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08/17/2017 12:00 AMSydney Senerchia put together an exceptional junior season for the North Branford softball team that saw her play a major role both on the mound and at the dish. After seeing playing time here and there in her first two years with the T-Birds, Sydney took full advantage of her increased role during the 2017 campaign, while getting a big boost of encouragement from her teammates along the way.
“This was the first time I was a full-time player and hit the whole year. I played right field for the first half of the season and moved to the mound a lot more toward the end,” says Sydney. “When I first started playing, the whole high school and playing at a higher level stressed me out. I was nervous and scared to fail. This year, I started to learn and notice that every girl had my back and wanted nothing but the best from me. Knowing I had that support really helped me go out there, do my thing, and do it well.”
Sydney made her biggest impact on the pitcher’s mound this spring. The southpaw earned the win in North Branford’s 10-5 victory over Hale-Ray in the championship game of the Shoreline Conference Tournament and then pitched the T-Birds all the way to Class M state final. Sydney ended the season with an 11-4 record, a 1.60 earned-run average, and 134 strikeouts. She also recorded four shutouts for Head Coach Nick DeLizio’s squad.
“Coming into this year, from day one Sydney was throwing really hard. Every time she pitched, she got better and better and gained confidence to compete against other teams,” DeLizio says. “We threw her against high-quality Shoreline opponents, and she didn’t disappoint. She took it right to the playoffs and was throwing better than ever. She had fire behind her pitches, that playmaker attitude, and she was tremendous. She hit her spots, was throwing heat, and we rode the hot hand.”
Sydney puts in a lot of time to sharpen her skills on the hill, and her effort goes beyond the high school season. Sydney’s attentiveness to her craft has helped her develop a wide repertoire of pitches.
“Softball is a year-round sport for me, so I have my pitching lessons every week. We also live next to Northford Park, so if I want to pitch on a field, we’ll drive or walk over. I’m always working on it,” Sydney says. “I have a fastball, two-seam, changeup, screwball, curveball, and a drop. With my changeup, we’ve worked really hard to get it to be a lot slower than my fastball to throw batters off-guard. We make sure it doesn’t spin and dips a little bit to make it more difficult to hit.”
Sydney feels proud that she got the nod to pitch for North Branford throughout the playoffs. It means a lot to Sydney that she helped the Thunderbirds win their third straight Shoreline title and then advance to the program’s first state final since 1975.
“I actually didn’t even know I was pitching in the Shoreline Conference championship until warmups. To me, it felt really good to know I put in that hard work, and coach thought I was worthy of pitching in that situation. Winning was awesome, because it was our third in a row,” she says. “In the state championship, it was so important for me and the town, because we haven’t been there since 1975. To be on that field playing and having the support from the town and our teachers, it was really awesome and meant so much to me.”
With all of her success on the mound, Sydney was also a big-time producer at the plate as North Branford’s cleanup hitter. She posted a .351 batting average with 34 hits, including two home runs (one of which was a grand slam), to go with 17 runs scored and 24 RBI on the season.
“Pitchers don’t have a reputation for hitting well, so to be in the No. 4 spot was a big thing for me,” says Sydney. “I like to think I made a big impact on the team this year. Not only because there were the home runs and RBIs, but when somebody gets a good hit, everybody gets into it. With our team, everybody would start to hit, so I think that was really good for not only me, but everyone.”
Sydney hopes to lead the T-Birds to another successful season as senior, but this time around, she wants them to finish their year with a victory in the state championship game.
“My goal this year is for the team to win another Shoreline championship. That would be awesome, but I hope we can come out with a win this year in the state championship, because everyone thought the success the two years before was because of some good seniors. We proved it wasn’t a phase. We have a young team with a lot of talent, and I’m excited to be a part of it,” Sydney says. “Because we’re from a small town, a lot of us were always playing on the same teams. That really helps bring up our team chemistry. It helps when we’re all friends and get along well.”