The North Branford softball team exceeded expectations this spring with a young team, putting together a 13-7 regular season to earn spots in both the Shoreline and Class M tournaments. Unfortunately, the Thunderbirds were eliminated in the first round of both, ending the season 13-9 overall.

"Our goal every year is to qualify for Shorelines and states, which we certainly did," Head Coach TJ Schatz said. "But once we got there, we could've proven ourselves a little more."

In both tournaments, the T-Birds lost the opening game 6-4. The fact they even got there was still an accomplishment because of the uncertainty surrounding the team coming into the season, the biggest being on the mound with the loss of Meagan Halligan. Senior captain Tori Ramada and freshman Lindsay Golia were the replacements for Halligan and got the job done.

"I think they did a tremendous job," Schatz said. "They're different style pitchers than Megan was. Megan has a lot more velocity, but they learned to pitch to batters. They put the ball in play a little bit more so we had to rely on our defense."

Golia led the two with a 3.25 ERA, striking out more than a batter per inning and allowing less hits than innings pitched. She also won five of her seven starts. Ramada started 11 games, winning six decisions.

The T-Birds' other question marks entering 2013 were in the field. Schatz wasn't sure where exactly his players would line up defensively on any given night, but everyone's versatility proved to be an asset.

"It worked out as we moved girls around positions throughout the year," he said. "It was probably our best mix defensively so there was no recourse and everyone responded well and worked as hard as they could."

Where the Thunderbirds really shined was at the plate. They hit .305 as a team with junior Kayla Nowak leading the way with a .476 clip. Her 39 hits and 28 RBI also led the team and earned her team MVP, as well as Second Team All-Shoreline honors. Having her in the lineup again next year is something Schatz is happy about.

"Losing three full-time seniors is always hard to replace, but we have a good young core with Kayla being one of the better hitters in the conference," Schatz said.

One of those leaving seniors is shortstop Sam Monaco. She was not only a great defensive shortstop, but could swipe a bag when asked to do so and led the team with two home runs. She also hit .317, was the team leader in runs scored with 24, and was a member of the All-Shoreline First Team. Aside from her skills, Monaco was the other captain on the T-Birds and formed a real bond with her teammates, which made her an excellent leader. For their efforts as captains, Monaco and Ramada were both recipients of the Desire and Dedication Award.

Emily Desorbo is the other outgoing senior North Branford must replace, but freshmen Haley Basil and Sabrina Lemere, who both hit over .300, look primed to move up in the order to make up for what's going to be lost.

Nowak and Meghan Augur will be the captains next season and Golia should assume the starting pitcher position.

"Giving Lindsay some varsity time this year will only improve her and get her ready for next year," Schatz said.