Softball Returns Victorious

Big Red’s varsity softball competed at the annual Big East tournament at Brooks school this past weekend, which they have been preparing for all season. The team came out with big bats and a lockdown defense, shutting out Nobles for a 6-0 win.

Lower Ella Johnson believed it was the best game of the season. According to her, co-captain and senior Courtney Gibeley pitched a great game by digging deep along with the outfield and had no errors throughout. Lower Kaleigh Conte agreed that the game was one of their best. “Our first game we played against number two Nobles was one of our best games this season. We had no errors and Courtney pitched an awesome game, minimizing her walks and allowing no runs to score,” she said.

The turnaround time before their second game against Buckingham Browne & Nichols school was 30 minutes. Conte believes the team’s difficulty at bat was partially due to this short timing between games. “We seemed a little tired and flat,” Conte said. Both Gibeley and upper Lauren Fidelak had very strong showings in the game both offensively and on the defensive end. However, Konte went on to note that the team’s mentality hurt them as BB&N soon began to dominate, ending the game at 11-1. “We seemed to lose focus after they had scored a couple of runs, and I think we all wished we could have bounced back stronger,” Konte said

"I think we did a fair job of executing control throughout the tournament, but we did a really good job with picking ourselves back up after losing to BB&N, and played a good game against Worcester."

For their last game of the day, Big Red teed off against Worcester Academy. Although the team showed promise throughout, Worcester squeezed out a 13-8 win during an International Tie Breaker. “I think we did a fair job of executing control throughout the tournament, but we did a really good job with picking ourselves back up after losing to BB&N, and played a good game against Worcester. We just couldn’t hit in as many girls as we needed in the 8th inning (the International Tie Breaker),” prep Maddie Moon said.

Conte agreed, saying, “Our third game against Worcester went much better, although we couldn’t secure the win.” She also discussed how Worcester continued to hit through the gaps, which Exeter could do little to stop. Additionally, although Big Red had many great hits, without a fence in the outfield, the team felt they were robbed of several home runs that would have drastically altered the end result.

“Although disappointed, we are even more motivated for the week ahead of us. Also, a huge congrats to [Fidelak] who made the all-tournament team!” Conte said. Fidelak was a standout player in the tournament and was selected by several coaches for the team.

Looking ahead, Moon said, “As a team we talked about how we just need to focus on getting the third out, since during our games this weekend, a lot of the runs were scored against us were on two outs.” Big Red will play Andover this weekend.