Hopes are high for the Everett High softball team for the 2015 season (if it ever gets underway). Coach Stacy Poste’s Lady Crimson Tide, who compiled a 13-9 overall record last year, which included a victory in the state tournament over Billerica before falling to Concord-Carlisle (which made it to the Division 1 North finals), will consist of a veteran squad that will feature one of the best pitcher-catcher duos in the area in senior pitcher Sydnee Bessler and fellow senior Nicole Sylvester behind the plate.
Four other seniors, Adriana Maini, Mariana McCarthy, Sophia Marchant, and Talia Mirra, are back, along with juniors Erica Ginepra and Talia Riccioli and sophomores Diana Concannon, Hailey Powers, and Samantha Uga. New to the team this year is sophomore Erin Bessler.
“We expect to be in competition for the league title and another chance at the state tournament,” said Poste. “We have a very tough schedule this season, but we know with the group of girls we have coming back we will do well.
The expectations is that we all stay healthy. We have a few girls resting due to getting hurt or just recovering from an injury from previous sports.”
As with most other schools, the 109 inches of snow this winter, which took its time going away, has played a big role in preparing for the coming season.
“I do not recall in my 18 years of coaching ever having a winter like this,” said Poste, whose team’s outdoor practices have been limited to what they can accomplish on the football turf field. “Our practice field and game field were still under snow as of last week. We have been limited to what we can do indoors and are looking forward to being able to work on our outfield play once we get outside.
“I worry about the pitching come May,” continued Poste. “We already have four games per week scheduled and I cannot risk anyone getting hurt. I know many other coaches would agree that it would be beneficial if the MIAA would extend the cut off date by a week.
“We’re hoping that we have improved our hitting,” added the coach. “We struggled a lot with that last year. Defensively, we were spot-on, but lacked at scoring runs because of the lack of hits produced. We have always had great players and this year is no different, every time we step on the field. Our outlook is high as I, along with assistant coach Jenn Nigro, try to motivate the girls through this long indoor season. We need to make sure we play with heart to be champions this season.”
Poste and her crew tentatively are scheduled to open their season Saturday at Winchester.