GAMES-Former Crusader Weiser Excels at Albany

Former Wildwood Catholic softball ace Allie Weiser has picked up right where she was when she departed Cape May County for higher educa-tion and collegiate softball in Albany.
The 18-year-old Wild-wood Crest native was named America East Con-ference Pitcher and Rookie of the Week in late February. She hurled two complete games with eight strikeouts and a .212 earned run average in split decisions at the Stetson Hatter Classic tournament.
Daughter of Kay and Randy Weiser, Allie, like most Cape May County alums, had to make ad-justments to life on a Di-vision I university campus.
“What I miss most about Cape May County and my friends is how close everyone was,” she said. “At home, wherever you go you always seem to run into an old friend or someone you know. At school there are so many people, I hardly ever see the same person twice.”
A psychology major with a minor in educa-tion, Weiser already real-izes the challenges of balancing intercollegiate sports and academics.
“Balancing academics, social life, and athletics was challenging at first, but it was easy for me to adjust to,” she said. “Time management is very important. At the Division I level, there is mandatory study hall for freshmen athletes to help us get our academics on track. Although class and practice take up most days, I have down time for social life.”
At Wildwood Catholic, Weiser had about 20 stu-dents in her classes. These days she’s joined in lecture halls by about 500 cohorts. Her entire high school hosted about 200 students while the Uni-versity of Albany is home to 16,000.
“The biggest adjust-ment was managing my time to be successful in softball and in the class-room,” she said. “It was also challenging to adjust to the school’s atmos-phere and to the way classes were taught and how to study for tests.”
Weiser noted that the NCAA has weekly game and practice time limitations for athletes, which help hermaintain balance.
The right-hander prep-ped for better competition with weekly visits to a Deptford-based pitching coach and ASA traveling competition with New-town Rock Gold on sum-mer weekends.
“Travel ball reached the level of Division I softball,” said Weiser. “I played on a very competi-tive gold team. Practices were just as hard and challenging. The difference is that opposing teams were not always as competitive as college squads.”
Despite her commit-ment to being the best she can be, Weiser knew she’d still have to adjust to the competition and in-tensity of collegiate soft-ball.
“The pace of the game is much quicker than in high school and even travel ball,” she said. “There is no ‘bad’ team or ‘bad’ hitter at this level. I have to throw my best every pitch.”
Playing sports or being involved in extracurricular activities can ease the transition to a new school environment, something Weiser is taking advantage of in her rookie season.
“My teammates are my best friends at school, and we all get along so well,” she said. “Our chemistry is the same on a
nd off the field which is pretty rare for a team. When we’re not playing softball, the chances are we are all hanging out.”
The growth of technology has reduced the pain of phone bills and postage stamps. Weiser keeps in touch with her parents, siblings Janelle and Bran-don, and her hometown friends with Facebook, texting and email.
“Technology makes it easy,” said Weiser. “I ‘talk’ to my family and home friends almost every day. I can’t imagine being away at school without this technology. My par-ents come to as many games as possible which is really great, but it’s obvi-ously more difficult for the rest of my family and friends to come to the games.”
The closest dugout to Cape May County that her Albany squad will occupy is Seton Hall in South Orange on April 29 and UMBC in Baltimore, May 8 and 9.
Like all alumni of her distinguished secondary education institution, Weiser sadly contemplates the potential closing of Wildwood Catholic High School.
“It’s upsetting and I feel really bad for the students who have to start their high school careers over,” she said. “I feel terrible for the teachers because all of them are extremely dedicated to Wildwood Catholic. It’s going to be difficult when I am older to not have my high school to go back to. Wildwood Catholic is like a family. It’s a shame it has to be shut down.”
Now that she’s experi-enced leaving home and starting a new phase, Weiser reflects on advice she might offer to county student-athletes preparing to leave home for higher education.
“A student-athlete needs to be sure he or she is willing to be completely dedicated to the sport,” she advised. “In college, you have to give 100 per-cent dedication to your sport and your academics. You have to work hard and sacrifice a lot time to play sports in college.”
Reach Rossi at joerossi61@comcast.net
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