Any softball or baseball coach will tell you that one of the most important keys to the success of a team in their sport is strength up the middle.
Hence, the fact that the three returning starters from Pinkerton Academy’s 2015 softball squad are junior shortstop Abby Amato, junior second baseman Nicole Gonya, and junior center fielder Caitlin Hogan, and other varsity returnees include sophomore catcher Makayla Bolduc and junior pitcher/outfielder Carrie St. Peter as well as sophomore hurler Caroline Mills could end up being nothing short of huge for the locals this spring.
Along with being stocked with battle-tested talent from catcher out to center field, second-year coach Kristen Abbott has veteran returnees in junior outfielder Jess Nardozza and sophomore first-baseman/ outfielder Sigourney Lavoie.
All of those skilled players were members of a 2015 Pinkerton contingent that had a rather rough, 5-15 campaign for Abbott that unquestionably hit a high-water mark when the 16th-ranked locals upset the top-seeded Spaulding High Red Raiders in round one of the Division I tournament.
The Lady Astros then had their own season ended with a quarterfinal-round loss to the Concord High Crimson Tide.
The promising newcomers who have been added to the 2015 returnees include senior outfielder Madelyn Urizandi, juniors Giuliana D’India (first base) and Hannah Leonard (outfield), sophomore third baseman Briahna Janulewicz, and freshmen Gabrielle Amero (pitcher) and Amanda Lindquist (catcher/ third base).
Stepping into her second season leading the varsity Lady Astros, Abbott – who will be spending less time giving signals from the third base coaching box as the campaign rolls along as she’s recently learned that she’s pregnant with her first child – has plans for helping her team enjoy a more productive and successful overall season this spring.
Asked what her keys are to having that happen, Abbott said, “Focusing on aggressive at-bats and putting pressure on the defense when we are on base and at the plate. Being a focused team which can execute in the given situations each play of the game. Knowing our strengths and improving our weaker points of the game each time out, and enjoying the game that the girls all love to play and being competitive each game out.”
Looking at what the rest of Division I has to offer in the form of opposing teams this spring, the Pinkerton coach pointed out Londonderry, Timberlane of Plaistow, and Alvirne of Hudson as the opponents that concern her most.
