Following Andover Softball’s 9-2 victory against Pingree the day prior, Sophia Eno ’23, Kiley Buckley ’23, and Olivia McManus ’23 each secured home runs to help propel Andover to a 10-3 victory against Noble and Greenough on Saturday. The team’s record now stands at 5-4.
Leading up to the weekend matchups against Pingree and Nobles, the team looked to improve its defensive game through infield and outfield drills conducted during practice, according to Danielle Sarno ’23.
Sarno said, “I would say our goals were to definitely work on defense because we have really great hitters, but we wanted to clean up our fielding a little bit and not let other teams score runs which I think actually did improve this weekend. We worked on cleaning up our fielding a lot; we did a lot of outfield drills and infield drills, and we also did a lot of live games. So we had our pitchers pitch to us, and we did a lot of batting and fielding to make it as realistic a game as possible. And I would say that definitely made our fielding cleaner because we were able to get that first-hand experience.”
Outscoring its opponents 19-5, the team dominated offensively in both of its games and was able to surmount a strong Nobles defense, according to Leila Boesch-Powers ’24.
Boesch-Powers said, “[During] the Nobles game, we [hit] three home runs [and] the offense was really strong together. Nobles is a really good team defensively, so I think we really excelled in getting the ball out there, getting hits, and it all came together for the ten runs which is crazy. So I think we did really well in that area.”
According to Fallon O’Connor ’23, the chemistry the team has built over the course of the season has given the players faith and confidence in each other to execute specific plays.
“I think we work as a team really great together. In our first couple games, it was our first time playing together, but now that we know our abilities and we know that we can make these plays, it’s been a lot better throughout the season now that we work together to make those plays. So, I think just knowing that we can depend upon another is really great,” said O’Connor.
Looking ahead to its matchups against Brooks and Phillips Exeter Academy, the team looks to maintain its high level of communication and improve its consistency on the field, according to O’Connor.
“We do a really great job of communication in the field and offensively, and I think that we’ll continue to do that as well as work on some of our defensive plays that maybe we haven’t seen. I think we’ve really been doing good with bunt plays as well, and I think that [we need to work] on cleaning up defensively, but I don’t think that there’s anything in particular that needs to be continually improved upon. So I think everything is good, just getting more consistent in the field and at-bat [is our goal],” said O’Connor.
Andover will look to carry its momentum into its games away against Brooks on Friday at 4:30 p.m. and Exeter on Saturday at 2:00 p.m.
