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07/07/2016 12:00 AMAli Esposito started her softball career when she was just six years old and promptly earned a spot on East Haven’s varsity squad as a freshman. It was mostly a pinch running capacity for Ali, but she eventually progressed from coming off the bench to earn the team’s starting right fielder’s job. Meanwhile, Ali was also striving to become one of the Yellowjackets’ captains and she earned that position, too, for her recent senior season.
“As a freshman, I knew I wasn’t one of the best players of the upcoming freshman class, so I did anything possible to earn my spot on the team, such as cleaning up the dugout or making sure everything is put away after practice and, as the years went by, I took it upon myself to just make sure things were getting done right to make my coaches lives a bit easier,” says Ali. “As for games and practices, I tried my hardest and put in all the effort I had to prove how good of a player I could be. My one and only goal I made for myself freshman year was to be one of the captains my senior year and I did it, so I’m extremely pleased with my high school career.”
Ali wanted to be a role model for East Haven’s younger players. She says she learned a lot about her leadership qualities while guiding the Yellowjackets this past season.
“Being a member on the team that the girls could look up to and go to for help was one of the perks of my senior year. I was close with a lot of the freshman this year and I couldn’t be more proud of how they were pushing themselves to be the best they could be,” says Ali. “Staying positive and cheerful is what keeps a team pumped up and ready to play every day and, being a leader, I learned I had to set the tone.”
Ali’s speed made her an asset in the No. 9 hole for the Easties. Head Coach Ed Crisafi says it was like he had two leadoff hitters with Ali batting at the tail end of his lineup.
“She was a perfect fit. When she batted ninth, it was like having a second leadoff hitter. When she’d get on, with Allie [Luzzi] and the middle of the order coming up, we’d do some serious damage,” says Coach Crisafi. “Going from first to third, scoring from second, she’s a good bunter. Batting ninth, you need to instill the mentality you’re ninth for a reason as another leadoff hitter. She grasped that concept.”
Ali enjoyed batting ninth because she scored a ton of runs. Having been a pinch runner early in her carer, Ali knew she was ready to wreak havoc on the base paths on a full-time basis.
“When I actually got my spot in the lineup, it came in handy to get an extra hop on the play to first and to steal an extra base, so my teammates could bring me around during their at-bats,” says Ali. “When it came down to it, I was just better in the nine hole. Knowing I was a key component to scoring runs, it only made me more focused on touching home plate.”
One of Ali’s favorite moments with East Haven softball was getting an opportunity to not only play for a state title, but bringing the trophy home when the Yellowjackets beat Fitch in last year’s Class L championship after they had lost in the Class M final the previous season.
“The entire experience was so surreal. Being on that field a second year in a row meant we had something to prove and that’s exactly what we did,” says Ali, who also helped East Haven win its fourth-straight Oronoque Division title this season. “Watching all the hard work the entire team put in during the season finally pay off was a feeling I can’t describe. That team will always be considered my family and I will never forget the times we spent on and off the field.”
Ali has decided to continue her softball career and she’ll be doing so at Division III Albertus Magnus College in New Haven next year. Ali stayed in touch with Albertus’s coach throughout her time in high school and was pretty confident that was the place she was going to call home the next four years.
“I’ve had my mind set on Albertus since the beginning. All I had to do was put the deposit down and sign a few papers,” says Ali. “I’m very excited to meet a whole new team of girls and start completely new with all I’ve learned from my four years at East Haven.”