Co-Captain Rihana Gomez ’26 has played softball all four years at Andover, growing both as a player and a leader. Gomez was unable to provide comments for The Phillipian, but her teammates gave input on her leadership as captain and notable play during games.
Gaby Potter ’27 emphasized Gomez’s resilience and ability to push through difficulties, a quality that she constantly models for her teammates.
“Rihana is very much of a lead-by-example type of teammate and captain. She’s always ensuring that everyone’s doing their best, trying their best, and staying calm when they make mistakes. If she makes a mistake, she recovers really quickly and lets it go in through one ear out the other ear. That’s a really commendable trait of hers,” said Potter.
Morgan McDonough ’29 reflected on Gomez’s contribution to Andover Girls Softball’s success, noting Gomez’s several home runs throughout the season, which helped the team rebound in demanding games.
“The big thing that stands out is her hitting. For five or six games, she had a home run in each of them, or sometimes two. She gave us a lot of runs. We played [Noble and Greenough] the other day. We were down by one run, and it was almost the end of the game. She had a home run, which put us into extra innings and we won. She’s helped us get us on the board constantly. She’s making awesome plays, [she is] super smart, and [has a] high IQ in the field,” McDonough said.
Potter shared that Gomez is a supportive leader who proactively communicates with the team and showcases her dedication to the sport by working her hardest no matter what.
“During practice, [Gomez is] definitely trying her best on every single one of our drills, or if we’re doing infield drills, she’s always very communicative [and] always performing like we’re in [a] game situation, which is really appreciative to me as a catcher, knowing that my first baseman is always going to be there doing exactly what she needs to do. For games as well, [Rihana is] just sorting that press, asserting that precedence [that] you’re more than just a mistake, [to] always keep cheering on your teammates, [and that] we are a team. Through her behavior and how she carries herself, you can definitely see that she is a very humble person and is extremely influential to our team,” said Potter.
McDonough highlighted how Gomez contributes to team spirit at practices and games.
“She gets such a good vibe going. She’s always hyping everybody up and keeping everybody happy, and doing what needs to be done as a leader and as a player on a team. It makes the vibe on the team and especially on game days and during practices so much better, and it really makes everybody around her happier. She just gets everybody hyped. She plays awesome music, which is fun. She’s just awesome,” said McDonough.
