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07/09/2020 12:00 AMJenn Cruver was cut from the softball team as a 6th-grader at North Haven Middle School. Instead of giving up, Jenn was determined to take the mound as a 7th-grader and prove that she belonged on the squad. So, Jenn started working with her father Warren, often practicing late into the night to become the best pitcher she could be.
All of that effort paid dividends for Jenn when she entered the high school. Jenn took the ball as North Haven’s starting pitcher in her freshman year and was a mainstay on the mound throughout the next four seasons.
Jenn was a four-time All-Oronoque Division selection, a three-time All-State honoree, and was also named North Haven’s Most Valuable Player three times during her high school career. In her junior season, Jenn led North Haven to its first and only state title when the team earned a dramatic victory versus Waterford in the championship game. She went on to pitch for the softball team at Salve Regina University.
Earlier this year, Jenn was recognized for her athletic excellence when she was inducted into the North Haven High School Sports Hall of Fame as part of its Class of 2020.
“It was a great accomplishment. I was very honored,” says Jenn. “Growing up in the town, you hear about everyone that gets inducted. You see it and kind of dream of it, but you never think that one day it could actually be me. It was very honorable to be inducted.”
Jenn says that getting cut in 6th grade was the “turning point” of her career. Jenn remembers crying to her dad, who told her that she had to put in the work and get right back on the mound. One month later, Jenn started training with a pitching coach, in addition to working every night with her dad on things like throwing, hitting, and taking ground balls. Jenn says that experience taught her that hard work “always pays off.”
After training relentlessly, Jenn made her softball team in 7th grade and pitched for the club for the next two years. Once she started pitching at varsity level in high school, Jenn had to learn how to deal with stronger competition and go from striking out batters with fastballs to focusing on location and “making the ball dance.” While undergoing this transition, Jenn grew closer to her teammates as they worked toward a common goal.
“I played with a lot of girls on the team, whether it be through the rec league, travel ball, or summer ball, so it was just like playing with your second family,” Jenn says. “When you went out there, you knew your teammates were going to make the play. You had the utmost confidence in them, because we all had such a great knowledge of the game. We pushed each other and motivated each other. We knew we had a lot of talent, and we made it our goal since I was a freshman to win states.”
Jenn and her squad got their opportunity to fulfill that goal during her junior campaign. North Haven entered the 2008 Class L State Tournament as the No. 2 seed and posted wins over Windsor, Darien, and Mercy to advance to a showdown against Waterford in the final. The contest was tied 4-4 heading into the bottom of the eighth inning. Kelli Griffiths hit a leadoff single and moved to second base on a sacrifice. Brittney Cretella then stepped to the plate and hit a single that drove in Griffiths to secure a 5-4 walk-off win and the state title for North Haven. Jenn notched the victory on the mound by pitching all eight innings in the game.
“It was a surreal moment. All the hard work, all the dedication, all the time we put in finally paid off in that moment,” says Jenn. “The day of, we were so hyped up. We were singing on the bus going to the game. Once we got to the field, a bit of nerves set in, but we just never gave up. Even if there was an error or we let up a hit, we regrouped and pulled ourselves together. When Brittney hit the winning run in, we released our excitement. We were all hugging each other. It was a great sense of accomplishment.”
After graduating from North Haven, Jenn enjoyed a quality career at Salve Regina University in Newport, Rhode Island. She played center field as a freshman before getting back on the hill in her sophomore season. Jenn was named a captain as a junior and continued in that role through her senior year. Jenn pitched 245 innings that season, earning 23 victories to go with a 2.88 earned-run average and 141 strikeouts.
“Like the progression from middle school to high school, in college, I had to continue to excel my game. I went from pitching 40 feet in high school to 43 feet in college. You had to switch up your mechanics,” Jenn says. “But I was able to take the foundation skills from high school—the true knowledge of how to play the game of softball—and put it towards the higher level of play in college. It helped me excel my game to that next level.”
Jenn earned degrees in special education and elementary education at Salve Regina. She taught for seven years at the Elizabeth Ives School for Special Children in North Haven before taking over The Success Program in Norwalk earlier this year. In addition to teaching, Jenn also coached North Haven’s JV softball team for two seasons.
“It was an awesome experience to not only play for North Haven’s coaches, but also to coach with them,” says Jenn. “When you’re younger, you think you know everything. You kind of butt heads with your coaches. But now, coaching, you get a whole different perspective. It’s cool to play for them and then coach with them.”
After getting cut from her 6th-grade team, Jenn vowed to become a force on the pitcher’s mound. As she grew up in the sport, Jenn did exactly that, while earning numerous accolades along the way. Now a member of the North Haven Hall of Fame, Jenn looks back and realizes how playing softball helped her grow as both an athlete and a person.
“Softball kind of molds you as an individual. It helps you with leadership and teamwork, how to work well with others,” Jenn says. “Overall, it has helped shape the person and individual I am today. Lifting people up and being motivating, it gives you a second family kind of vibe. You always have people you can rely on and go to.”