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04/08/2017 12:00 AMLast season, the North Haven softball team saw several freshmen gain critical varsity experience while helping the Indians win 10 games, including one in the Class L State Tournament. This year, those battle-tested athletes are back on the diamond alongside a couple of veterans, and together they’re aiming to help the Indians move up a few rungs on the SCC and state ladders.
North Haven is coming off a campaign in which it had an up-and-down regular season that culminated with a 9-11 record. The Indians then shut out East Lyme 3-0 in the first round of states before taking a 3-1 loss versus Lauralton Hall to finish at 10-12. North Haven saw five freshmen start against Lauralton Hall, and each one of them returns a year wiser this spring, giving Head Coach Sally Maher an optimistic feeling about her squad’s prospects for 2017.
“We had five freshmen on the field at the end of the season last year, and now they’re sophomores and have a year under their belt and are more experienced and more confident this year,” said Maher, whose team is 1-1 to start the year. “And they got to go to states, so now they’re hungry to improve on last year, when we were around .500. They want to go deep into the tournament.”
One of the Indians’ rising sophomores is pitcher Lauren Card, who stormed onto the scene by winning six ballgames, while posting a 1.97 earned-run average in 78.2 innings last season. North Haven took a 4-3 loss to Amity on walk-off homer in the bottom of the eighth inning in this year’s opener, but Maher said that Card pitched well by allowing just five hits and no walks. She later pitched a three-hitter when the Indians blanked Branford 16-0 on April 8. Card will be dealing to junior Caroline Gabrielle, who takes over behind the dish after serving as North Haven’s backup catcher last year.
“Lauren did a great job as a freshman and she’s been working on her pitches. She has better command of her pitches and is a smarter pitcher this year,” said Maher. “Lauren and Caroline worked together in the fall and winter league and Caroline caught her on JV and varsity last year, so they know each other. Caroline is a great defensive catcher. She really gets her body behind every ball and they are very few that get by her. She really is mechanically sound.”
Card features a drop ball and a curve in her repertoire, and so she induces a lot of ground balls. Consequently, there is a heavy emphasis for North Haven to play sound defense on the infield. The Indians’ infield will be anchored by senior captain second baseman Ariana DelVecchio, who won North Haven’s Most Improved Player Award after posting a .306 batting average last spring. DelVecchio, a three-year varsity starter, is joined in the captain’s chair by Anna Stowe, who can play either first base or the outfield.
Coach Maher said both captains did a great job of making sure the Indians got in their reps during both the offseason and preseason, despite the fact that the inclement weather forced them to practice indoors throughout the past few weeks.
“All the opportunities that were presented, the captains were involved to make it happen. They’ve been great, and the kids have been good with the bad weather. We’ve only been on the field twice and the second time was our game against Amity,” Maher said. “Ariana is more vocal; she’s our voice. Anna is a hard-working, lead-by-example kid who won’t ask any kid to do something she won’t do herself, whether it’s at practice or anywhere else.”
Going around the horn, senior Laurissa Amaker, junior Delia Hawkes, and Stowe are all in the mix to see time at first base. Hawkes started at first in the season opener. Amaker can also play right field and she got the nod to start out there versus Amity, lacing a two-run single that gave North Haven a 3-2 lead in the sixth inning. Sophomore Caitlin Ranciato will play shortstop after batting .320 last season, while Haylee Garthwright returns to the hot corner to play the third base position she earned in 2016.
Moving to the outfield, sophomore Peyton Davis is back as the starting center fielder on the heels of a season that saw her hit .313. Sophomore Olivia Peterson will play left field after hitting .286 with a .419 on-base percentage, while playing some shortstop last year. Amaker and senior Carly VanDuesen are vying for playing time in right field, and Ashleigh Zapanta will likely factor into that equation, although she is currently sidelined with an injury.
Even though Davis is only a sophomore, Coach Maher said that she’s looking for her to lead the way in the outfield as the one returning starter.
“Peyton does a great job with seeing the ball well off the bat and we’re hoping she’s more of a leader out there this year. She had [last year’s senior captains Jill Oestreicher and Antonia Barbiero] as her bookends last year, and now she’s the lone returning starting outfielder,” Maher said. “Peyton was a mainstay last season. She earned the job as a freshman and never lost it.”
As the Indians embark on another season, they’re doing so while competing in a newfangled Oronoque Division. The SCC changed up its divisions this year and, although North Haven and Wilbur Cross are still in the Oronoque, they’re now joined by Lauralton Hall, Sheehan, and Lyman Hall, while Branford, East Haven, and Career were placed in different divisions. Still, regardless of which teams are in their division, Coach Maher wants the Indians to strive toward claiming the Oronoque title they last won in 2012 and then assert themselves as a factor in postseason play.
“We definitely want to be competitive in our new division. Our goal is always to be competitive or try to win it, and it’s nice to get in the SCC Tournament, which we haven’t been in a few years,” she said. “And of course, we’re always trying to do better in the State Tournament. We made the second round last year and we want to go a little deeper. I don’t think those are lofty goals at all. I think they’re obtainable.”
Once again, Coach Maher will be assisted by JV Coach Karen Castagnola, Roy Castagnola, her father Frank Maher, Joel Kaletsky, and Vin Cretella.
Four days after playing Amity, North Haven had a game in Branford and came away with a 16-0 victory for its first win of the season. Card tossed a three-hitter with seven strikeouts for the Indians. Russo and Ranciato both hit triples and had four and three RBI, respectively, to lead the offense.