Price said.
“She was finally coming into her own over at third. We’ve been working really hard at trying to get her to have that confidence over there … she was finally really coming around and then that happens,” she said. “That hurt us for a little bit, but luckily we had the girls who were able to fill in.”
At the beginning of the season, Price said she expected her team to do better than in 2025, saying the girls were working very hard and trying to gain experience. She had to watch from a distance later because she left on maternity leave at the end of April. (Mom and baby are doing great, she reports.) Assistant coach Scott Douglass took over the team for the remainder of the season.
“I think they exceeded a lot of their own expectations of what was happening or what we thought was going to happen with the season,” Price said. “I know I’m really excited for next year. We lose two starters so there are two positions that we’re going to have to fill, but we have young girls that are able to fill those positions, which will be great.”
By DAVID NAHAN/Cape May Star and Wave
