Mt. Hope Softball preview

Huskies softball team improving despite rough start

Photos and story by Richard W Dionne Jr.
Posted 4/18/18

The Mt. Hope softball team has gotten off to a rough start this Spring. The team has an 0-3 record in just their second year in Division II. The Lady Huskies moved up a division after winning the …

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Mt. Hope Softball preview

Huskies softball team improving despite rough start

Posted

The Mt. Hope softball team has gotten off to a rough start this Spring. The team has an 0-3 record in just their second year in Division II. The Lady Huskies moved up a division after winning the D-III Championship two years in a row in 2015 and 2016. The team went 1-13 in D-II in 2017.

“The move up to Division II when we lost so many seniors in 2017 was rough,” said senior co-captain Brianna Gendreau. “Last year was a struggle for us.”

Despite the struggle, Gendreau says she just loves to play the game.

“It’s fun to win, but it’s always just fun to play. And if i’m playing that’s really all that matters. It’s softball and I love softball,” Gendreau said.

This year the team has a new coach, but so far the results are the same.

“The team is 0-3. We have been ten-runned every game. It’s an upward battle. It’s a work in progress,” said Head Coach Craig Giarrusso.

Giarrusso is a teacher in the Pawtucket school system and has skippered winning teams. He aims to get the Huskies playing the game his way.

“I’m coming into my first year,” said coach Giarrusso. “I’m trying to get them to play the way that I’d like them to play. I came from a very successful program. There is a lot of talent here. It’s just a matter of getting them to gel.”

The team has added twelve new freshmen to four seniors in 2018.

“We are a fairly young team. We have the four seniors and everyone else is an underclassmen,” said coach Giarrusso. “Out of all of the divisions, D-II is very competitive. You have to show up every day to play. You don’t have any easy games. It’s very very competitive.”

Gendreau who played a big part in the two championship teams says this year’s team is an improvement over last year’s 1-13 team.

“This year there are a lot of good freshmen that came up and are improving with each practice and getting better,” said Gendreau. “You can see it out on the field.”

The team started four freshman in their 17-3 loss to South Kingstown on Tuesday. Izzy Savinon was the starting pitcher, Christina Frenette played first base, Sadie Pacheco played centerfield and Olivia Arruda played left field. Despite the loss, the team made strides.

“The freshman all have talent. They are improving with every single practice, said senior co-captain Caitlyn Moniz. “The mix with the seniors and freshman, the young blood and the old blood, it’s good. We have a good team dynamic. They all have talent and potential. There are some little kinks that we all have to work out. But I think that we’ll get there by the end of the season.”

Senior co-captain Carissa Rego agreed.

“Changing divisions was a big adjustment. You have to give the freshman credit, said Rego. “We give them a lot of positive encouragement. We always remind them that they are doing their best and they are helping the team.”

The team

Pitchers: Junior Sammy Soares and freshmen Isabel Savinon and Hannah Rodriques.

“Sammy is out with an illness. Isabel pitched and looked good on Tuesday. She needs to hit her spots and mix speeds up a little more,” said coach Giarrusso.

Senior co-captain Brianna Gendreau plays catcher.

“She’s legit,” said coach Giarrusso. “She’s good. There’s some little things that she has to work on defensively. Offensively she swings the bat very well.”

“Bri has always been good. Her hitting is really really strong and she’s also really good behind the plate,” said Rego.

Senior co-captain Carissa Rego is the team’s shortstop.

“She’s very talented. She’s a great defensive player. Offensively, she led us off today. She’s been our run scorer in the three games that we’ve played so far. She hit’s the ball very well,” said coach Giarrusso.

Senior co-captain Caitlyn Moniz plays second base. Moniz played on the Mt. Hope girls basketball team and injured her shoulder in the playoffs.

“Caitlyn sees the ball well and hits the ball well. She’s been starting every game and giving me three or four innings,” said coach Giarrusso.

Junior Aliyah Vieira plays third base.

This is her second year at third base,” said coach Giarrusso. “She’s going to get better. She hits the ball very well.”

Freshman Sadie Pacheco plays center field.

“I’m looking for a lot of production out of her,” said coach Giarrusso. “As we go further into the season and they all buy into my system, they are only going to get better. This isn’t softball weather. But we still got to go out and get better everyday. That’s my goal with this whole team this year,” he said.

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A lifelong Portsmouth resident, Jim graduated from Portsmouth High School in 1982 and earned a journalism degree from the University of Rhode Island in 1986. He's worked two different stints at East Bay Newspapers, for a total of 18 years with the company so far. When not running all over town bringing you the news from Portsmouth, Jim listens to lots and lots and lots of music, watches obscure silent films from the '20s and usually has three books going at once. He also loves to cook crazy New Orleans dishes for his wife of 25 years, Michelle, and their two sons, Jake and Max.