Mackenzie Lewis
Sports Editor
@MLewisCourant
With the loss of only three players and a team full of underclassmen, the softball team is looking to bounce back from its 11-11 record last year. Led by captains, senior Jamie Schlim and junior Claire Conley, the duo is looking to take their small, seventeen-player program and take them into the FCIAC and state playoffs.
Although the team lost Rachel Kortman, Colette Pellegrini, and Ali Reilly who graduated last year, the team is looking to rebuild the program with its strong group of underclassmen. “We lost two of our star players and we also got very few new freshmen,” Claire said. “Our team is lacking depth, but I hope some people will work hard and strongly contribute to our relatively young and inexperienced team.”
Assistant coach Rich Bulan, who is in his second year of coaching the team alongside head coach Danielle Simoneau, sees an improvement in the team from last year. “I’m really excited about the young talent we have coming back,” Mr. Bulan said. “We had five girls on the starting lineup last year as freshmen that are all coming back as sophomores now that are a little bit better, a little bit stronger. They’ve played solid for us.”
Out of the nine starting players, eight of them are underclassmen. Even though the team is very young, they are looking to be more competitive this year. “I know that these girls are coming out willing to work hard,” Claire said. “But, in games it will really comes down to which team wants to win the most regardless of raw skill.”
Mr. Bulan agreed that with practice and hard work come rewards. He emphasized that the key to having a good softball team is to have a good pitcher. Jamie has been pitching for the Rams for the past two years and will be continuing her softball career at the University of Virginia next year. “I think that if we can pitch, we are solid all the way through the line up,” Mr. Bulan said. “We are solid at catcher, shortstop, first, second and third base, and the outfield. We are a very solid team, it is just a matter of how our pitching is going to lead us.”
Although the team hopes to have a successful record this season, the captains feel that the most important aspect of the team is to make sure that every player is enjoying the sport. “I want everyone comes out to the field everyday excited and ready to play,” Claire said. “It’s vital that we have fun. You can’t win unless you enjoy what you are trying to win at.”
