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06/17/2016 12:00 AMThe 2016 North Haven softball team featured a mix of savvy seniors and feisty freshmen who helped the Indians reach the postseason, while paving a potential path to a prosperous future.
There were question marks abound for North Haven after the team graduated several key athletes from a 2015 squad that reached the Class L state semis. The Indians started this spring by winning their first three games, then dropped their next four, but responded by taking five of the next eight, including 15-0 shutout of Cross that qualified them for states. North Haven then hit another bump by dropping four of five to close the regular season and didn’t bring much momentum to the Class L bracket, although that didn’t matter to the Indians, who posted a 3-0 win over East Lyme before their season ended with a 3-1 loss to Lauralton Hall.
North Haven started five freshmen in the Lauralton Hall game and Coach Maher was pleased to see how well they meshed with the veterans to help the Indians see some playoff success.
“We had a lot of positions to fill with different kids in and out and [the freshmen] ended up winning the positions at the end. We told that the kids that it didn’t matter how old they were. Whoever got the job done was going to start,” said Head Coach Sally Maher, whose team finished at 10-12. “The future is definitely bright. It’s a talented group that will only get better.”
Coach Maher said her team’s progression was evidenced by wins in rematches with two opponents that defeated North Haven early on. North Haven took a 5-0 home loss to Law on April 20, but came back to prevail 6-3 at Law two weeks later. Another team the Indians exacted revenge against was Foran, which defeated Maher’s squad 9-6 in the teams’ initial meeting on April 18 before North Haven tamed the Lions by a 7-2 final the following month.
“Law was a big win for us. We had to get that game back to makes states and that was a big one at their place. We also beat Foran the second time around and they went all the way to the [Class L] semis. So we got two of those losses back in the second round, which was big and got us closer to .500,” Maher said. “I think we were better than we thought. We weren’t sure what to expect this year with so many question marks and I was pleasantly surprised with the end result.”
North Haven was led by three seniors who each received a nice prize at season’s end. The Indians’ captains were left fielder Jill Oestreicher and right fielder Antonia Barbiero. Oestreicher batted .328 with 19 hits, a .361 on-base percentage, and made no errors on her way to earning All-SCC Oronoque Division honors. Barbiero, who had two triples at the dish and three assists from the outfield, took home the team’s Sportsmanship Award.
“Jill was steady for us and a good leader. She and Tone did an excellent job as captains this year. Jill had good numbers at the plate and was really steady in the outfield. Tone just represents us really well. She’s a blue-collar kid who works hard every day. She has a quick release, reads the ball well off the bat, and comes up with some good throws,” Coach Maher said. “Tone is a little more outgoing than Jill, but both are good leaders and go-betweens between the players and coaches who organized good things with the fundraising and keep kids up when they’re down. They’re both positive people, which is good.”
The Indians’ other senior was catcher Rachel Card, who had 16 hits and recorded 13 assists from behind the plate. Card made the All-Oronoque Team, was chosen to play in the Scholar-Athlete Classic, and was also named North Haven’s Most Valuable Player.
“Rachel was our starting catcher the last two years. She calls the pitches and did a good job of working with [pitchers Lauren Card and Ava Mattei] and they both got better,” Maher said. “Rachel batted third or fourth for most of the year and is a good contact hitter. Defensively, she gets the job done. Not many tried to steal on her and, the ones that did, she got most of them out.”
North Haven’s pitchers were Mattei, a junior lefty; and Lauren Card, a freshman right-hander. Mattei won four games, threw a no-hitter in the states-clinching win versus Cross, and she also hit .333 with a .391 on-base percentage before suffering an injury, after which Card manned the mound the rest of the way. Card finished with six wins, including the East Lyme victory in states, and pitched to a 1.97 earned-run average with 55 strikeouts in 78.2 innings.
“As a freshman, Lauren was a real cool costumer. We didn’t have an easy schedule and, even if they hit her, she kept her composure, got a lot of ground balls, and the kids made the plays behind her,” said Maher. “It was neat to see her and her sister work together. They’d always played for different teams.”
In addition to Lauren Card, North Haven’s freshmen who started in the last game of the season were center fielder Peyton Davis, who batted .313 on 21 hits with a .370 on-base percentage and five stolen bases; third baseman Haylee Garthwait; shortstop Olivia Peterson, who hit .286 and had a .419 on-base percentage; plus Caitlin Ranciato, the designated player who batted .320 and hit two triples. Sophomore Ashleigh Zapanata started as the designated player in the East Lyme game.
Coach Maher also handed out a Most Improved Player Award to junior Ariana DelVecchio, who moved from third base to second and wound up hitting .306 on 19 hits, including three doubles and three triples, to go with 11 runs scored and 11 RBI. DelVecchio will captain the club next year with Anna Stowe, who played some first base and the outfield as a junior this season.
“Ariana was steady at second base and seemed more comfortable over there. She was a good vocal leader on the field, as well,” said Maher. “She went 3-for-4 in the Foran win and had a really good postseason at the plate. She batted cleanup in the postseason.”
The rest of North Haven’s varsity roster featured juniors Laurissa Amaker, who started at first base; outfielder Carly VanDuesen; Caitlin Balzano, who did some pinch running; plus infielders Jordan Vaccaro and Alex Affinito; along with sophomores in catcher Caroline Gabrielle and infielder Olivia Affinito; in addition to freshmen Sarah Lombardi and Gianna Russo.
Coach Maher was assisted by JV coach Karen Castagnola, Roy Castagnola, her father Frank Maher, Joel Kaletsky, and Vin Cretella.