By John Orrell, Contributing Writer
Hudson — Just like in Presidential politics, momentum both out of the gate and down the stretch can mean everything for high school sports teams.
Take the Hudson High varsity softball team as one of the area’s most high-octane, high- momentum teams. Coming off an under-.500 season in 2015, the Hawks proceeded to run off eight wins out of the first nine contests before a slight mid-season slide. Confidence never wavered at any point even after a difficult May 14 evening matchup, falling to Auburn, 2-0.
But the team found that surge once more and following its slick 8-5 home, come-from-behind victory over always-tough Holy Name High (12-3) on May 16 that notched a home playoff berth, this Hawk bunch (10-3) is poised and ready for good things as District playoffs loom just ahead.
“We’ve struggled the last two years but this year, everything’s coming together,” said fourth-year head coach Mary Beth Cashman, who is assisted by Laura Bowen, Ray Girard, Steve Jones and team managers Shay Waldsmith and Maddie Haufe. “We don’t have any injuries to speak of, knock on wood. These kids have been playing together for four or five years and it’s evident because you can see that they work really well together.”
“We’re together as a team this year. There’s no drama,” echoed senior co-captain Steph Hamilton. “We’re all really friendly and close and do a lot of team bonding. I think that’s why we have such good chemistry,
“Before every game, we’re always excited to play. We’re always laughing but really serious when we’re warming up. When we’re on the bus, we’re always really serious and I think that really helps keep the focus and makes us play well.”
Hudson brought in a pair of runs in the second inning on a pair of Napoleon miscues sandwiched around singles by Keaton Parshaw and Sydney Chiasson, her first of four batting out of the leadoff spot. Holy Name would put up three runs in the sixth inning for a 5-3 advantage, but it was here where the Hawks dug deep and sent home five runs of their own in the bottom of the inning that would prove decisive.
Emily White reached on a fielder’s choice setting the stage for consecutive singles by Chiasson, Hamilton and Haley Gaffney. With the bases full of Hawks, freshman pitcher Sophia Togneri gave herself and her team the win with a rocket to right-center that chased home all three teammates and put this one out of reach.
“I’ve been going through a slump the last couple of games so I just wanted to make good, solid contact with the ball because I haven’t for the past three or four games and that’s all I was really thinking,” explained Togneri of her decisive at-bat. “I knew I had to come up with a clutch hit so I could do my job for the team.
“When I hit it, it felt like a pop-up to me but with the wind I guess it went further than I thought. So then I was expecting maybe two runs to score but they all scored because they’re (baserunners) all super-quick.”
Cashman has gotten the job done with a total team effort. Her roster consists of seniors Keaton Prashaw (C/OF), Haley Gaffney (1B), Keeliey Zompetti (2B/SS), Steph Hamilton (3B), Kelsey Gallagher (C/UT); juniors Savanna Fillmore (OF), Sydney Chiasson (CF), Miranda Mcllvene (OF), Amanda Doucette (SS/2B), Michelle Perry (P); sophomores Maddie Haufe (UT), Grace Harney (C) and freshmen Natalie Bishop (2B/3B), Sophia Togneri (P) and Emily White (OF).
With a schedule packed with makeup games on many consecutive days due to early-season washouts, the team will need to stay both healthy and motivated moving forward. That should not be a problem, according to senior co-captain Haley Gaffney.
“Everyone needs to continue to do their job and focus on the things we need to focus on,” she explained. “We’ve been talking a lot about clutch hitting, making sound contact with the ball and really focusing at practice. Knocking down balls both in the infield and outfield and keep having good chemistry and supporting one another is what we need most.
“Every time you’re up at bat, you’re going to have a million people screaming for you and we make sure to talk about that as captains. It just feels good at the plate hearing your teammates support you and wanting you to do well.”
Facing tough competition and prevailing is a huge momentum-builder, said Cashman. With crunch-time rapidly approaching, keeping spirits high and enjoying the ride are just what is needed.
“Playing teams like this (Holy Name) really helps us,” said Cashman. “This is the kind of competition we’re going to see. We have to stay focused in practice. This late in the season, the games really are like practice. Taking each at-bat seriously is what we have to do and that’s what they’re doing so I think we’ll be ok.”
Photos/Jeff Slovin