Softball Defeated by BB&N and Tabor
This past Saturday, Exeter girls’ softball made the trip down to Massachusetts for a daunting tournament against fellow boarding schools BB&N and Tabor Academy, with one game against each team. The girls put up a good fight, but unfortunately couldn’t prevail against either school, coming home with two losses added to their record.
Big Red has had a rough start to the season. With their first three games canceled, the girls missed out on some crucial opportunities to improve their skills and establish team chemistry. While other teams had numerous chances to mesh as a team, the Exeter squad was forced to enter into their first game of the season untested and unestablished as a team. This disadvantage showed itself in both of the girls first games of the season, during which the girls played New Hampton and Worcester Academy.
“We are a young team, so we’re in a rebuilding year of sorts. I think we’ve been doing a good job of keeping steady in games against teams who we are much better than but we’ve struggled to push through against evenly matched teams.”
This week, the girls simply could not keep up against the strong squads of both BB&N and Tabor and suffered multiple tough losses.
The girls hoped to learn from their losses, though, and noted some factors in their gameplay that might have contributed to their below average performance. “In both games it was evident that we needed to cut back on our errors,” lower Lauren Fidelak said of the team. “We were capable of holding both teams and win both games but we just couldn’t finish.”
Upper captain Courtney Gibeley agreed with Fidelak. “The games went well besides the few mistakes,” Gibeley said. “Those teams were not better than us. I think we just need to learn how to finish strong.”
Gibeley had a remarkable performance on Saturday on the pitcher’s mound, putting down perhaps her strongest performance this season, according to Fidelak. Gibeley herself also praised senior Courtney Henrich’s performance in center field. “Courtney Henrich is incredibly reliable in center field. When the ball is hit there with two outs, I’ll just start running off the field because I know she’s going to catch it.”
Senior captain Carly Perreault also praised the efforts of lower Daria Moody in Saturday’s game. “Daria swings lower in our batting order but probably has the one of the best batting averages,” Perreault said. “It's so great to have confidence in our whole lineup.”
Fidelak believes that despite the rough start, the girls have had a strong season so far, with room to improve in the future. “I think the season has been going well so far,” Fidelak said. “We are a young team, so we’re in a rebuilding year of sorts. I think we’ve been doing a good job of keeping steady in games against teams who we are much better than but we’ve struggled to push through against evenly matched teams.”
Fidelak is optimistic about the team’s future and hopes that by the end of the season the girls manage to beat Andover’s squad at least once. Perreault agreed with Fidelak and believes that the team can finish up the year with a strong performance. “We want to have a season we are proud of,” Perreault said.
Big Red hopes to heed Perreault’s message when they face off against Brooks School on Saturday at 3:30 p.m. on the home turf.