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05/20/2024 12:37 AMWhenever a team combines schools to form a common goal of winning a championship, it can often be difficult for the athletes to come together and build a community atmosphere. The Old Saybrook/Westbrook (OSW) softball team has overcome any preseason fears and found its way to a postseason berth this spring.
After a season last year that saw the Knights finish with a record of 4-20, the girls were determined to come back even stronger this year and build on their weaknesses. Head Coach Russell Scovin, who is in his second year at the helm, has seen marked improvements from the squad that houses several veterans full of experience.
“As far as wins and losses, it has been pretty good. We are 11-9 right now, and last year we only won four games out of 20,” said Scovin. “We have more experience this year. We have some new players and a few good freshmen that are helping out. It is more of a dynamic team this season compared to last year.”
The Knights enter the Shoreline Conference Tournament seeded at No. 6, and on a larger scale, they compete in Class S for state tournament action and will play as the 20th seed. The Knights have heavily relied on their leaders for support as they’ve navigated their way to a winning record.
Senior captain and first baseman Kelly Walsh (OS) has been at the heart of the victory-hungry squad, constantly pushing her teammates to stay on track and keep their eyes on the prize.
“She has done well; she leads the team, although she is not a vocal captain,” said Scovin. “She prods people to do the right things. She really leads by example to a lot of the other younger players.”
Elsewhere, Jen Neigel (sophomore, pitcher, OS) and Emerson “Emmie” Cooke (freshman, pitcher, OS) have consistently been the top arms for the team this spring, holding opposing offenses to very few runs to allow the Knights to win games.
“They both have been our two mainstay pitchers this season. I usually put in Emmie for the less experienced teams, and I have Jen start for the bigger teams,” said Scovin. “Jen has also come in during three games to save. I throw in a couple of other pitchers for clean-up innings, as well.”
Looking even further to the larger scope of the team makeup, Justine Freis (freshman, catcher, OS), Ellie Pennington (junior, shortstop, OS), Natalia Fineza (sophomore, third baseman, Westbrook), and Lauren Kapp (junior, second baseman, OS) have additionally been top performers to put their team in a position to succeed.
“Justine has really come a long way this season. She really hits the ball well hitting second in our lineup,” said Scovin. “Ellie is a good leadoff hitter, and Natalia is also one of our leaders. She also gets on base a lot, gets a lot of hits, and brings life to our team too. Lauren has been our mainstay at second base. She is a very steady fielder and gets on base a lot.”
In the later half of the regular season, OSW faced a collection of high-stakes matchups that helped to punch its postseason ticket.
On May 7, the Knights played a conference game against the Portland Highlanders and pulled out a tight 1-0 victory. Portland originally forfeited the game because they only had eight players, so OSW lended a player to make the contest happen.
Then the next day, OSW traveled to Coginchaug and lost 7-1 before defeating a tough opponent in Cromwell, 2-0, on May 10.
“We qualified for states with the game against Portland. We beat Cromwell for our ninth win. The team was very excited,” said Scovin. “I don't think our team was expected to win this many games, so the bus ride home was very lively.”
With the Knights having eight returning players this year out of 17, as well as the talented newbies, Scovin is confident in the mix of experience levels and the depth and balance it provides up and down the roster.
“Some of the new players that joined the team this season are more experienced. We have some girls who played for Cromwell last year that joined our team,” said Scovin. “We have a lot of experience this year. Some of them are freshmen, and some are just starting to play softball this year.”
The Knights have been pushed to their limit on several occasions throughout the campaign, but overall they’ve been able to stay healthy and put themselves in an even better place to succeed, making it an all-systems-go approach moving forward.
“Our center fielder had a bruised ankle and then came back to practice and broke her thumb and suffered a mild concussion, which took another 10 days for her to come back,” Scovin said. “Other than that, the team has been healthy. We have not had a lot of injuries.”
Scovin is assisted in the dugout by Abby Fredrickson.
The Knights full team roster is comprised of Walsh, Sabrina Perreria (senior, outfielder, OS), Kapp, Pennington, Emelia Walker (junior, outfielder, OS), Maddie Valainte (junior, outfielder, Westbrook), Ellen Ferraina (sophomore, catcher/outfielder, OS), Fineza, Maddie Gutzmer (sophomore, outfielder, OS), Brooke Kaluski (sophomore, outfielder/second base, Westbrook), Neigel, Gabby Perreria (sophomore, outfielder, OS), Maria Sicha (sophomore, outfielder, Westbrook), Cooke, Julia Delana (freshman, outfielder, Westbrook), Freis, and Olivia Gormley (freshman, first base, OS).
Old Saybrook/Westbrook Softball 2024 Regular Season Results:
March 30: H-K 13, OSW 1
April 1: OSW 14, Whitney Tech 0
April 5: Hale Ray 19, OSW 0
April 16: OSW 20, Valley Regional 3
April 19: OSW 12, Portland 0
April 22: OSW 11, Cromwell 8
April 23: North Branford 9, OSW 0
April 27: OSW 10, East Hampton 6
April 29: OSW 10, Putnam 8
May 1: Old Lyme 19, OSW 1
May 3: Hale Ray 6, OSW 0
May 4: OSW 8, Morgan 4
May 7: OSW 1, Portland 0
May 8: OSW 1, Coginchaug 7
May 10: OSW 2, Cromwell 0
May 11: Coginchaug 5, OSW 0
May 13: Valley Regional 9, OSW 1
May 17: OSW 14, Whitney Tech 3
May 18: OSW 15, Putnam 5
May 18: Old Lyme 4, OSW 0