Printer Friendly Version - Valley Softball Saw Many Strides Forward in Seven-Win Season

Riley Soares was a Second Team All-Shoreline Selection and senior leader for the seven-win Valley Regional softball team this year. Photo by Wesley Bunnell/The Courier

Raegan Wyrebek-Brasky was one of four members of a star-studded senior class for the Warriors’ softball squad this spring that helped mentor several underclassmen starters. Photo by Wesley Bunnell/The Courier

Despite coming up just short of the main stage of the postseason dance, the Valley Regional softball team still punched a ticket to playing beyond the regular season. Additionally, the Warriors cultivated more confidence towards the road ahead by having several young upstarts step up and take on the tougher tasks without any trepidation.

The Warriors finished with seven victories in a 20-game regular season slate. While Valley did not qualify for state tournament action, its mark was good enough to qualify for the Shoreline Conference Tournament. The seventh-seeded Warriors took a 9-1 quarterfinal loss to No. 2 Old Lyme to finish the season 7-14 overall.

Head Coach Olivia Whitehead said that through her second year, while the girls did come up just one victory shy of punching a ticket to states, the team made marked improvements from 2023. The Warriors not only flipped the script against a pair of Shoreline rivals, but they embraced the ambition of challenging themselves away from the Shoreline.

“Our goal was to keep building off the success we had in the 2023 season and to continue raising the bar. We were fortunate enough to have a large returning squad that was eager to get the season started,” says Whitehead. “Although we were a game shy of qualifying for states, we were able to secure a few wins this year that we were unable to in the 2023 season, which include two wins against East Hampton and a win against Cromwell. We appreciate the increase in competitiveness in our non-conference games this season, which gave us multiple opportunities to grow mentally as athletes.”

Moreso, Whitehead acknowledged that one highlight of the campaign was that Valley had a 5-4 win against Cromwell, whom the Warriors were swept by last spring. This win was also really important to their seeding in the Shoreline Conference Tournament. They also enjoyed two triumphs against East Hampton this year, who the Warriors split with last year. More importantly, while there were a lot of returning faces to the club, they became more familiar and family-like with each other.

“Lots of new friendships were formed this year, and it was really awesome to be a witness of that,” said Whitehead. “As a team, they learned a lot about leadership and how they each contribute to the leadership of the team.”

Sophomore Kellyn Kolber led the team in most statistical avenues. She hit over for an over .500 batting average this season with three doubles, a triple, and scored 26 runs for Valley. She also had 15 stolen bases. Sophomore Helen Manco, junior Nataly Pavon, and another sophomore in Amelia Giantonio each had over 15 RBI this season. Senior Riley Soares was also a stat leader with 13 runs, two doubles, a triple-bagger, and 10 RBIs.

Kolber (outfield) and Soares (infield) made Second Team All-Shoreline, plus senior Raegan Wyrebek-Brasky was an Honorable Mention as an outfielder. Rounding out the quartet of the senior class were Katie Schaefer and Taylor Rae.

“Our senior class is a special one; they prioritized building relationships with their teammates and did an excellent job making the freshmen feel welcomed,” Whitehead said. “They led by example and were always there to support the rest of the team. It has been an honor to watch our captains grow into the leaders they have become.”

Kolber was named Team MVP and also took home the Golden Glove honor. Junior Miley Prue earned distinction as Most Improved Player, and then freshman Elleigh Ortola was Rookie of the Year. The Warrior Award was bestowed upon junior Nataly Pavon-Avila, and the Junior Warrior honor went to freshman Addie Hardman.

Parting ways with a critical core four players in the senior class, Whitehead is more than optimistic about the future given the amount of underclassmen that stepped up and embraced the varsity spotlight this spring.

“Although we are losing four seniors who greatly impacted our success, we have a great returning crew and have some talented eighth graders that will be joining us next year,” said Whitehead. “We had a few new faces this year that held important roles on our team in Addie Hardman, Miley Prue, and Elleigh Ortola. We are excited to continue to build off of the growth we have made the last two seasons. Our returning players are more than ready to take over the roles that the four seniors leave behind.”

The Valley roster is comprised of seniors Wyrebek-Brasky, Schaefer, Soares, Rae; juniors Angeleah Loftus, Prue, Colbie Ryan, Pavon-Avila; sophomores Manco, Hallie Moore, Giantonio, Kolber, Rorie Czenthe-Wickland; plus freshmen Ortola, Linnea Winkley, Hardman, Megan Dugan, Madelyn Stone, and Madelyn Delorso.

Whitehead completed her second campaign as Warriors’ head coach and was assisted by Julie Zacarelli.