Nine months have passed since the West Haven softball team last took the field. While the season ended in disappointment with a second-round loss to Norwich Free Academy in the Class LL state tournament, there were major steps taken in 2017.
The Westies advanced to the Southern Connecticut Conference tournament before losing in heart-breaking fashion to North Haven. West Haven then upset Norwalk in the opening round of the state tournament, before the loss to Norwich Free Academy ended the season with a 15-8 record.
West Haven will not be resting on its laurels. Instead, head coach Joe Morrell and his squad are looking to take everything one step further in 2018, looking to better all the accomplishments of a year ago.
“We want to qualify for the state tournament and the SCC tournament,” Morrell said as he enters his fourth year at the helm of the Westies. “We want to get to the second round of the SCC tournament and the third round of the state tournament. We want to be better than last year. We want that every year.”
If the Westies are to improve over last year, they have plenty of familiar faces in place to do so. Any team which wants to go deep in the postseason needs to be solid up the middle and the Westies are.
Softball is a game of pitching and West Haven has two players with experience, including junior Kasey Marron and sophomore Ivy Santos. Both Marron and Santos saw plenty of action last year and each will do the same in 2018.
Behind the plate is senior captain and power hitting Makenna White, who has been a main stay behind the plate since Morrell came aboard. With the battery sporting a solid group, the middle of the field also looks to be solid with junior Ashlynn O’Keefe anchoring the outfield in center, and junior Veronica Lynn leading the infield at short.
With just a week before the regular season is set to begin, the lone middle spot in the field Morrell has to decide on is at sec- ond base where sophomore Brianna Sebastian and senior Cassandra Thibodeau will compete for the spot.
“We have to make all the plays we are supposed to make especially when you are facing good pitching,” Morrell said. “We can’t give away outs. We need to have good pitching, make the plays, and get timely hitting. Defense is our number one goal. We are asking the girls to be perfect out there. We can’t settle for anything but that. We will get better as we go on.”
Morrell’s squad looks to be solid defensively with either Marron or Santos at first base when not pitching, junior Kailey Carrano at third, sophomore Dianesse Rodriguez in left, and a solid transfer from Arizona, junior Morgan Peryer in right.
While the defense looks to be solid, Morrell is also looking to have an offense which can put some runs on the board any way possible, including the use of small ball.
“I like the way we have been hitting the ball,” Morrell said. “We have hit the ball well so far in our scrimmages.”
Kasey Marron will look to lead the offense from the top of the order, with Lynn, Kailey Carrano, White and Santos to follow in what looks to be a strong part of the order. Peryer is a lefty slap hitter, and O’Keefe is also quick, giving the Westies another dimension on offense.
West Haven opens the season at home against O’Brien Tech, Monday April 2 at 3:45 p.m. Heading into the regular season, the Westies and all teams had to contend with the cold weather to get scrimmages in, which the Westies have done thus far.
“It is hard with the weather,” Morrell said. “We had to cancel the other day. It was too cold. It makes it tough in the gym, especially the outfielders not seeing the ball off the bat. We have been fortunate to get outside three times already in scrimmages.”
Morrell will also have depth to utilize. Freshmen Giavanna Perkins and Neve Krajcir will add to the team with Perkins having catching experience, and Krajcir pitching and playing first base. Senior Michelle Madar can also play the outfield.