Andover Softball’s game against Governor’s on Wednesday was cancelled because the team was without pitchers.
Formidable base running by Evalyn Lee ’23 as well as team-wide adaptation helped Girls Softball mitigate the loss of two starters, Katie Mangraviti ’23 and Lauren Mahoney ’23, who were out due to Covid-19, ultimately allowing Andover to edge out Governor’s 15-13.
Maris Moody ’24 noted how the team expected a close game and was ready to compete. While it suspectedly found itself in fierce competition, the team was unprepared for the opposing pitcher’s throws, which created a hurdle for the batters, according to Moody.
“We were ready for some good competition, but I think it was gonna be a good game for the beginning of our season and it was just that it was exactly that. They had a new pitcher which we hadn’t faced yet. She was a little bit slower which kind of threw us off a little bit because we’re kind of just used to faster pitching which was kind of one of the big hardships of the game,” said Moody.
Fallon O’Connor ’23 acknowledged the importance of the team’s relentless, intense, and exuberant energy. She believed this culture and spirit was a large contributing factor of Friday’s success and will continue to be in the upcoming weeks.
O’Connor said, “So on Friday I think what we did really well was keeping high energy even though we made some mistakes, I think what kept us in the game was our high energy and not giving up. And I think that we’ve had both sides of difficult playing like in our first game we were losing by a lot and it was difficult to try and come back but in this game we were up by a lot but then we kind of lost it a little bit so i think now that we’ve seen both sides of it we’ll definitely know where to go from here.”
According to Evie Wood ’25, the team has made strides to improve its communication and chemistry, highlighted during its victory. However, Wood pointed out the remaining imperfections as well as other areas for improvement within the team.
Wood said, “I think while we improved in communication, I think our calling the ball was sort of an issue. There were some drop balls because no one was really sure who was going to get it, and I guess that was something that we need to work on right now. Also I think you know setting your feet and making sure the throw is accurate instead of just chucking it because I know we had a couple of overthrows.”
Sharing a similar sentiment to Wood, Moody mentioned how detrimental these small and seemingly insignificant mistakes can be. She explained how one mistake can turn into many if not for strong mental fortitude.
“I think one big thing is when you make an error in a game, or when you make a mistake it kind of is hard to kind of bounce back because sometimes it can kind of feel personal even though you have a whole team behind you, so I think kind of bouncing back from those mistakes and realizing we’re going to get the next one is a big thing so I’d say it’s a bog mental game and mental thing,” said Moody.
O’Connor sees these misplays as one of the biggest places to improve and smooth over. According to O’Connor, the team has demonstrated the capacity to do so, and now all that remains is the game-time execution.
“I think for the rest of the season going forward I think that we can be more consistent like in not like just making the easy plays and doing the small things because I think that’s where we’ve fallen short, but I think overall everyone, we all know that just shown in practice that we all have the ability to,” said O’Connor.
Girls Softball hopes to refine some aspects of its game in preparation for a double header against North Reading High School on Saturday.
Editor’s Note: Evalyn Lee ’23 is an Eighth Page Editor for The Phillipian.
