Drury has plenty of new faces

NORTH ADAMS -- It has been said that the only thing tougher than winning a title in sports is being able to repeat that same success the following season.

After cruising to a Western Massachusetts championship last season, the Drury softball team faces such an obstacle. The pressure to defend the title shouldn't be a factor, however, as most of the 2008 Blue Devils weren't even on the team last season.

Drury went 17-7 and cruised to the Division 2 crown last year by outscoring its opponents 22-1 in the sectional tournament, but have since lost 10 players to graduation, departures and injury.

"There is a whole new look to this team," Blue Devils head coach Mary Ann Maroni said. "If you stop and think about it, I graduated six seniors last year and three people elected not to come back from the varsity (team). Right now, I have three returning players who are cleared to play."

Still, Maroni likes her chances with a team made up of a few returning veterans and a crop of promising underclassmen.

"We've got some very talented freshman, so what I'm doing is staggering them and bringing them to the varsity practice a couple of days at a time to familiarize them

with what we're doing and how we do it," Maroni said. "I may have to rob from Peter to pay Paul to have enough people on the roster."

While inexperience and low numbers are a concern, Maroni should feel good about the three players she has coming back. The left side of the infield is completely set with senior captain Jenna Gazaille at third base and sophomore Stephanie Mirante at short. Gazaille is starting her third season at third, where she has established herself as one of the best defensive players in all of Western Mass. Mirante started at short her entire freshman year and is very experienced for a sophomore. She batted mostly second in the order last season and will need to hit even better this year with former All-Transcript sluggers Carly Ameen, Andrea Bentley and Taylor Erdeski lost to graduation.

"I feel very good (about having them back)," Maroni said "The two of them are looking absolutely amazing in practice. Their leadership skills are there and if possible, they've improved from last year. Stephanie's arm has gotten much stronger than it was.

Maroni's other returning player just might hold the key to Drury's success in her hand. For the past two years, Hadley Ameen has teamed with Jordan DeGrenier to give the Blue Devils a dynamite 1-2 punch on the mound. DeGrenier got the majority of the starts last season, going 11-6 on her way to All-Transcript MVP honors, but now the pitching circle belong exclusively to Ameen, who should rival Mount Everett's Maddie Tomich as the top hurler in the league.

In a year where many of the Berkshire's top pitchers have graduated, the senior captain's arm should keep a young Drury team in every game. Ameen will have some help, though, with sophomore lefty Kelsey Malloy serving as the No. 2 starter and classmate Jayda Westcott helping out when she can.

"I feel good about our pitching staff this year," Maroni said. "The reason is these kids just don't settle for the season. They pitched during the offseason. Hadley, of course, pitched downstairs in the diner, and Kelsey took pitching lessons. They're not coming into the gym on March 17 being rusty as hell. They're coming in here raring to go because they've worked."

The one major question mark involves the offense. The six seniors who graduated had a lot of pop in their bat, and the Blue Devils' best power hitter last season will most likely start the year on the disabled list. Junior Megan Boyer broke out in her second season with the team, leading the club with a .343 batting average, 17 RBI, four triples and five home runs. She will most likely have to sit out the first couple of games, however, as she works her way back from knee surgery over the winter. Boyer's knee has been a constant issue for her over the past two years, though, meaning her recovery could take longer than expected.

"Right now, she's helping to lead by inspiration because she's here for every practice," Maroni said. "She does what she can do and is willing to do even more. I'm babying her a little bit because we want her healthy at the beginning of the season. It's coming, but it's slow because we don't want to take any chances."

Although six of her starters will most likely be seeing varsity pitching for the first time on opening day, Maroni didn't seem too concerned about her team's ability to score runs.

"We lost a lot of firepower there," Maroni said of last year's senior group. "They had really, really good bats, but we have a different team this year. I think we're a little bit faster than we were last year. What we're lacking is questionable. These kids have been going to New York state and taking hitting lessons. In the cage and off the tees, they're crunching the ball. I don't know what that means on the field, though.

Maroni expects at least five freshmen to see time on varsity at some point this year. One of those freshman is Kaitlyn Moresi, who will take over at catcher until Boyer returns. Classmate Kayla Brown-Wood is expected to start in the outfield, while fellow newcomers Ashley Mirante and Kendra Hinkell could see some time at first base. The outfield will be entirely new, with junior Angela Ames in left and sophomore Casey Scott in center. When they're not on the mound, Maroni expects Ameen and Malloy to play first and Westcott to start at second.

"I feel good about this team," Maroni said. "This team is really dedicated to the game of softball. I've got a good core group of girls here who are on time or early. Some of these girls do double practices because they wish to. They're a tenacious, fiery group of kids, but the key is staying healthy. The freshman look very, very good, but they're not tested yet."