Softball Maintains Season Record

After a strong outing against New Hampton, narrowly winning 10-7, and a lopsided loss against Worcester Academy, Big Red’s varsity softball maintained their .500 record at 2-2. With nice weather throughout the week, the girls appreciated being back on the dirt after having to play on Hatch Field’s turf weeks ago.

New Hampton was a strong game for the team. As lower Kaleigh Conte put it, “We got the bats going.” With home runs from upper Brittani Chapman and Conte, the team’s powerful offense was a force to be reckoned with.

Additionally, the team was strong in the field across the board as the outfield kept Big Red in the game. Conte added, “They (the outfielders) led our team. After a bump in the last couple of innings, our pitcher, Courtney, rallied the team together and finished the game with three strikeouts.”

“We had some really strong hits in both games, but against Worcester, they were sporadic and we could not manufacture as many runs as we needed.”

Similarly, lower Menat Bahnasy added that the spectacular fielding throughout the game made an important difference to stop New Hampton from bringing in some crucial runs and believes that the consistent hitting is what overall affected the outcome of that game. Conte went on to mention, “Everyone played well. Courtney dug really deep and had a strong game.”

Captain and senior Courtney Gibeley emphasized that the team chemistry has been really influential recently as everyone is supporting and encouraging one another to really work their hardest. She added that in terms of technique, the team needs to focus on not destroying the ball but rather “to just do our job and move runners over/get on base.” Looking to the future Gibeley expressed the importance of improving communication on the field for the team to be at its best.

“I’m happy that everyone picks themselves up pretty quickly after making a mistake which is a huge difference from last year,” Gibeley added.

Conte expressed the importance of teamwork and is pleased with how her respective captains have led the team. She said, “Our captains Sequioa and Courtney were a real presence both on and off the field and motivated everybody.”

However, the team hit a standstill against Worcester as they found difficulty in bringing their hitters home. As lower Ella Johnson said, “Although we hit okay in the Worcester game we had a hard time linking our hits together to get runners in and had some defensive errors.”

Captain and senior Sequioa Johnson agreed. “We had some really strong hits in both games, but against Worcester, they were sporadic and we could not manufacture as many runs as we needed,” she said.

Bahnasy had an optimistic attitude when reflecting on the game. “As for Worcester, it was only a matter of a really nice hit they had which brought in a few runs for them. Otherwise, it was a totally winnable game, and we played very well,” she said.

Upper Bella Thilmany noted that the team also struggled at first because the last two pitchers were slower than expected and consequently struggled at times as hitters swung ahead of the ball.

With heavy hitters and a flowing defensive, Big Red’s success should continue as they face Cushing Academy and NMH this upcoming week.