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05/14/2020 12:00 AMAbby Spivey was happy when she found out that Tori Ramada was taking over as head coach of the Branford softball team last spring. Abby had played softball with Coach Ramada’s sister Angelina beginning in the 4th grade and got to know their family. As Abby entered her junior season, she heard Tori Ramada had been named the Hornets’ coach and knew that was going to prove a good fit for everyone involved.
“It was scary going into junior year, because we didn’t have a coach until a month before the season. No one really knew what was going on. Angelina told me that Tori had applied for the position, but we didn’t know what was going to happen,” Abby says. “We had a meeting where the new coach was introduced, and it was Tori. I was so excited. I knew she would be a great coach. Tori did an amazing job. She really understood the team.”
Abby first stepped on the diamond when she was four years old, starting with baseball after being encouraged to play by her brother. At nine, Abby made the switch to softball and progressively worked her way up the ranks in Branford.
Although Ramada had known Abby for years prior to becoming head coach at the high school, she finally got an opportunity to work with the third baseman during the 2019 season. As the campaign unfolded, Ramada saw Abby use her passion for softball to lead the Hornets. This resulted in Abby earning a captain’s role as a senior this year.
“I’ve known Abby, and I’ve seen Abby develop skills for so many years. Last season, she represented the team as a leader and showed them what was expected,” Coach Ramada says. “Abby proved to the rest of the team that she was able to lead. She had a very bad wrist injury. It put a strain on her, but you could never tell when she was on the field. She played hard to the best of her ability. That right there showed me how big her passion was for the sport and how much she wanted the team to be successful. She will do anything to support her team.”
Abby suffered her wrist injury while pitching in a fall league game during her sophomore year. Abby took a line drive off her right wrist, forcing her to undergo two surgeries. However, rather than sit out, she decided to continue playing. Abby says that she loves softball too much to let an injury keep her off the field.
“I’ve been playing softball forever. It’s my favorite thing in the world. I couldn’t let an injury like that stop me from doing it,” says Abby. “I didn’t want to take a break. I’m really glad I didn’t take a break now and miss my junior year, seeing how senior year went. I couldn’t leave my team hanging, because I had a really key role. I didn’t want to have people take over for me.”
Abby battled back from her wrist injury and went on to have a productive junior year for the Hornets. Late in the season, Abby found herself in a crucial situation when Branford hosted Wilbur Cross. With the score knotted 2-2 in the bottom of the ninth inning, Abby stepped into the batter’s box with senior Lexi Falcigno at third base following a leadoff triple. Abby delivered a single that drove home Falcigno to give Branford a dramatic 3-2 victory. It was moment that Abby will never forget.
“I was having a really good game, and I was pumped the whole time. The whole team was really in the game,” says Abby. “I wasn’t thinking about how, “If I hit this, we win.’ I just wanted to hit something. The whole team started hugging me. We were all jumping up and down. We were all so excited. We all had so much confidence.”
Heading into her senior year, Abby was named one of Branford’s captains alongside fellow seniors Lily Moore-Markey and Madison Acquarulo. Coach Ramada, who describes Abby as “a wall” at third base, says that Abby and the other captains wanted the Hornets to become family and excelled when it came to communicating with both her and their teammates.
For Abby, being selected as a captain was the culmination of all her hard work with the Hornets. She had set that goal for herself as a freshman. Even though Branford isn’t on the field this year, Abby still takes her role as captain seriously and understands how much weight that title holds.
“It was the greatest thing. We found out at our banquet that all three of us were named captains, and the team was so excited for us,” Abby says. “It has always been a dream of mine since I was little. You always hear about the sports captain. I knew I wanted to be that. It was so nice being named one. It’s the most exciting thing that has happened to me in softball for a while. It was such an honor. I wanted to take us to eight wins this year, so we could go to states. It was nice that Coach Ramada and the team had the faith we could do it.”
Abby is unsure if she is going to continue her softball career in college. However, one thing that Abby is certain of is that playing softball in Branford is a huge part of who she is and showed her just how much the sport means to her.
“It’s a great feeling knowing I’ve been able to play the sport for so long,” says Abby. “It’s not an easy sport. It’s tough. It’s mental. I’m very proud to say I’m a softball player.”