Softball is still fun for Edison’s Cassell

Edison High School’s Valerie Cassell has traveled all around the country with the New Jersey Breakers’ U19 Gold Team. She led the Eagles to a 23-5 season last spring and established herself as one of the state’s best pitchers. Edison High School softball pitcher Valerie Cassell was told by her parents that whenever the game isn’t fun anymore, she should stop playing.

That doesn’t appear to be anytime soon. Cassell is currently enjoying a summer tour of the country as a member of the prestigious New Jersey Breakers U18 Gold Team. About to enter her senior year at EHS, Cassell has clearly established herself as one of the top high school pitchers in New Jersey.

“This is the fourth year we’re headed to San Diego for the American Softball Association National Championships,” Cassell said last week. “I’m extremely proud to play at this level. It’s a wonderful experience.”

Cassell deserves to be hurling for the Breakers. As an Edison junior, she pitched nearly every inning as the Eagles advanced to the NJSIAA North Jersey II Group IV sectional title game. The team finished with a 23- 5 record, and Cassell’s earned-run average was a shutdown 0.64. Her offensive statistics were also among the team’s best with a .438 average, including 11 doubles and 23 runs batted in. She struck out once the entire season .

“I felt we met most of the goals we established before the season,” Cassell said. “We wanted to go further in the state tournament than the previous year, and we did that. Being upset by [eventual champion] Woodbridge in the Greater Middlesex Conference Tournament was tough, but that did not prevent us from[maintaining] our focus in the state tournament. We lost to one of the top teams in the state, Hunterdon Central, in the sectional final, 2-0.”

Now that last season is behind her, Cassell is focused squarely on perfecting her craft for the Breakers, coached by Joe Salvatore, who is also a U.S. National and Junior National teams coach. Salvatore has enjoyed a 31-year career as a high school and college coach and is among the most respected teachers in the country, particularly in developing pitchers and catchers. He talks about Cassell when she joined the Breakers as a seventh-grader. “I invited her to put on a uniform and watch us play from the bench,” Salvatore recalls. “She was kind of in awe because the rest of the girls were older and more experienced. But Valerie already possessed excellent pitching mechanics, and I knew she would develop into a special player.”

It was late in the game, and Salvatore asked Valerie to play left field. She promptly fielded a liner and fired the ball to nail the base runner at home.

Cassell committed to The College of Charleston (S.C.) following her sophomore year and has continued to come up big when the spotlight shines on her.

“We travel around the country often,” Salvatore says, “and Valerie gets to go against some of the best players in her age group. She’s not our fastest pitcher, but all Valerie does is get big outs and help win games.”

Salvatore describes Cassell when she’s pitching as “totally focused with intensity you can see in her eyes.”

“Valerie has learned to take responsibility for what happens on the softball field,” Salvatore said, “but it wasn’t always like that. I remember a few years ago we were at another tournament in California, and I told her it was time to step up. She faced two batters, and it was obvious the fire wasn’t there. I walked to the mound, pointed to the bench and told Valerie to find a seat. After that, a switch turned on in her head and she now always takes full responsibility for what happens between the lines.”

“I definitely consider myself a leader,” Cassell says, “but it’s by my actions. I’m not the vocal type.”

“Don’t believe it,” Salvatore proclaims. “The Breakers conduct a lot of clinics, and I use Valerie during demonstrations because she has such great mechanics. We were conducting one recently, and I decided to let her take over a portion of the session. Not only did Valerie perform a great demonstration, but her verbal communication was outstanding. Valerie has become a complete player.”

Cassell lives with her parents, Stephanie and Peter, who have enjoyed watching their daughter grow as a player and person. While softball is her major focus, Valerie approaches school with the same commitment. In addition to having achieved excellent grades, she is a member of the National Honor Society and a peer mediator. Somehow, she manages to find time to volunteer at the New Jersey Veterans Home each weekend during the school year and for a full week in August.

“Sometimes, it can be a challenge balancing homework, travel softball, workouts, pitching lessons, conditioning classes, hitting sessions, after-school clubs, and volunteer work,” Cassell says. “But I manage, [and] still find time to be with friends and play the guitar.”

Traveling throughout the country playing in softball tournaments and keeping up with other commitments, it’s a wonder Cassell keeps smiling.

Salvatore doesn’t think so.

“Every time she’s with the team,” he says, “I see this big grin on her face. I guarantee you, she’s having fun.”