Hannah Bolandian ’19
It’s the bottom of the seventh inning. The score is 3-3, and Staples is up at bat. The pitch is thrown, and Staples slams the bat against the ball sending it out of the park. Staples ends the game with another win to add to their record.
For the first time since 2015, the Staples girls’ softball team has qualified for the upcoming state tournament. With an overall record of 10-5, the girls have ensured themselves a spot in the tournament and will devote the next few weeks to preparing.
This season the team has come together, beating other towns they didn’t expect to due to last year’s stats. They owe those victories to bonding on and off the field, as well as optimistic attitudes from each player going into the season. “We are a very close-knit team which I think changed a lot this year. [We] really work well together as a team,” captain Taylor Rochlin ’18 said. “Everyone changed their attitudes this year. [We are all] way more positive for the team rather than [our]selves.”
During the preseason, the team got together multiple times a week and put in more work than ever before. They started lifting, hitting twice a week and participated in a winter tournament that had them playing two games every weekend.
Rochlin said that the team is filled with lots of talent and potential. However, her only concern about the upcoming tournament is the youth of the team. “At the end of the day we have a very young team, and I think some teams like Cheshire, Trumbull and Southington will take it all the way because they have older teams with strong girls,” she said. “But, I do have confidence we can make it pretty far because we have the mindset and the talent to do so.”
First year varsity member Miranda Rodriguez ’21 feels confident about the girls’ ability to work together to reach success in the postseason. “Our team’s strength this season was definitely motivation,” Rodriguez said. “Every practice we would always focus on one thing that we were struggling with, and have it be our goal to fix for the next game.”
With the first round of games in the state tournament coming up, Staples continues to practice daily on and off the field. “We’re excited and ready for this,” Maddie McGarry ’19, third year varsity member, said. “I’ve been waiting years for this, and I think our team is a group of girls who can pull it off.”
The girls have high hopes as the regular season comes to an end. “All I can hope is that we give it a 110 percent and go as far as we can,” Rodriguez said. “I trust my team that we never give up in these games and try our best.”