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07/06/2017 12:00 AMJess Stettinger is the type of player who doesn’t come through the high school ranks very often. Jess was ready to step on the varsity field for the East Haven softball squad in her freshman season and made a significant impact right off the bat. Jess has done nothing but get better since then and, this spring, she earned All-SCC First Team and All-State honors for the Yellowjackets.
“It was really exciting. I don’t think I was nervous, but I had jitters before my first game. I wasn’t completely nervous, but I had that pit in my stomach that I had to play good,” says Jess about cracking the varsity lineup as a freshman. “I never want to disappoint, so me never wanting to disappoint made me always play hard to make the team happy. I never want to let anybody down.”
Jess’s freshman season with the Easties was about as memorable as it gets. Jess not only earned a spot on the varsity squad, she also helped the Yellowjackets win the Class L state championship with a 4-2 victory versus Fitch.
“That was my favorite year. To be a part of that team was like playing with no other team. There was always energy on the field and, even when we were losing, we knew we’d come back,” Jess says. “It felt even better because nobody thought we could do it. The year before me, we lost five starters and had to rebuild the team. There were big shoes to fill, and nobody thought we could do it, but since we did, it felt really good.”
From then to now, Yellowjackets’ Head Coach Ed Crisafi has seen plenty of progression from Jess on the softball field. In her recent junior season, Jess led East Haven with a .477 batting average, a .547 on-base percentage, seven home runs, and 28 RBI. She finished with 31 total hits and is just seven shy of 100 for her career.
“She came in as a freshman and was a little intimidated with [Allie Luzzi] and the rest of the elder statesmen, so she just tried to fit in, rather than just playing. Now, there’s no better catcher in the state,” Crisafi says. “Nobody has a better arm, so teams don’t run on her and, offensively, she’s always hit the ball hard, but now she has a little lift to her ball, as evidenced by her seven home runs. Lauralton walked her intentionally three times and twice to load the bases in the [State Tournament]. That’s the kind of respect she has around the league.”
Jess is one of East Haven’s captains, and so it’s a natural fit for her to play the catcher’s position. Jess has worked hard to become a quality catcher, and she knows that baserunners are always keeping a close eye on what she’s doing behind the plate.
“To be a catcher, you’re the leader on the field. My team has always been there to give me confidence to go out and play my hardest,” says Jess, who also plays volleyball and basketball for East Haven. “As a catcher, I don’t like when people take big leads, so I fake to first a lot to keep them on their toes. I’ve worked a lot on my arm, because I never want to give up a free base.”
Jess’s defensive skills were complemented by her production at the plate this season, and it resulted in her earning spots on both the All-SCC and All-State squads.
“It just makes me feel like I’ve worked hard for what I’ve done and what I have. There is still so much more to accomplish, but that’s a big one, and it means the world to me. I definitely couldn’t go All-State without my team,” she says. “I was seeing the ball very well this year. My first two years, I was young and not as confident as I am now. Now that I’m older, I’m one that my teammates look up to and I play a key role.”
With one more high school softball season still on the way, Jess feels eager to see what East Haven can achieve in 2018. The team is returning nearly its entire varsity lineup, and so Jess believes that the Yellowjackets can have a great campaign.
“I want to lead the team to success, and I want the younger kids to have fun,” says Jess. “Anything is easy to grasp if you play your hardest and believe. What is left for me is to let them have fun, and everything else will fall into place.”
Looking beyond high school, Jess hasn’t reached any decision about where she’s going to college, although she has participated in several showcases, so that more coaches can see her skills on the diamond.
“There are a lot of different schools I’ve been talking to that are looking at me. I’m just looking for the school that’ll offer me the most and that has what I want to do for the rest of my life after college,” says Jess. “My options are open to anything. You’ve got to have a good program for me to get my education, because that’s what is important to me.”