Scannapieco confident Blues will turn corner BY TIM MORRIS Staff Writer Brookdale Community College isn't accustomed to just being the defending Garden State Athletic Conference (GSAC) softball champion. During their run of 11 straight Region XIX championships, which included a pair of national championships (2002, 2005), Bo Scannapieco's Jersey Blues were the nation'smost successful Division III program. But, like all good things, the Blues stranglehold on the Region XIX crown came to an end last spring, and now Scannapieco begins the process of getting the Blues back to where they are accustomed, playing in the National Junior College Athletic Association National Championships. Of course,most softball programs would love to be 32-16 and conference champions. But, Scannapieco's Blues raised the bar so high that the GSAC was hardly a consolation. The 2008 Blues are off to a 6-8 start that Scannapieco believes could, in small part, be attributed to the way '07 ended. "I think we're suffering a little hangover," said Scannapieco. "We lost some really tough games [at Region XIX] last year." Scannapieco, however, does not see the sub-.500 record through 14 games as a sign of decline. The Blues embarked on one of their most difficult March schedules and that contributed to the slow start. Scannapieco remains optimistic about 2008. "We've had three walk-off losses," he pointed out. "We're just not executing the things we have to.We're close.We just need to turn the corner. "As far as ability, we're much better than last year," he added. "All-in-all it's a matter of putting it together. I'm not discouraged." The Blues have six players returning led by Allyson Melia (Toms River) and Skye Rubel (Ocean Township). Center fielder Melia was a Second Team All-American in '07 batting .376 with 62 runs scored. Catcher Rubel was an All-Region pick last year after batting .367 with seven home runs and 54 RBIs. Another returning veteran is first baseman Elizabeth Erbig (Brick Township) who was an All-GSAC Second Team. The sophomore batted .336 with 23 RBIs. Erbig and Melia have picked up where they left off last year with Erbig batting .464 and Melia, .432 with 11 runs scored. Rubel and Danielle Smith (Neptune) led the team with six RBIs. Of the newcomers, Chrissy Cane (Keyport) is batting .400, Stephanie Horn (Middletown South), .421 and Samantha Wagner (Manalapan), .382 and a team-high 10 RBIs. Sam Rooney (Monmouth Regional), Danielle Davenport (Matawan) and Brianne Faynor (Manchester) are frosh who are also making contributions. Pitching will hold the key for BCC as it looks to regain its Region dominance. Amy Bankos (Monsignor Donovan), who was 6-4 last year with a 3.44 earned-run average, has been the team'smost consistent pitcher in the early going. In her last outing, she tossed a no-hitter againstMercer last week.